With more than half of the year completed, Calgary’s construction industry showed no signs of slowing down. .“Developers and builders are investing more in present-day Calgary, which helps to position our city and economy for a successful future,” said City of Calgary General Manager, Planning and Development Stuart Dalgleish in a Thursday statement. .“During this incredibly high-volume environment, we continue to meet our service level targets 85% of the time for multi-disciplinary development applications and 91% of the time for building applications for new single and semi-detached homes in new communities.”.The statement said the City of Calgary received 4,492 development permits and 11,194 building permit applications during the first six months of 2022. The total construction value across residential and commercial buildings is $3 billion, compared to $3.3 billion reported this time last year. .Single construction permit requests are up 9% from Calgary’s record in 2021. Affordability and immigration contributed to strong demand for new home construction. .Residential improvement permits have declined by 12% this year, an anticipated drop as these requests saw a 33% spike over the last two years. .“During the pandemic, Calgarians invested heavily in home improvements projects, as we all navigated creative ways to use our space,” said Dalgleish. .“A renewed interest in travel and entertainment outside of the home may contribute to the decrease of residential improvement permit applications received so far." .The statement said commercial building permit applications continued to remain high over the first two quarters of 2022. The first six months of the year saw a construction value of $81.8 million, up from $22.6 million in 2021. .Construction value for food, entertainment and hospitality buildings across Calgary saw an increase of 262%. This includes the construction of hotel the Dorian, which contributed $57.5 million in value this quarter and is one of the largest hospitality-related construction projects undertaken in Calgary since 2010..Additional buildings with construction values exceeding $25 million included apartment complex Curtis Block, mixed-use high rise building 11th and 11th, and a new student residence. .While building permits and construction values are not reflective of overall market and economic conditions, the City of Calgary said it offers a benchmark for the state of the construction industry. .These findings come after the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said in 2021 Canadians must leave suburbs and start to embrace high-density settings if they want to fight climate change. .READ MORE: CMHC says Canadians must abandoned suburbs for high-density housing to ease climate change.CMHC said it would help remove barriers favouring construction of single-family homes. .“Even though these are all municipal and provincial issues, we feel CMHC has a role in working with various partners to identify the barriers to housing supply creation and to be a constructive partner in unblocking those barriers,” said CMHC CEO Romy Bowers.
With more than half of the year completed, Calgary’s construction industry showed no signs of slowing down. .“Developers and builders are investing more in present-day Calgary, which helps to position our city and economy for a successful future,” said City of Calgary General Manager, Planning and Development Stuart Dalgleish in a Thursday statement. .“During this incredibly high-volume environment, we continue to meet our service level targets 85% of the time for multi-disciplinary development applications and 91% of the time for building applications for new single and semi-detached homes in new communities.”.The statement said the City of Calgary received 4,492 development permits and 11,194 building permit applications during the first six months of 2022. The total construction value across residential and commercial buildings is $3 billion, compared to $3.3 billion reported this time last year. .Single construction permit requests are up 9% from Calgary’s record in 2021. Affordability and immigration contributed to strong demand for new home construction. .Residential improvement permits have declined by 12% this year, an anticipated drop as these requests saw a 33% spike over the last two years. .“During the pandemic, Calgarians invested heavily in home improvements projects, as we all navigated creative ways to use our space,” said Dalgleish. .“A renewed interest in travel and entertainment outside of the home may contribute to the decrease of residential improvement permit applications received so far." .The statement said commercial building permit applications continued to remain high over the first two quarters of 2022. The first six months of the year saw a construction value of $81.8 million, up from $22.6 million in 2021. .Construction value for food, entertainment and hospitality buildings across Calgary saw an increase of 262%. This includes the construction of hotel the Dorian, which contributed $57.5 million in value this quarter and is one of the largest hospitality-related construction projects undertaken in Calgary since 2010..Additional buildings with construction values exceeding $25 million included apartment complex Curtis Block, mixed-use high rise building 11th and 11th, and a new student residence. .While building permits and construction values are not reflective of overall market and economic conditions, the City of Calgary said it offers a benchmark for the state of the construction industry. .These findings come after the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said in 2021 Canadians must leave suburbs and start to embrace high-density settings if they want to fight climate change. .READ MORE: CMHC says Canadians must abandoned suburbs for high-density housing to ease climate change.CMHC said it would help remove barriers favouring construction of single-family homes. .“Even though these are all municipal and provincial issues, we feel CMHC has a role in working with various partners to identify the barriers to housing supply creation and to be a constructive partner in unblocking those barriers,” said CMHC CEO Romy Bowers.
