Canadian building permits rise 8.8% in August

The total value of Canadian building permits rose 8.8 per cent in August to $13.6 billion, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.

Residential permit values increased 15.3 per cent, driven by a 23.8 per cent rise in the multi-unit component to $5.84 billion. Non-residential permit values edged down 0.6 per cent.

Québec’s total permit value rose 3.9 per cent to $2.9 billion during the month. In constant-dollar terms, the national total increased 8.6 per cent from July and 12.4 per cent from August 2025. Permit values indicate construction intentions and do not measure completed building activity.

Source: Statistics Canada, The Daily, released October 14, 2026.

Featured image: Illustrative stock photo of architectural plans and drafting tools, not the reported site or event. Photo by Lucas Kepner on Unsplash; cropped and resized by West Island Blog.