Methodology
How openstats reads statistics canada building permits
Pulse totals require direct live Table 34-10-0292-01 rows. Seed suffixes and regional proxies stay off national Pulse math. The annual permit-value study uses direct sums where available and documented estimates elsewhere.
· OpenStats data desk · Editorial standards
City Score snapshot
Source: OpenStats composite edition 2025 (apps/hub/src/data/rankings/)
Why it matters
Desk pieces translate a fresh ranking or pulse into what changed and who it affects.
What's measured
This report draws on OpenStats tables cited in the body — section: Methodology.
How to read the rank
Open the related ranking or atlas for the live sortable table; figures here are editorial context, not the primary data view.
Permit value ranks (2025)
Source: Statistics Canada Table 34-10-0066-01
Statistics Canada Table 34-10-0292-01 publishes building permit values at Canada, province, census metropolitan area (CMA), census agglomeration (CA), and CMA-part geographies — not at census subdivision (municipality). OpenStats keeps those regional rows on the permits atlas for context, but they never score a hometown on City Score. The construction pillar uses only verified municipality-grain rows (data_grain: csd) when a municipal feed exists; otherwise the city is unplaced and takes median standing (0.5).
Direct municipal rows
A ranking-eligible permit row uses a verified municipal data source with data_grain csd. CMA and CA totals from 34-10-0292-01 carry data_grain cma (or cma_part for Ottawa-Gatineau splits) and stay off the permit-value study. Seed suffixes and regional proxies never enter rankings or Construction Pulse totals.
| Tier | Used in Pulse totals? | Used in study / City Score? |
|---|---|---|
| Municipal (CSD) verified row | Yes when present | Yes — calendar-year dollars per resident |
| CMA / CA 34-10-0292-01 | No | No — atlas context only |
| Seed or fallback suffix | No | No |
Monthly Pulse vs annual study
Construction Pulse aggregates one reference month across municipal live rows, then compares year over year when periods exist. The permit-value study ranks calendar-year permit dollars per resident for cities with municipal grain only. Each placed city divides verified permit dollars by the OpenStats population field (Statistics Canada Census 2021). Higher per-resident value yields a better rank on the study edition; City Score converts that rank to standing within the construction pillar. Cities without municipal data score at the corpus median on construction.
Toronto, Calgary, and Edmonton illustrate why CMA rows stay off city slugs: StatCan's Toronto CMA total includes Mississauga, Brampton, and other CMA members, while the City of Toronto publishes its own lower municipal total. OpenStats does not assign regional totals to a single municipality.
Where to read next
Consolidated permit analysis: building permit value study 2025. Atlas: permits.openstats.ca. Method notes: methodology and data sources. Guide: Canadian building permits.
Methods and sources
Ingest via pipeline/sources/statcan-permits.mjs (CMA/CA atlas rows) and pipeline/sources/statcan-permits-csd.mjs (municipal discovery). Rankings gate: permitRecordIsLive in scripts/lib/city-score-timeseries.mjs. Geo audit: data/audit/permit-0292-geo-audit.json.