Building permits (a dollar value measure of construction intention) was a mixed bag in Ontario for Feburary.  While "net" building permits saw a 16% decline from January's numbers, this statistic is comprised of:

• residential building permits up 21.3%
• non-residential building permits down 44.9%

Nationwide, Ontario led the decline (along with New Brunswick and Saskatchewan) offseting gains made elsewhere. 

Strong demand for new housing powered the gain but wasn't enough to offset the drop in non-residential building permits (institutional, commercial, and industrial).  Of the 15 census metropolitan areas in Ontario, only Hamilton and Barrie posted gains in non-residential building permits.  (Toronto, Ottawa, and London led decliners.)

StatsCan identified a downward trend for non-residential building permits since July '07, despite the marked reversal from January which saw:

• residential building permits down 29.1%
• non-residential building permits up 68.8%

Links:

• Statistics Canada. The Daily. "Building Permits: February 2008"
• Canwest. "Canadian building permits fall unexpectedly"