North Bay, ON – Feb. 7, 2022 - North Bay ended its biggest building year on record with a bang as construction values for 2021 climbed to more than $150 million.
Although the previous record of approximately $101 million – set in 2006 – was surpassed in October, more than $50 million worth of building permits were issued throughout November and December leading to a year-end total of $153,435,492.
“This is the highest annual total construction value on record, far exceeding the 10-year average of $75 million,” said Mayor Al McDonald. “Despite the many challenges associated with the pandemic, our City continues to experience economic growth.”
There was construction activity across all sectors in 2021, with residential experiencing the largest increase and ending the year at $78,434,537, up slightly from $72.6 million in October. This included 245 new dwelling units for the year, of which 86 were single-detached dwellings, 138 were multi-residential units, 10 were semi-detached units, nine were secondary units and two were duplexes. The 10-year average for total new dwelling units is 66.
“It’s especially encouraging to see this level of residential construction,” said McDonald. “These new housing starts will bring much-needed new supply to the local market and help to ease the housing supply shortage that’s affecting the entire country.”
The largest increase since October was within the institutional sector, which ended the year with a total construction value of $51,146,945, up from $15,847,945. Commercial and industrial building permits also increased to $9,520,585 and $12,272,490, up from $8,507,765 and $6,272,490 respectively.
“We’re expecting 2022 to be another busy year for construction and we’re already off to a strong start with January construction values up compared to the same period for the previous two years,” said McDonald.