OTTAWA -- Canadian building permits fell far more than expected in August as both the residential and non-residential sectors registered big declines, Statistics Canada said Monday.

The value of construction permits fell 13.5 per cent to $5.6 billion in August from the previous month, the federal agency said. Most economists had expected a decline of between 1.3 and 1.5 per cent in August.

On an annual basis, permits were down 0.7 per cent from August 2007, the agency said.

The residential sector posts a 9.3 per cent decline to $3.4 billion in August from the previous month. "This decline was mainly due to a 17.5 per cent drop in multi-family dwellings, coupled with a 3.8 per cent decline in single-family dwellings," it said. "New Brunswick (up 42.5 per cent), Saskatchewan (up 2.6 per cent) and Prince Edward Island (up 1.5 per cent) were the only provinces with increases in the residential sector."

The value in the non-residential permits fell 19.3 per cent to $2.2 billion as a result of declines in all main areas -- industrial, commercial and institutional.

"After double-digit increases in April and May, the value of non-residential permits declined for the second time in three months," Statistics Canada said.

Charmaine Buskas, economics strategist at TD Securities, said the report shows overall economic activity is cooling.

"It is now not only a slowdown in the housing market, but also a slowdown in the non-residential sector," she said. "As fewer factories and warehouses are built, it suggests that underlying demand on the business side of the economy is weakening."

© The Vancouver Sun 2008