Toronto’s reliably strong commercial sector led Central Ontario’s ICI industry to a modest overall increase in permit values for the past six months. Commercial permit values had increases of at least 30% in every metropolitan area except Barrie and Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo. Central Ontario’s industrial sector on the other hand struggled through the past six months, with permit values declining 39% for the region overall. Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo was the only metropolitan area to see a significant increase in industrial permit values. The Darlington Nuclear refurbishment project which began in November is not accounted for by municipal permit values. This project is certainly driving activity in the Oshawa metropolitan area. The past six months was mixed for the institutional sector. Overall for Central Ontario, institutional permit values declined slightly but varied to both extremes across the different metropolitan areas. Some metropolitan areas had significant increases, while in Barrie, Brantford, and Guelph nearly 100% of permit values were wiped out.
