The value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities dropped 13.5% in August compared with July.

There was lower activity in both the residential and non-residential sectors, with steep overall declines in Ontario, down 11.5% to $2.1 billion, and Alberta, down 19.1% to $916 million, Statistics Canada said.

StatsCan said the August national building-permit total of $5.6 billion was back to the level of March, reversing big increases earlier in the spring and summer.

On a year-to-date basis, permits were down 0.7% from 2007.

Among major cities, the steepest declines in August were in Toronto and Calgary, mainly in multi-family dwellings and non-residential buildings.