HUMBOLDT — With 2020 in the books, Frank Carpentieri, Humboldt’s planning co-ordinator, is looking back on the number of building permits issued for the city during that time.
Despite COVID-19 bringing many challenges for Humboldt residents, the money spent on construction products has been consistent across the year, with 36 permits issued and $4.2 million of work done in residential, commercial and industrial sectors across the city.
In 2019, 38 permits were issued valued at $3.1 million worth of projects and in 2018, 49 permits were issued with the projects valued at $4.9 million.
Back in March, Carpentieri expected 2020 to have a much greater impact on building permit numbers and values.
Out of the 2020 permits, only one was a brand new building with the rest being renovations to residential, commercial and industrial properties. In the case of residential renovations, Carpentieri said people wanted to spend that money since the lockdown meant more time at home in the spring and summer.
With only a million dollars difference between permit values in 2019 and 2020, Carpentieri said it didn’t take much, maybe one more commercial renovation, to cause that rise for 2020.
For 2020, Saskatchewan had $1.2 billion in building permits over 2020, which was a drop from 2019’s $1.5 billion. Nationally, Saskatchewan is ranked eight among the rest of the provinces with a 2.8 per cent drop in the national average. Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador were the only provinces that saw a rise in permit dollars.
