{
  "id": "new-homes-approved",
  "category": "Housing and homelessness",
  "title": "New homes approved by building permit, City of Victoria",
  "geography": "City of Victoria (municipality)",
  "scope": "city",
  "levels": [
    "Municipal (permits issued by the City)",
    "Private builders"
  ],
  "plain_question": "How many new homes has the city approved for construction in the last 12 months?",
  "value": 1124,
  "display_value": "1,124",
  "unit": "homes (residential units in building permits issued), latest 12 months",
  "period": "12 months to August 2026",
  "period_start": "2025-09-01",
  "period_end": "2026-08-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "12 months to August 2025",
    "previous_value": 958,
    "change_percent": 17.3
  },
  "trailing_12": {
    "period": "Sep 2025–Aug 2026",
    "value": 1124,
    "previous_period": "Sep 2024–Aug 2025",
    "previous_value": 958,
    "change_percent": 17.3
  },
  "year_to_date": {
    "period": "Jan–Aug 2026",
    "value": 218,
    "previous_period": "Jan–Aug 2025",
    "previous_value": 740,
    "change_percent": -70.5,
    "preliminary": true
  },
  "mixed": true,
  "concentration": {
    "months": "Oct–Nov 2025",
    "value": 786,
    "of": 1124
  },
  "five_compare": {
    "period": "12 months to August 2021",
    "value": 1451
  },
  "since_text": "Was 958 in the 12 months before (Sep 2024–Aug 2025). Year to date (preliminary): 218 in Jan–Aug 2026, against 740 in Jan–Aug 2025",
  "trend": "mixed",
  "trend_basis": "1,124 homes approved in the 12 months Sep 2025–Aug 2026, compared with 958 in the 12 months before (Sep 2024–Aug 2025, +17.3%). Year to date, preliminary: 218 from January to August 2026, compared with 740 in the same months of 2025 (-70.5%). The two differ by 5% or more in opposite directions, so the label is Mixed.",
  "direction_good": "up",
  "right_direction": "A higher number means more new homes were approved for construction.",
  "caveats": [
    "Permits approve homes; they do not mean the homes have been built or occupied.",
    "786 of the 1,124 homes in the latest 12 months were approved in Oct–Nov 2025. A few large apartment buildings can move a whole year, so a single period is a weak signal.",
    "The headline is the latest 12 months (Sep 2025–Aug 2026) against the 12 months before. The year to date (Jan–Aug 2026) is shown underneath as preliminary data. When the two differ by 5% or more in opposite directions, the label is Mixed.",
    "The change over five years compares the same 12 months (Sep 2020–Aug 2021: 1,451).",
    "The chart shows full calendar years only. Yearly totals since 2018: 2018: 1,283, 2019: 602, 2020: 581, 2021: 1,205, 2022: 1,120, 2023: 810, 2024: 936, 2025: 1,646.",
    "Data come from Statistics Canada's Building Permits survey as published by BC Stats. Municipal reporting is not always complete, and 2018 onward is not directly comparable to earlier years."
  ],
  "series_note": "Each point is a full calendar year. Latest 12 months (Sep 2025–Aug 2026): 1,124. 2026 so far (Jan–Aug 2026, preliminary): 218",
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2018",
      "value": 1283
    },
    {
      "period": "2019",
      "value": 602
    },
    {
      "period": "2020",
      "value": 581
    },
    {
      "period": "2021",
      "value": 1205
    },
    {
      "period": "2022",
      "value": 1120
    },
    {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 810
    },
    {
      "period": "2024",
      "value": 936
    },
    {
      "period": "2025",
      "value": 1646
    }
  ],
  "source": {
    "name": "BC Stats, Government of British Columbia (adapted from Statistics Canada, Building Permits survey)",
    "url": "https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/45a00be0-d572-4e42-be18-1bbaaf6c85ee/resource/dbc42bcc-75b3-4d48-a8b9-aefdd2608e63/download/resunitstotal.csv",
    "dataset_url": "https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/45a00be0-d572-4e42-be18-1bbaaf6c85ee",
    "download_url": "https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/45a00be0-d572-4e42-be18-1bbaaf6c85ee/resource/dbc42bcc-75b3-4d48-a8b9-aefdd2608e63/download/resunitstotal.csv",
    "publisher_page": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/statistics/economy/housing-building-permits",
    "locator": "BC Stats building permits file (CSV): Victoria (city) row, residential units by month (the headline adds the latest 12 months; the year to date is added from January)"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Open Government Licence - British Columbia",
    "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content?id=A519A56BC2BF44E4A008B33FCF527F61"
  },
  "refresh_frequency": "Monthly",
  "data_published": "2026-10-22",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-12T03:49:53Z",
  "attribution": "Adapted from Statistics Canada, Building Permits. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.",
  "by_municipality": {
    "title": "Homes approved by building permit, Capital Regional District municipalities and areas, Sep 2025–Aug 2026",
    "columns": [
      "Municipality",
      "Sep 2025–Aug 2026",
      "Sep 2024–Aug 2025"
    ],
    "rows": [
      [
        "Central Saanich",
        null,
        76
      ],
      [
        "Colwood",
        430,
        537
      ],
      [
        "Esquimalt",
        null,
        null
      ],
      [
        "Highlands",
        null,
        null
      ],
      [
        "Langford",
        null,
        null
      ],
      [
        "Metchosin",
        null,
        null
      ],
      [
        "North Saanich",
        null,
        null
      ],
      [
        "Oak Bay",
        67,
        73
      ],
      [
        "Saanich",
        1235,
        841
      ],
      [
        "Saltspring Island",
        94,
        96
      ],
      [
        "Sidney",
        null,
        null
      ],
      [
        "Sooke",
        null,
        null
      ],
      [
        "Victoria",
        1124,
        958
      ],
      [
        "View Royal",
        null,
        null
      ],
      [
        "Capital (whole regional district, as in the file)",
        4314,
        4529
      ]
    ],
    "note": "Residential units in building permits issued, from the same BC Stats file. A dash means at least one month in the 12 is shown as x in the file. The file says: “x means the data is either not available or has been suppressed due to confidentiality or quality concerns and cannot be released publicly.”"
  },
  "licence_type": "open",
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "service result",
  "better_measure": null,
  "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 17.3% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": {
      "period": "12 months to August 2025",
      "value": 958,
      "text": "vs Aug 2025: +17.3%"
    },
    "five_year": {
      "period": "12 months to August 2021",
      "years": 5,
      "value": null,
      "comparable": true,
      "text": "vs 12 months to August 2021: −22.5%"
    }
  },
  "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": "mixed",
    "label": "Mixed",
    "arrow": null,
    "rel": 17.3,
    "delta": null,
    "vs": "12 months to August 2025",
    "cur": "12 months to August 2026",
    "why": "The latest 12 months are +17.3% against the 12 months before, and the year to date (preliminary) is −70.5% against the same months a year earlier. They differ by 5% or more in opposite directions, so the label is Mixed.",
    "change": "17%",
    "one_year": "+17.3%",
    "five": {
      "period": "12 months to August 2021",
      "comparable": true,
      "rel": -22.53618194348725,
      "text": "−22.5%",
      "years": 5
    }
  },
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 1,
    "rung_name": "Adopted target",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "related",
        "label": "Related target",
        "text": "Related target, not drawn: under its Housing Accelerator Fund agreement with the federal government, the City’s target is 3,203 units over three years, by September 2026, and continued funding depends on meeting it and advancing the agreed actions. This page counts homes in building permits by calendar year and over the latest 12 months, not over the agreement’s three-year window or by its definition, so the target is not drawn. The agreement’s September 2026 date has passed. The count against 3,203 under the agreement’s own definition is not published as data; it is listed under data requests.",
        "area": "City of Victoria",
        "source": {
          "title": "Housing Initiatives: Housing Accelerator Fund",
          "publisher": "City of Victoria",
          "date": "viewed November 12, 2026",
          "url": "https://www.victoria.ca/community-culture/housing/housing-initiatives",
          "terms": "https://www.victoria.ca/legal-disclaimer",
          "refresh": "Not on a schedule",
          "licence": "Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.",
          "checked": "2026-11-12",
          "key": "city_haf"
        },
        "documents_checked": null
      },
      {
        "kind": "note",
        "label": "Note",
        "text": "The Housing Accelerator Fund is run by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which publishes each agreement’s action plan summary.",
        "area": "Canada",
        "source": {
          "title": "Housing Accelerator Fund progress",
          "publisher": "Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation",
          "date": "viewed November 12, 2026",
          "url": "https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/project-funding-and-mortgage-financing/funding-programs/all-funding-programs/housing-accelerator-fund/housing-accelerator-fund-progress",
          "terms": "https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/about-us/terms-conditions",
          "refresh": "Not on a schedule",
          "licence": "Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.",
          "checked": "2026-11-12",
          "key": "cmhc_haf"
        },
        "documents_checked": null
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "benchmarks": [
    {
      "rung": 2,
      "kind": "related",
      "label": "Related target, not drawn: under its Housing Accelerator Fund agreement with the federal government, the City’s target is 3,203 units over three years, by September 2026, and continued funding depends on meeting it and advancing the agreed actions. This page counts homes in building permits by calendar year and over the latest 12 months, not over the agreement’s three-year window or by its definition, so the target is not drawn. The agreement’s September 2026 date has passed. The count against 3,203 under the agreement’s own definition is not published as data; it is listed under data requests.",
      "short": null,
      "document": "city_haf",
      "page": null,
      "area": "City of Victoria",
      "fit": "text_only",
      "same_area": false,
      "related_reason": "Different unit, definition, period or area; written under the chart, not drawn.",
      "document_url": "https://www.victoria.ca/community-culture/housing/housing-initiatives",
      "applies_here": false,
      "same_measure": false
    }
  ],
  "highest_rung": null,
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "New homes approved per 1,000 residents, each year",
      "fmt": "dec1",
      "unit": "per 1,000",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "City of Victoria",
          "area": "city",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 13.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 6.3
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 6.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 12.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 11.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 8.1
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 9.1
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 15.8
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Capital Region",
          "area": "crd",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 12.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 8.3
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 7.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 11.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 10.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 10.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 11.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 9.7
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "All of B.C.",
          "area": "bc",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 9.3
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 9.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 7.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 8.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 10.1
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 8.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 8.1
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 8.3
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "merged_from": "homes-approved-per-1000"
    }
  ],
  "merged": [
    {
      "id": "homes-approved-per-1000",
      "label": "New homes approved per 1,000 residents",
      "display_value": "11.0",
      "unit": "homes a year per 1,000 residents",
      "period": "Calendar years 2023–2025 (yearly average)",
      "label_text": "Better"
    }
  ],
  "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": "mixed",
    "label": "Mixed"
  },
  "label_long": {
    "key": "worse",
    "label": "Worse",
    "years": 5,
    "change": "−22.5%"
  },
  "target_line": {
    "form": 5,
    "text": "Related target only",
    "target": null,
    "gap": null,
    "comparison": null,
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": null
  }
}