After contracting by 9.0% in December, the seasonally adjusted value of building permits* issued by Alberta municipalities in January ticked up by 2.1%.

The increase was due entirely to a jump in the value of commercial sector building permits (+73.3%) as residential (-11.8%), industrial (-25.9%) and institutional/governmental (-17.2%) permit values fell.

The monthly value of permits was up by 4.4% in Calgary with both industrial permits (+31.2%) and commercial permits (+134.1%) higher.

Overall permit value in Edmonton was flat with modest increases in residential permits (+2.4%) and commercial projects (+8.0%).

Nationally, monthly permit value was down by 8.8% in January.

*Statistics Canada’s Building Permits Survey covers all Canadian municipalities that issue permits.

Answer to the previous trivia question: With more than 13,800 kilometers of active pipe, Enbridge’s Mainline pipeline network has the capacity to transport 2.85 million barrels a day of light and heavy crude oil from Edmonton, Alberta to the U.S. Midwest and Ontario.

Today’s trivia question: Approximately how many single-detached homes are there in Canada?