Prince George building permit value approaches record despite pandemic

The value of building permits issued in Prince George in 2020 came within striking distance of the all-time annual record in spite of the economic uncertainty.

According to a staff report on the agenda for the Monday City Council meeting, building permit values for 2020 reached a total of about $219 Million, which is less than two percent lower than the all-time high annual total of $223 Million set during 2019.

The value of new commercial building permits was just under $50 Million this year, twice the value set in 2019, and three times the value of the same permits in 2018.

Meanwhile, the value of new multi-family building permits, which at $68 Million, is up about 30 percent over the total set in 2019 ($52,366,650).

The highest value permits of the year include:

$35 Million – downtown pool at 7th Avenue and Dominion Street
$14 Million – four-story multi-family residential building with parkade, 4413 Glen Shee Road
$9,030,765 – new commercial building for Primex Properties, 547 George Street
$5,925,000 – four-story, 75 multi-family unit residential apartment building, 2658 Replace Drive
$5,608,000 – three-story Multi-Family Transition House, E-Fry Society, 14th Avenue
In recent years, the value of permits have set a number of impressive records:

In 2016, the value of private sector construction reached a new high in Prince George with $122.5 Million in private sector investment.

In 2017, residential building permit values set a record at $114.37 Million, breaking the previous all-time record of $76.42 Million by about $38 Million, a percentage increase of 50 percent.

In 2018, the total value of building permits ($186.38 Million) beat the previous record of $147.88 Million set in 2007 by nearly $40 Million – a 26 percent increase.

In 2019, both the value and number of building permits issued in Prince George beat the previous record-breaking year (2018) by nearly 20 percent with $223 Million.