Contractors took out $6.8 billion worth of building permits in November, down 6.7% from October. This decline follows an 8.0% gain the previous month. Despite this monthly decrease, the total value of permits continued to show a slight upward trend on the strength of eight monthly increases since the beginning of 2013. Lower construction intentions, particularly for the residential sector in Quebec and Ontario, were behind the decline in November. After two consecutive monthly increases, the total value of permits in the residential sector declined 7.6% to $4.1 billion in November. Lower residential construction ... (full story)