MNI BRIEF: Canada Dec Single Home Permits at Record High

Canadian building permits for single-family homes rose 7% to a record high CAD3.1 billion in December while every other category declined as the Covid-19 pandemic's second wave obliged more people to work from home, government figures showed Thursday.

Overall permits for December fell 4.1%, as non-residential projects fell 11%, Statistics Canada said.

Gains in housing also drove building permits up 5.4% to a fresh record of CAD27 billion in the fourth quarter, Statistics Canada said.

With the pandemic leading to store and office closures in the spring and again towards the end of the year, permits declined 2.3% in 2020, the biggest decline since the last recession in 2009. While homebuilding rose 7.3% to a record, non-residential work fell 17%.