Investment

In 2010, the total building permit value for the Capital region stood at a six-year high of $4.1 billion, making up 35.9% of the provincial total.  In 2010, the total building permit value for the Capital region increased by 5.7% from 2009, and was 41% higher than the 2005 level.  The increase between 2009 and 2010 can be attributed to the residential permit value rising 31% to $2.8 billion.  Over the same period, commercial permits fell by 1% to $981 million, while industrial and institutional permits fell by more than one-half.  Between 2005 and 2010, residential permits decreased by 44%.

The total number of dwelling units for which building permits were taken out in the Capital region in 2010 was 10,183.  This was a 30% increase from the previous year and a 31% decline from 2005 levels.  Over that five-year period, the number of multiple family dwelling units fell by 33% to 4,293 units in 2010.  Over the same period, the number of single dwellings declined by 29% to 5,890 units.

In 2010, the number of urban housing starts1 totaled 9,959 in the Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area2, an increase of 58% from 2009’s 6,317 starts.  This increase was 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 Edmonton CMA encompasses most of the Capital region, including Edmonton, Strathcona County, St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Leduc, Stony Plain, Fort Saskatchewan.

Date Updated:
RDP-2439