London CMA recorded $121.6M in total building permits in February 2026 — essentially flat month-over-month (+0.7%), but down 23.0% year-over-year. The YoY decline reflects a very high December 2025 base ($348.1M) driven by large one-time institutional permits. London CMA has now led all 15 monitored CMAs in non-residential construction cost increases for two consecutive quarters — Q3 2025 (+2.0%) and Q4 2025 (+2.3%). The year-over-year increase of +9.9% reflects intense bidding activity, labour cost pressure, and sustained project pipelines in healthcare, logistics, and light industrial. Stratford, Woodstock, St. Thomas, Strathroy, Goderich, Exeter, and Tillsonburg continue capturing spill-over ICI activity as site costs and labour in the London CMA tighten.

Rising construction costs, a tightening labour market, tariff pressures, and a strong institutional pipeline across SW Ontario make market intelligence, procurement connections, and training access more valuable — not less. London CMA has now led Canada in non-residential cost increases for two consecutive quarters. Members with access to project data via Link2Build and LDCA's regional network are better positioned to price, bid, and win work as the Q2 2026 construction season opens.

Total building permits declined $1.1B (−8.4%) to $12.1B — the steepest non-residential pullback since April 2023. The institutional component fell sharply (−$987M), concentrated in Ontario (−$827M) and Alberta (−$147M). Commercial marked its fourth consecutive monthly decline. Industrial held relatively firm with only a modest MoM drop, and remains +27.1% year-over-year — a signal of sustained logistics and manufacturing investment. Multi-unit residential (MURB) rose +3.4% MoM nationally, led by Ontario and B.C.