Construction demand remains strong in Calgary. The city received 8,206 residential building permit applications in the first six months of 2023, as well as 1,686 non-residential building permit applications.
Year-over-year, building permit applications were seven per cent lower than last year but construction value increased by 13 per cent with January to June at $2.98 billion compared to January to June 2022 at $2.63 billion.
“The values we are seeing are a promising indication that developers are committed to building more homes for Calgarians, both those living here today and the many thousands we expect to welcome in coming years,” said Stuart Dalgleish, general manager of planning & development services. “While our permit volumes are slightly lower than the previous year, the notable uptick in construction value highlights the quality and scale of projects being built.”
From April to June of 2023, Calgary builders and developers submitted 1,533 single construction, 309 multi-residential and 1,273 commercial/multi-family building permits. Proposals to redesignate land also saw an increase of 55 per cent over the same period last year, with 90 applications submitted.
“Multi-residential applications outpaced single and semi-detached applications this quarter, highlighting the changing housing needs and preferences of Calgarians. While we still have a long way to go to meet the challenge of providing more affordable homes for everyone, we continue to make progress on providing more housing choices to support Calgarians at different stages in their lives,” said Dalgleish.
In April, five more downtown office-to-residential conversion projects received funding. The goal of these projects is to provide homes for more than 1,000 Calgarians, eliminate 500,000 square feet of unneeded office space and improve the vibrancy of our downtown.
Some of the top construction projects in Calgary completed were:
- Project Violin, a 1.2-million-square-foot Amazon warehouse facility located in the East Shepard Industrial Park, valued at $131 million.
- Sofina Foods Inc., a new poultry facility in East Shepard Industrial Park, valued at $75 million.
- 3Minto Era Condominiums, a 13-storey, multi-residential building providing 186 units in the community of Crescent Heights, valued at $43 million.
