An unprecedented surge in Manitoba building permit values masks what could be a sharp downturn in private industrial and commercial construction.
According to Statistics Canada, total Manitoba permit values for the first 11 months of 2011 reached $1.73 billion, just $20 million beow the all-tiime, all-year record of 2010. But the surge was led by government spending, with institutational permits posting a 486 per cent increase from a year earlier. Private industrial construction permits were down 87.5 per cent on the year and there was virtually no change in commercial building permits.
Residential construction permits were up 32.9 per cent from 2010, but all of the increase was in single-family detached houses, as multiple-housing permits declined.