This province is poised for a significant building boom later this year.
One of the indicators used to forecast construction activity is building permits. Once investors are ready to sign on the dotted line and get in the ground, the first step is to acquire a permit from local authorities. So, a rise or decline in building permit values provides a projection of how busy contractors will be in the next six to 18 months.
We just received the July figures and they are strong. Nationally, the value of permits rose 22-percent from June to July but here in Saskatchewan it was much stronger – going up 50-percent. And the bulk of it was for non-residential buildings.
StatsCan tracks only the major cities so the only data this report has on municipal activity is for Regina and Saskatoon. Saskatoon appears to be headed into a bull market with permit values rising more than 100-percent from June to July. Regina was strong as well with a 77-percent increase.
This amounts to a breakout as Saskatoon’s figure is more than 130-percent ahead of where it was a year earlier.
