Building permits for May hit $13.1B, gaining 12% versus April and topping analyst expectations for a flat M/M reading.

The strength looks less sustainable under the hood, with the outperformance driven almost entirely by institutional activity…

…linked to a $1.3B gain in Ontario on construction intentions for a hospital in Niagara.

Residential permitting helped to a much smaller degree, with a ~$700M gain in Vancouver multi-unit activity offsetting continued weakness in single family intentions.