Building Permits

St. John's Building Permits

Newfoundland and Labrador · Statistics Canada Table 34-10-0066-01 · 5/2026

By OpenStats · Built from official Canadian sources

Direct municipal data

Construction value this period

$74.5MCADHigh activity

459 building permits issued

$0$239.2M+Prov. avg$32.5MNational avg$213.6M
Permits issued
459
-4.4% vs same month prior year
Total permit value
$74.5M
$74,516,000
Avg permit value
$162K
Newfoundland and Labrador avg: $114K

Reading this page

St. John's issued 459 building permits in 5/2026, representing $74,516,000 in total construction value. The average permit was valued at $162,344, and 246 new housing starts were recorded in the period.

Residential work accounted for $72,235,000 (97%) of permit value, versus $2,281,000 (3%) non-residential. 246 residential units were included across this period's permits.

How to read this

Figures come from Statistics Canada's Monthly Survey of Building Permits (SDDS 2802), Table 34-10-0292-01: construction intentions at authorization. They are not CMHC starts or completions, and not dollars actually spent. Releases typically land about six weeks after the reference month; prior months revise.

Read year-over-year permit value beside residential units and the residential share. Value tracks capital intentions and can rise with construction costs even when unit counts are flat. Units are the cleaner signal for housing supply. Prefer multi-month or calendar-year totals; one large project can dominate a single month. Direct means a municipal or CMA breakout; regional means the enclosing metro may misstate this city alone.

Pair this page with CMHC starts when you care about homes actually underway, and with local permit portals when you need faster street-level detail. Method detail: methodology.

YoY permit value
+4.2%
+4.2% vs same month prior year
Residential units
246
New housing starts
246
Residential share
97%
Non-residential: 3%

Provincial & national comparison

St. John's vs Newfoundland and Labrador average (101 cities) and national average (4502 cities) for 5/2026.

St. John's total value75M
Newfoundland and Labrador average32M
National average214M
Permits issued459
Avg value per permit ($K)162K

Figure 1 · Value composition

Residential vs non-residential permit value

St. John's recorded $72,235,000 in residential construction (96.9%) and $2,281,000 in non-residential work (3.1%) during 5/2026.

Market summary

  • 96.9% of permit value is residential ($72,235,000)
  • 3.1% is non-residential ($2,281,000)
  • 246 new housing starts recorded in 5/2026
  • Provincial average: 285 permits and $32.5M per city

Value breakdown

CategoryValueShare
Residential value$72,235,00096.9%
Non-residential value$2,281,0003.1%
Total permits459
Avg value per permit$162,344vs $114K prov.

Contractors & suppliers

Planning a project in St. John's? Compare construction insurance, bonding, and equipment financing options for commercial and residential builds in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Sponsored · B2B partners · Independent of Statistics Canada data

Source · 34-10-0292-01. Last updated 2026-07-18. Refreshed on the site's automated schedule.