{
  "id": "downtown-business-permits",
  "category": "Downtown",
  "title": "Building permits for shops, offices and restaurants downtown",
  "geography": "Downtown Victoria (the City of Victoria's Downtown neighbourhood)",
  "scope": "city",
  "levels": [
    "Municipal (permits issued by the City)",
    "Business owners and landlords"
  ],
  "plain_question": "How many permits has the City issued in the last 12 months to build, renovate or fit out commercial space downtown?",
  "value": 79,
  "display_value": "79",
  "unit": "building permits for commercial properties in the 12 months to Nov 9, 2026",
  "period": "12 months to Nov 9, 2026",
  "period_start": "2025-11-10",
  "period_end": "2026-11-09",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "12 months to Nov 9, 2025",
    "previous_value": 54,
    "change_percent": 46.3
  },
  "trailing_12": {
    "period": "Nov 10, 2025–Nov 9, 2026",
    "value": 79,
    "previous_period": "Nov 10, 2024–Nov 9, 2025",
    "previous_value": 54,
    "change_percent": 46.3
  },
  "year_to_date": {
    "period": "Jan 1–Nov 9, 2026",
    "value": 71,
    "previous_period": "Jan 1–Nov 9, 2025",
    "previous_value": 49,
    "change_percent": 44.9,
    "preliminary": true
  },
  "five_compare": {
    "period": "12 months to Nov 9, 2021",
    "value": 76
  },
  "reference": {
    "label": "2019, before the pandemic",
    "full_year": 117,
    "same_days": 100,
    "period": "Jan 1–Nov 9, 2019"
  },
  "since_text": "Was 54 in the 12 months before. Year to date (preliminary): 71, against 49 in the same days of 2025. Before the pandemic, 2019: 117 for the full year, 100 to Nov 9",
  "trend": "improving",
  "trend_basis": "79 permits in the 12 months to Nov 9, 2026, compared with 54 in the 12 months before (+46%). Year to date, preliminary: 71 permits from January 1 to Nov 9, 2026, compared with 49 in the same days of 2025 (+45%). Before the pandemic, in 2019: 117 for the full year and 100 by Nov 9. Last full year, for context: 57 in 2025, compared with 58 in 2024.",
  "direction_good": "up",
  "right_direction": "A higher number means more owners and businesses are investing in commercial space downtown, such as fitting out a new shop, restaurant or office.",
  "caveats": [
    "Counts building permits on properties the City classes as commercial in the Downtown neighbourhood: interior work (for example fitting out a shop, restaurant or office), larger or complex projects, and other commercial building work. Demolition, strip-out, blasting and noise permits, and permits later cancelled, are not counted. Each permit is counted once.",
    "A permit shows that someone is investing in a space. It does not show that a business opened, how long it stays, or how many storefronts are empty. Storefront vacancy is not published as open data (see the methods page).",
    "Small numbers: a few dozen permits a year, so a handful can move the change a lot. The headline is the latest 12 months, to the latest issue date in the City's file (Nov 9, 2026), against the 12 months before; the year to date is shown underneath as preliminary. 2019, the last year before the pandemic, is given as a reference. Calendar-year totals: 2003: 132, 2004: 109, 2005: 125, 2006: 145, 2007: 162, 2008: 173, 2009: 96, 2010: 109, 2011: 155, 2012: 130, 2013: 100, 2014: 143, 2015: 118, 2016: 106, 2017: 111, 2018: 114, 2019: 117, 2020: 70, 2021: 72, 2022: 64, 2023: 69, 2024: 58, 2025: 57.",
    "The count is calculated here from the City's complete permit file, which is updated daily. The City also publishes a separate 10-year summary file whose counts for the same years are lower; that file is not used.",
    "Some permits may be entered after they are issued, so the most recent weeks can rise slightly when the file is refreshed.",
    "The chart starts in 2003. Before then the City's file did not yet use separate labels for interior-only and strip-out permits (2002 is a changeover year), so earlier years cannot be counted the same way. The file's first full years after it went digital in 1994 are also incomplete."
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2003",
      "value": 132
    },
    {
      "period": "2004",
      "value": 109
    },
    {
      "period": "2005",
      "value": 125
    },
    {
      "period": "2006",
      "value": 145
    },
    {
      "period": "2007",
      "value": 162
    },
    {
      "period": "2008",
      "value": 173
    },
    {
      "period": "2009",
      "value": 96
    },
    {
      "period": "2010",
      "value": 109
    },
    {
      "period": "2011",
      "value": 155
    },
    {
      "period": "2012",
      "value": 130
    },
    {
      "period": "2013",
      "value": 100
    },
    {
      "period": "2014",
      "value": 143
    },
    {
      "period": "2015",
      "value": 118
    },
    {
      "period": "2016",
      "value": 106
    },
    {
      "period": "2017",
      "value": 111
    },
    {
      "period": "2018",
      "value": 114
    },
    {
      "period": "2019",
      "value": 117
    },
    {
      "period": "2020",
      "value": 70
    },
    {
      "period": "2021",
      "value": 72
    },
    {
      "period": "2022",
      "value": 64
    },
    {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 69
    },
    {
      "period": "2024",
      "value": 58
    },
    {
      "period": "2025",
      "value": 57
    }
  ],
  "series_note": "Calendar-year totals. Latest 12 months (to Nov 9, 2026): 79. 2026 so far (to Nov 9, preliminary): 71",
  "source": {
    "name": "City of Victoria, Open Data Portal (Building Permits)",
    "url": "https://opendata.victoria.ca/datasets/96207097159742f8af47216bc09fe1dd",
    "dataset_url": "https://opendata.victoria.ca/datasets/96207097159742f8af47216bc09fe1dd",
    "download_url": "https://maps.victoria.ca/CustomMaps/OpenData/BuildingPermits.csv",
    "publisher_page": "https://opendata.victoria.ca/",
    "locator": "City of Victoria building permits dataset: commercial permits issued in the Downtown neighbourhood, the 12 months to Nov 9, 2026 against the 12 months before, and the year to date (Jan 1–Nov 9, 2026) against the same days of earlier years"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Open Government Licence - City of Victoria",
    "url": "https://opendata.victoria.ca/pages/open-data-licence"
  },
  "refresh_frequency": "Daily",
  "data_published": "2026-11-09",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-12T01:29:47Z",
  "attribution": "Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - City of Victoria.",
  "licence_type": "open",
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "The change is 46.3% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": {
      "period": "12 months to Nov 9, 2025",
      "value": 54,
      "text": "vs Nov 9, 2025: +46.3%"
    },
    "five_year": {
      "period": "12 months to Nov 9, 2021",
      "years": 5,
      "value": null,
      "comparable": true,
      "text": "vs 12 months to Nov 9, 2021: +3.9%"
    }
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "outcome",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better",
    "arrow": "▲",
    "rel": 46.3,
    "delta": null,
    "vs": "12 months to Nov 9, 2025",
    "cur": "12 months to Nov 9, 2026",
    "why": "The change is 46.3% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.",
    "change": "46%",
    "one_year": "+46.3%",
    "five": {
      "period": "12 months to Nov 9, 2021",
      "comparable": true,
      "rel": 3.9473684210526314,
      "text": "+3.9%",
      "years": 5
    }
  },
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "activity",
  "better_measure": null,
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 4,
    "rung_name": "Context measure: no target expected",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "context",
        "label": "Context measure: no target expected",
        "area": null,
        "source": null,
        "documents_checked": null,
        "text": "Context measure: no target expected. A count of permits issued, shown as activity."
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "no_target_expected": "A count of permits issued, shown as activity.",
  "benchmarks": [],
  "highest_rung": null,
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "COV",
      "name": "City of Victoria Council",
      "decides": "Decides zoning and development permits, and regulates building by bylaw.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "lga479",
          "label": "Local Government Act, s. 479",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/r15001_14#section479"
        },
        {
          "key": "lga490",
          "label": "Local Government Act, s. 490",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/r15001_14#section490"
        },
        {
          "key": "cc8l",
          "label": "Community Charter, s. 8 (3) (l)",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/03026_02#section8"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C.",
      "decides": "Sets the B.C. Building Code.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "ba3",
          "label": "Building Act, s. 3",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/15002#section3"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "City of Victoria Council",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better"
  },
  "label_long": {
    "key": "same",
    "label": "About the same",
    "years": 5,
    "change": "+3.9%"
  },
  "target_line": {
    "form": 7,
    "text": "No target expected",
    "target": null,
    "gap": null,
    "comparison": null,
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": "A count of permits issued, shown as activity."
  }
}