Investment

In 2010, the total building permit value for the Calgary region stood at a six-year low of $3.9 billion, making up 34.5% of the provincial total.  In 2010, the total building permit value for the Calgary region decreased by 13.2% from 2009, and was 10.7% below the 2005 level.  The decline between 2009 and 2010 can be attributed to the institutional permit value falling by two-thirds to $376 million and commercial permits by 34% to $854 million.  Residential building permits experienced a 22% increase to $2.5 billion in 2010.  Between 2005 and 2010 residential permits decreased by 6.6%.

The total number of dwelling units for which building permits were taken out in the Calgary Region in 2010 was 9,699.  This was a 20% increase from the previous year and a 45% decline from 2005 levels.  Over that five-year period, the number of multiple family dwelling units fell by 45% to 3,558 units in 2010.  Over the same period, the number of single dwellings declined by 44% to 6,141 units.

In 2010, the number of urban housing starts1 (in areas with a population of at least 10,000) totaled 9,912 in the Calgary region2, an increase of 44% from 2009’s 6,882 starts.  This increase was mostly the result of a more than doubling in the number of multiple-family units; single-detached starts rose 20% between 2009 and 2010.  Even with this large jump in 2010, the 2010 total number of starts was still lower than the totals of more than 10,000 per year that were achieved over the period 1997 to 2008.

1 Housing start information is gathered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Commission field offices; building permit estimates are gathered by Statistics Canada from municipalities. A building permit generally precedes the actual start.
2 The Calgary urban region includes Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere, Rocky View, Crossfield, Tsuu T’ina nation, Irricana, Foothills, Okotoks, Canmore, High River, Strathmore and Beiseker.

Date Updated:
RDP-2438