Building permits by the numbers
Building permit data is an important indicator of development in a jurisdiction. It is not the only stat that matters but it can tell us quite a bit about the direction of a local economy.
Comparing the first six months of building permit data for New Brunswick to the rest of the country shows an important positive trend but also just how far we have to go.
First, New Brunswick is the only province in Canada to have seen an increase in the value of residential building permits issued comparing the pre-pandemic year to 2023 (seasonally unadjusted data, constant dollars). The value in NB is up 33%.
But, on a per capita basis, New Brunswick still ranks 8th out of 10 provinces even though its population growth has been at record levels the past two years.
Meanwhile, the value of non-residential building permits issued has dropped like a stone down 37% since before the pandemic. This is just one data point but it is concerning. Non-residential construction is an indicator of future economic development.
And on a per capita basis, New Brunswick ranks 9th.
Concerning….
Given the Canada-wide housing crisis, I wonder if the high cost of building materials has stopped many construction projects, especially in the ROC.
I would expect that the per unit cost to build in NB is lower than in some other provinces. From the standpoint of gauging how much housing we are building, would number of units per capita perhaps be a better indicator of how we compare?