Residential construction boosting pandemic economic recovery

Growing home building permits in the Saskatoon area are just one sign of the province’s attempts at economic recovery.

According to figures released by Statistics Canada on Friday, the country’s economy lost 207,000 jobs in April as renewed lockdowns in many provinces prevented more people from working.

Saskatchewan was one of the few provinces trending in the other direction, though, as a gain of 9,500 jobs in April helped the province tie Quebec for the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 6.6 per cent.

Saskatoon and Region Home Builders’ Association CEO Chris Guerette said the gains point to the economic optimism building in Saskatchewan.

“It’s really about how are we competing as a province, as a city, as a region — and that just spells out optimism to me,” she said.

With many provinces introducing new restrictions until COVID-19 vaccination rates increase, Saskatchewan announced its plans for reopening earlier this week.

Rather than looking at hospitalization numbers or new daily infections, employers are looking to the summer when restrictions might be lifted.

“After this pandemic, competition is going to be fierce among different regions and different provinces to get that economy back. It’s going to be fiercer than we’ve ever known it,” Guerette said.

Residential building permits for the Saskatoon region — which includes Martensville, Osler, Warman, Prince Albert and the R.M. of Corman Park — show signs of holding steady despite a shortage of building materials.

Single-family home permits pulled decreased by 13 per cent compared to this time last year, but overall in 2020, permits increased by 50 per cent, a number that grows to 96 per cent compared to the number of permits pulled in 2019.

Multi-family permits and renovation permits have also increased compared to 2019 and 2020.

“We have no indication that the market is going to slow down,” Guerette said. “This is encouraging for our province.”

With the recent shortage on building supplies, multi-family permits have decreased by 78 per cent compared to April 2020 and are down 83 per cent compared to April of 2019.

It’s a stark comparison to the year-to-date numbers, which show permits have increased by 55 per cent compared to 2020 and by 70 per cent compared to 2019.

With the construction season still ramping up and the reopening plan earmarking mid-July to lift restrictions, Guerette figures Saskatchewan’s economy will see another boost next month.

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but right now I’m not seeing any indications this would slow down,” she said. “Residential construction and land development is a huge employer. If they’re performing well, that means there’s other areas that are also performing well and feeding off of that.”