CBJ - March 12 - The value of building permits fell 12.3 per cent to $6 billion in January, following a 10.5 per cent rise in December, according to a report by Statistics Canada. The decline was the result of decreases in both residential and non-residential sectors.

Contractors took out $4.2 billion worth of permits in the residential sector, down 6.6 per cent following three consecutive monthly gains. The decrease was largely the result of lower construction intentions for multi-family dwellings in Ontario.

In the non-residential sector, municipalities issued permits worth $1.8 billion, down 23.1 per cent, following a 0.3 per cent increase in December. Non-residential construction intentions declined in six provinces, with Alberta accounting for most of the decrease.

The value of building permits for multi-family dwellings decreased 12.4 per cent to $1.7 billion in January, following a 30.8 per cent advance in December. The monthly decrease came from six provinces; Ontario led the decline, with Alberta a distant second. The largest increase was posted in British Columbia, followed by Quebec.

Municipalities issued $2.5 billion worth of permits for single-family dwellings in January, down 2.2 per cent from December, following three consecutive monthly gains. Lower construction intentions in Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta more than offset advances in the seven other provinces.

Municipalities across Canada authorized the construction of 17,961 new dwellings in January, down six per cent from December. The decrease came from multi-family dwellings, which fell 9.5 per cent to 10,510 units. The number of single-family dwellings declined 0.7 per cent to 7,451 units.

Building intentions declined in all three components of the non-residential sector.

In the commercial component, the value of permits declined 22.5 per cent to $1.2 billion, after increasing 1.8 per cent in November and 34.6 per cent in December. The decrease came mostly from Alberta, where the value of permits for office buildings and warehouses declined following notable rises the previous month. Declines were also reported in six other provinces.

In the institutional component, the value of permits decreased 27.9 per cent to $309 million. This was the third consecutive monthly decline and the lowest level since January 2005.