Value of building permits plummets after Sask. Party addition of PST to construction contracts

As the Saskatchewan Construction Association warned would happen over a year ago, the addition of PST to construction contracts is drastically impacting Saskatchewan’s construction industry. Today, Statistics Canada released the latest value of building permits report from August and it shows the average building permit in Saskatchewan has dropped by 32.9 per cent since August 2017.

“Removing the PST exemption has hit Saskatchewan’s construction industry hard,” said NDP Housing Critic Nicole Rancourt. “We’re already losing people to other provinces due to a lack of job opportunities and lower wages, and that policy choice only made the situation worse.”

The value of residential building permits dropped by 29.5 per cent from August 2017 to August 2018. In that same time frame, non-residential permits dropped by a staggering 35.7 per cent. Unlike Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Manitoba saw an increase in their building permits’ value. Overall, B.C. increased by 42.7 per cent and Manitoba went up by 39.5 per cent.

“The Sask. Party has continually chipped away at Saskatchewan’s economic prosperity to the point where we’re struggling to compete with other provinces,” said Rancourt. “Saskatchewan people need a job-creating government that values the industries that make this province a better place to live, including the construction industry.”

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