It seems even a pandemic can’t slow Burnaby’s construction industry.
Through the first five months of 2020, the City of Burnaby has approved between 76 and 95 building permit approvals each month, with the highest number this year recorded in March and the largest individual projects coming in May.
As the pandemic struck, shaking up economies worldwide, the B.C. government included the construction industry among essential services that could – and should – continue during the pandemic. Construction made up roughly 9% of B.C.’s gross domestic product in 2019, according to provincial government statistics.
The overall value of Burnaby’s building permits between January and April ranged from around $39 million in April and $126 million in January, according to monthly data from Burnaby council meetings.
But in May, alone, building permit approvals amounted to over $269 million – about 43% of the year-to-date total of $625 million.
That tops the year-to-date values of any of the last three years, including 2018, which saw a record $1.6 billion in building permit approvals. In the first five months of that year, building permit values totalled around $546 million.
What remains unclear, however, is whether the trend will continue. If it does, Burnaby could be looking at another record year of construction, which could be good news for an economic recovery for the city.
The vast majority of May’s permit values, according to the city’s data, comes from five new multi-family developments, totalling $232 million. Among those five developments, city spokesperson Chris Bryan said about $200 million is accounted for by two projects.
The two projects, Bryan said, are for residential towers in the Lougheed town centre area. Podiums for both are already under construction, under separate building permits, with the towers themselves expected to follow.
Bryan said the projects just happened to be approved at the same time in May.
While the city's total construction value in approved building permits is on track for an all-time high, however, the number of actual building permits being approved is looking to be the lowest since at least 2015.
So far this year, 422 building permits have been approved, while 2019 saw 451, 2018 saw 641 and 2017 saw 757. Year-to-date figures weren't immediately available for 2015 and 2016, but the year-end figures for those two years were still higher than the year-end total in 2017.
