Canadian municipalities issued $8.4 billion (US$6.3 billion) worth of building permits in January, down 5.5% from the record high in December, according to Statistics Canada. Lower construction intentions for commercial buildings were responsible for the national decline.

In the non-residential sector, $3 billion (US$2.2 billion) worth of permits were issued in January, down 15.8% from the previous month. The decrease was the result of lower construction intentions for commercial buildings, down 25.3% to $1.8 billion (US$1.3 billion), following a record high in December.

Meanwhile, increases were reported for both the industrial (+4.8%) and institutional (+0.4%) components. The gains were mainly attributable to higher construction intentions in Ontario and Quebec.