Canada’s building permits surge in June
Residential rebound masked by a soft second quarter
Residential construction intentions rose 6.3% in June to $8.1 billion, with the multi-unit component climbing $283.7 million to $5.3 billion. Quebec led multi-unit gains at $201.3 million, followed by Alberta at $143.4 million and Saskatchewan at $61.4 million.
Single-family permits added $196.0 million to reach $2.8 billion, with Alberta contributing the most at $110.8 million. British Columbia registered a $30.8 million decline across the single-family component.
The monthly bounce, however, sits against a weaker second-quarter picture. In Q2 2026, residential permits fell $944.2 million, or 4.3%, in constant dollars to $21.1 billion, with the multi-unit component accounting for most of the drop.
Nationwide, 80,000 housing units were authorized in the quarter, down from 82,200 during the same period in 2025.
Non-residential permits told a different story for the quarter. In constant dollars, they climbed $1.9 billion to $15.4 billion in Q2 2026, the largest quarterly increase in the series. The national institutional component reached a record high of $6.1 billion.
