Scan the horizon and it’s easy to see why Greater Victoria building permit values are skyrocketing.
All those construction cranes are testament to the booming industry in the capital.
The value of building intentions climbed by 115 per cent to $140.3 million in June, up from $65.3 million in the same month last year, according to Statistics Canada’s latest data on Monday. And the month-over-month rate also rose by 115 per cent in June from May, when permits stood at $65.2 million.
“The Island in particular is very busy right now,” said Manley McLachlan, president of the B.C. Construction Association.
He points to B.C. Hydro’s John Hart Generating Station replacement project near Campbell River, valued at more than $1 billion. The $606-million North Island Hospitals program has a new facility being built in Campbell River and another going up in the Comox Valley.
In Greater Victoria, construction is underway at sites such as the Capital Park mixed-use development in James Bay, where offices, residential and commercial uses are being built. The multi-family housing market is also strong in the capital region, where projects can be sold out before they are out of the ground, McLachlan said.
Part of the demand is being fuelled by Vancouver-area property owners cashing out to move to Greater Victoria, he said.
While the capital region’s permit values are on the rise, B.C. saw its numbers decline 5.1 per cent to $1.027 billion in June from $1.082 billion in the same month in 2015, Statistics Canada said. The monthly drop was larger, at 11.5 per cent. A total of $1.161 billion worth of permits were taken out in May. This followed two consecutive months of increases.
Across Canada, there were a total of $6.4 million in permits, down by 5.5 per cent from May. B.C. is among five provinces that saw permit values decline month to month, the federal agency said.
Nationally, permit values for multi-family housing slid by 15.8 per cent to $1.7 billion in June. In Vancouver, the value of permits dropped 25.2 per cent to $580 million in June, largely because of a decline in planned multi-family projects, as well as lower numbers for commercial buildings, Statistics Canada said.
Even so, McLachlan said B.C.’s construction sector remains in good shape, given that the value of major projects in the works is more than $300 billion.
Permit numbers are snapshots of particular times and are not necessarily indicative of the overall health of a sector, he said.
Much of the permit volume reflects where projects are within their building cycle, he said.
B.C.’s construction sector remains in need of skilled trades, McLachlan said. Many workers are heading into retirement and there’s a concern that unemployment rates remain high for youth, who could be trained in trades.
Some of the need for skilled workers is being met by Albertans moving to this province. A recent survey among Vancouver Island construction firms found that 56 per cent have hired someone from Alberta, he said.
