Building permits down overall in June, but some industry experts say they’re still as busy as ever

The total value of building permits across the country slowed in the month of June, according to Statistics Canada.

Nationally, building permits dipped by almost 14 per cent – 12.3 per cent in Nova Scotia and 24.8 per cent in New Brunswick.

But in N.B., that large decrease was mostly due to non-residential builds – residential builds were up almost 15 per cent.

A relief at a time when housing is a big concern, but one MLA would like to see more strategic residential development.

“I don't see enough new housing being built in the rural areas. And what that means is it actually puts more and more pressure on the cities when people can't find housing in rural areas,” said Megan Mitton. “There's extreme inequity that is created in terms of housing situations.”

The Construction Association of N.B. says they’re not worried – they have more work than they can handle.

“If these numbers consistently decline for the rest of 2024, then I would certainly be concerned going into 2025 but what we need to factor in is that there’s no longer a ‘construction season’ limited to eight months a year, our members our very busy year round to keep up with the demand,” an sssociation spokesperson said in an email. “With the current shortages in labour, high cost of construction materials, supply chain delays and high cost of project startup due to inflation, I am not surprised that there has been a slow down in the permits.”.

Last month, Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers said the city was seeing record breaking numbers in terms of development in 2024.

“There used to be a lull. There is no lull in development now. We're constantly seeing applications come through the door,” she said.

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