Observed permit activity

Halifax Building Permits

Explore building permit activity across Halifax Regional Municipality using public HRM permit records. Track recorded housing units, permit volumes, project types, monthly trends and activity by municipal district.

12 months through September 2026

Over the 12 months through September 2026, HRM records show 2,411 permits and 5,218 recorded units. That was 1,082 fewer recorded units than in the preceding 12 months. District 5 (Dartmouth Centre) had the highest recorded-unit rate using the dashboard's 2021 population estimates.

Download the full dataset

CSV Excel About this dataset

All published permit records; dashboard filters do not change these files.

Dashboard analysis: 5,260 permit records issued from Sep 1, 2024 through Sep 29, 2026. Headline, district, project-type and map metrics use rolling subsets of this period. Source: Halifax Regional Municipality Building Permits. Updated Oct 5, 2026, 2:09 p.m.. Context: HRM Housing Strategy. Read the methodology and caveats.

Explore the records

Building permit dashboard

Permit months use HRM's issuance date, and units use the source net-new unit field when available. Cancelled or expired statuses, positive-unit renovations, and duplicate permit numbers are not separately adjusted in this view.

Project typeAll districts · All project types

12-month recorded units

5,218

−1,082 (−17.2%) vs previous 12 months

118.6 units per 10,000 residents (2021 estimate)

12-month permits

2,411

−221 (−8.4%) vs previous 12 months

54.8 permits per 10,000 residents (2021 estimate)

Recorded units in September 2026

218

Permits in September 2026

186

Monthly Permit Trend

Top Permit Project Types

New Building

Permits: 1,328
Recorded units: 4,540

Renovation

Permits: 785
Recorded units: 375

Addition

Permits: 298
Recorded units: 303

Permit Activity By District

Open a profile or focus the dashboard

District	Population	Permits	Units	Units / 10k¹
District 1Waverley - Fall River - Musquodoboit Valley	20,507	227	137	66.8
District 2Lawrencetown – The Lakes – Chezzetcook – Eastern Shore	24,338	320	439	180.4
District 3Dartmouth South – Woodside – Eastern Passage	26,491	73	215	81.2
District 4Cole Harbour – Preston – Westphal – Cherry Brook	26,764	92	71	26.5
District 5Dartmouth Centre	30,853	106	1,055	341.9
District 6Dartmouth East – Burnside	27,177	155	88	32.4
District 7Halifax South Downtown	26,115	128	258	98.8
District 8Halifax Peninsula North	25,232	107	506	200.5
District 9Halifax West – Armdale	26,991	122	307	113.7
District 10Halifax – Bedford Basin West	29,261	57	263	89.9
District 11Spryfield – Sambro Loop	28,948	170	494	170.7
District 12Timberlea – Beechville – Clayton Park – Wedgewood	29,716	113	60	20.2
District 13Prospect Road – St. Margarets	24,512	222	122	49.8
District 14Hammonds Plains – Upper Hammonds Plains – Lucasville - Middle & Upper Sackville	29,507	240	470	159.3
District 15Lower Sackville – Beaver Bank	28,174	121	250	88.7
District 16Bedford – Wentworth	35,233	158	483	137.1

¹ Based on estimated 2021 Census population assigned to current district boundaries.

Boundaries: HRM Municipal Polling Districts. Population is assigned using census-area representative points; rates are comparative dashboard indicators, not official district population counts. Permit activity is assigned from mapped permit coordinates.

Permit Concentration

2,411 mapped permits

New BuildingRenovationAddition