Statistics Canada announced on Thursday that the value of building permits issued by the Canadian municipalities fell 4.1 percent m-o-m in December, following a revised 12.5 percent m-o-m jump in November (originally a surge of 12.9 percent m-o-m).

Economists had forecast a 5.0 percent decrease in December from the previous month.

According to the report, the value of residential permits fell 0.9 percent m-o-m in December, as permits for multi-family dwellings plunged 7.2 percent m-o-m, while single-family permits climbed 7.0 percent m-o-m.

At the same time, the value of non-residential building permits plunged 10.8 percent m-o-m in December, due to declines in institutional (-24.4 percent m-o-m), commercial (-9.0 percent m-o-m) and industrial (-6.1 percent m-o-m) permits.

In y-o-y terms, building permits rose 1.7 percent in December.

Despite a rebound in the second half of 2020, the total value of building permits dropped 2.3 percent over the year. This was the largest annual decrease since the recession in 2009.