Statistics // Industry highlights — building permits and housing starts

The following statistics were released from the Economics and Statistics Division on May 14, 2025. For full details from this dataset, click here.

Monthly (seasonally adjusted, March 2025 vs February 2025)

Nova Scotia’s total building permits (residential and non-residential) grew 0.7% to $325.3 million
Halifax permits fell 33.7% to $130.2 million while permits outside the city rose 54.0% to $195.1 million
National permits dropped 4.1% to $12.88 billion

Year-to-date (January-March 2025 vs January-March 2024)

Nova Scotia’s total building permits (residential and non-residential) were up 12.7% in the first three months of the year comparing with the same period in 2024
Halifax permits declined 0.6%
Outside the city permit values increased 31.4%
National permits were up 13.9%

Nova Scotia’s non-residential building permits rose 80.1% in the first three months of 2025 (compared with the same period in 2024)
Halifax permits increased 14.0% while non-residential permits outside the city rose 173.5%
National non-residential building permit values declined 5.9%
- Non-residential permit values were up in six provinces, led by Nova Scotia

Trends

Nova Scotia’s non-residential building permit values started to rise in early 2023 before reaching a plateau through the end of the year
Non-residential permit values reached a plateau in Halifax while declining in the rest of Nova Scotia, resulting in a continuation of flat trend for most of 2024
Non-residential permits have trended up in recent months due to notable growth outside the city
After rising in early 2023, Halifax values for industrial building permits subsequently declined and remained flat since the second half of 2024
Outside the city, permits have exhibited a rise in recent months due to growth in commercial and institutional and government permits

The following statistics were released from the Economics and Statistics Division on May 12, 2025. For full details from this dataset, click here.

Monthly (March 2025 vs February 2025, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)

Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 7,705 units in March 2025
- This was a 1.2% increase from the previous month’s revised value of 7,613 starts

Across Canada, housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 214,155 units in March 2025, down 3.3% from 221,405 units reported in February 2025

Year-over-year (March 2025 vs March 2024, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)

Nova Scotia’s housing starts were down 10.3% compared with the 8,594 unit pace set in March 2024
Across Canada, housing starts were down 11.6% year-over-year in March 2025 with gains in five provinces

Year-to-date (January-March 2024 vs January-March 2025)

Nova Scotia housing starts have declined 16.4% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period a year ago
Nationally, housing starts have declined 8.9% in the first three months of 2025, despite six provinces posting an increase in housing starts

The following statistics were released from the Economics and Statistics Division on May 15, 2025. For full details from this dataset, click here.

Monthly (April 2025 vs March 2025, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)

Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 12,773 units in April 2025
- This was a 65.6% increase from the previous month’s revised value of 7,715 starts, and was the highest rate of Nova Scotia housing starts since February 2024

Across Canada, housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 278,606 units in April 2025, up 30.1% from 214,205 units reported in March 2025

Year-over-year (April 2025 vs April 2024, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)

Nova Scotia’s housing starts were up 60.3% compared with the 7,970 unit pace set in April 2024
Across Canada, housing starts were up 15.3% year-over-year in April 2025 with gains in six provinces

Year-to-date (January-April 2024 vs January-April 2025)

Nova Scotia housing starts have increased 0.3% in the first four months of 2025 compared to the same period a year ago
Nationally, housing starts have declined 2.9% in the first four months of 2025, despite seven provinces posting an increase in housing starts