Alberta’s construction intentions have fallen to their lowest level in 12 months.

The seasonally-adjusted value of building permits issued by Alberta municipalities* was down by $6.7 million (-0.6%) in October, the third consecutive monthly pullback.

Lower residential permit values were responsible for most of the aggregate decline while non-residential construction intentions ticked up slightly in the month. It was a fairly similar story nationally.

Residential construction in Alberta is, however, outperforming the country as a whole when you look at the number of issuances on a year-to-date basis.

Relative to the first ten months of 2021, the number of residential building permits issued in the province was up by 10.1% compared to a drop of 8.0% nationally.

Looking ahead, we expect activity to continue to temper across the country primarily due to higher borrowing costs and supply-chain issues.

*Statistics Canada’s Building Permits Survey covers all Canadian municipalities that issue permits.

Answer to the previous trivia question: A private enterprise since the 1990s and now a subsidiary of Suncor, Petro-Canada was created as a Crown Corporation of the federal government in 1975 and began operations on January 1, 1976.

Today’s trivia question: How tall is the tallest pyramid in the world?