Building permits for February came in at $13.1B, up nearly 3% M/M and was well ahead of expectations for a 0.5% decline.

Under the hood results were mixed, with very strong 15% growth in non-residential permitting partly offset by a 3% decline in residential activity.

Multi-family activity was down 4% and continues to weigh on residential permitting results, while single family permitting remained relatively flat, down less than 1%.

Commercial and industrial activity were the big drivers in the non-residential category, up 23% and 12%, respectively. As Canada focuses inward to reduce U.S. reliance, we could continue to see strong activity out of these segments.