Canadian building permits fall in June

OTTAWA, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The value of Canadian building permits fell 5.3 percent overall in June to $6.3 billion from a month earlier, the Statistics Canada agency reported Thursday.

Declines were seen in both the residential and non-residential sectors. Residential permits dropped 4.4 percent to $3.6 billion, while the value of non-residential permits dipped 6.6 percent from May to $2.8 billion, StatsCan said.

"Municipalities approved 17,309 new residential dwellings in June, down 9.3 percent and lower than the 2007 monthly average of 19,817 units," the report said.

Following a 70.3 percent increase in May, the value of industrial permits fell 31.1 percent to $389 million, the report said.

Regionally, the province of Ontario saw the greatest decline, off 7.9 percent to $2.3 billion from May, driven largely by fewer permits for non-residential buildings. However, permits rose 3.5 percent in Quebec, with gains in both the residential and non-residential sectors, the report said.