The total value of building permits rose 14.8 per cent in June to $7.7 billion, following a 13.9 per cent drop in May, according to a Statistics Canada report released on Aug. 7.

Construction intentions in the residential sector grew 15.9 per cent to $4.6 billion in June after dropping 13.2 per cent in May. Nine provinces saw growth as construction intentions in multi-family dwellings jumped 36.9 per cent to $2.2 billion in June, especially due to apartment and apartment-condominium projects in Quebec, Alberta and Ontario. B.C. registered a small decrease in June after a 17.4-per-cent increase in May.

The value of building permits for single-family housing grew by 1.6 per cent to $2.4 billion, with New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario seeing the largest gains. Alberta registered a decrease in the value of permits for single-family dwellings for the second consecutive month.

Canadian municipalities approved the construction of 17,609 new dwellings in June 2015, a 13.7-per-cent increase over May. This growth was mostly due to multi-family dwellings, which saw a 20.3-per-cent increase to 11,785 units. Single family dwellings increased 2.2 per cent to 5,824 units.

The value of permits increased in every province except Saskatchewan in June, with the largest increases registered in Alberta, Quebec, Ontario and B.C. Quebec’s increase was mainly attributable to increased intentions for multi-family dwellings, while Ontario’s increase is due to higher intentions for residential buildings (mainly multi-family dwellings) and industrial buildings. The value of building permits in Nova Scotia jumped 58.2 per cent to $152 million in June, due to construction intentions for residential buildings (mainly multi-family dwellings).

The value of building permits increased in 24 out of 34 census metropolitan areas in June, with Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver seeing the largest increases. Meanwhile, Hamilton and Regina saw the largest declines.