Construction intentions in Canada cooled for a fourth consecutive month in February, on the heels of a sharp decline in the value of building permits for non-residential construction in Ontario, Statistics Canada reported today.

Municipalities issued $5.8 billion worth of building permits, down 1% from January. Intentions peaked in May and June 2007 at $7 billion.

February’s decline resulted from much lower non-residential construction intentions in Ontario, StatsCan said. If the province were excluded, the total value of building permits nationally would have increased 9.8%, instead of declining 1%.

Nationally, a marked increase in residential intentions was not enough to offset a decline in intentions in the non-residential sector.

In the residential sector, the value of building permits increased 18.2% to $3.9 billion. This was fuelled by jumps in values of both multi- and single-family permits.

The value of non-residential permits fell 25.6% to $1.9 billion, the lowest level over the last 12 months.

February’s loss was due to double-digit decreases in permits for all three components: institutional, commercial and industrial.