Statistics Canada announced on Wednesday that the value of building permits issued by the Canadian municipalities fell 0.5 percent m-o-m in April, following a revised 7.6 percent m-o-m climb in March (originally a surge of 5.7 percent m-o-m). The was the first decline in four months.

Economists had forecast a 4.8 percent decrease in April from the previous month.

According to the report, the value of residential permits tumbled 6.7 percent m-o-m in April, as single-family permits declined 7.0 percent m-o-m and permits for multi-family dwellings dropped 6.5 percent m-o-m.

At the same time, the value of non-residential building permits jumped 17.4 percent m-o-m in April, due to gains in commercial (+28.7 percent m-o-m) and institutional (+23.1 percent m-o-m) permits, which, however, were partially offset by a decrease in industrial permits (+13.2 percent m-o-m).

In y-o-y terms, building permits climbed 76.1 percent in April.