Canada Housing Starts

Last Release

Feb 28, 2025

Actual

229.03

Units In

Thousand units

239.32

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Apr 15, 2025

Time to Release

27 Days 11 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
333.28 Mar 2021	90.7 Aug 1982	192.92 Thousand units	1977-2025	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 fell 4% in February 2025 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 229,030 units, down from a revised 239,322 units in January and below market expectations of 250,000. Urban housing starts in centers with populations of 10,000 or more declined 5% to 209,784 units from 220,074 in January. Meanwhile, rural starts remained largely unchanged at 19,246 units, compared to 19,248 in the previous month. On a year-over-year basis, actual housing starts in urban centers declined 17%, with 14,459 units recorded in February 2025 compared to 17,454 a year earlier. Among Canada’s three largest cities, Vancouver saw a steep 48% decline, while Toronto posted a 68% drop, both driven by lower multi-unit and single-detached starts. In contrast, Montreal recorded a 6% increase in actual housing starts.