Canada Housing Starts

Last Release

Sep 30, 2024

Actual

223.8

Units In

Thousand units

213

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Nov 18, 2024

Time to Release

1 Months 0 Days 13 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
333.28 Mar 2021	90.7 Aug 1982	192.5 Thousand units	1977-2024	Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation

In Canada, a housing start is defined as the beginning of construction work on the building where the dwelling unit will be located. This can be described in 2 ways: usually, the stage when the concrete has been poured for the whole of the footing around the structure; or an equivalent stage where a basement will not be part of the structure.

Latest Updates

Housing starts in Canada rose by 5% over a month to 223,808 units in September 2024, below market expectations of 237,500 units, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The monthly SAAR of total urban housing starts was 6% higher at 210,002 units, as multi-unit urban starts increased 6% to 163,400 units, while single-detached urban starts increased 5% to 46,602 units. The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 13,806 units. “Growth in actual year-to-date housing starts has been driven by both higher multi-unit and single-detached units in Alberta, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. By contrast, year-to-date starts in Ontario and British Columbia have decreased across all housing types. Despite the increase in housing starts in September, we remain well below what is required to restore affordability in Canada’s urban centres.” said Kevin Hughes, CMHC’s Deputy Chief Economist.