Canada's building permits dive 12.2% in May from record level

ISTANBUL

Building permits in Canada plummeted 12.2% in May to $11.7 billion, diving from a record-high of $13.4 billion in April, the country's statistical authority said on Friday.

The market expectation for the figure was to show a 5% decrease.

The figure for April was revised up to a gain of 23.4% from an increase of 20.5%.

"British Columbia led the national decline in May with a significant drop of 50.7% after experiencing a record high for the total value of building permits issued in April," Statistics Canada said in a statement.

"Excluding British Columbia, the total value of building permits for the remaining provinces and the territories edged down 0.7% in May," it added.

The value of residential building permits decreased 16.3% to $7.1 billion in May, said the agency.

British Columbia, the country's westernmost province, also led the decline with 53.7%, or $1.1 billion, following an "unusually" strong April when it saw a record-high value of multi-unit permits.