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Canada Housing Research, Data and Insights
- Monthly Housing Starts and Other Construction Data Tables
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IMPORTANT
CMHC is conducting a methodology review of the unabsorbed inventory data series in the Ontario context. Updates will follow. In the meantime, please use the data with caution. Thank you for your understanding.
Housing starts are an economic indicator that reflect the number of residential housing projects that have been started over a specific length of time. These data are divided into 3 types: single-family houses, townhouses or small condos and apartment buildings with 5 or more units.
August monthly housing starts key highlights
- The trend in housing starts was down in August 2026 compared to July, with a decrease of 1.3% to 244,149 units.
- The trend measure is a 6-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.
- Actual housing starts were down 2% year-over-year in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater. 17,691 units were recorded in August 2026, compared to 18,112 units in August 2025.
- The year-to-date total was 149,542 units, down 4% from the same period in 2025.
- Montréal posted a 6% month-to-month increase in the 6-month trend, driven by higher starts of all types.
- Vancouver also recorded a 6% increase due to higher multi-unit starts.
- The trend measure in Toronto was flat, as the trends for both single-detached and multi-unit starts were unchanged.
August Standalone Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR)
- The total monthly standalone seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts for all areas in Canada was flat in August 2026, at 229,046 units compared to 229,360 units in July 2026.
- Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 11,224 units.
- Author:
- CMHC
- Document Type:
- Excel
- Date Published:
- September 16, 2026
Related data tables
These datasets are reported quarterly and offer detailed information across all Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA), Census Agglomerations (CA) and Census Subdivisions (CSD) with populations of 10,000 or more.
Our Monthly Housing Starts and Other Construction data tables are issued on the 11th working day of the month. Exact release dates can be found in our Reports Calendar.
You can also view this data on our Housing Market Information Portal.
About Monthly Housing Starts and Construction Data
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:
- The stage when the concrete has been poured for the whole of the footing around the structure.
- An equivalent stage where a basement will not be part of the structure.
Housing starts statistics are organized to facilitate an analysis of monthly, quarterly and year-over-year changes. Actual and seasonally-adjusted housing starts data are presented separately. Select under construction and absorption data are also included.
Housing starts, construction and absorption data are used to gain insight into the level of activity and supply conditions in the new home market.
Actual and seasonally adjusted housing starts data are presented separately by region, province, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) and dwelling type. Select data on under construction and absorption are also included.
These monthly housing data tables reflect:
- current statistics
- new home starts
- construction activity
Data source: CMHC Starts and Completions Survey and Market Absorption Survey.
About the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR)
The SAAR allows you to compare monthly levels to annual levels for different months of the year. It also gives you a sense of the relative strength of monthly activity.
The time of year can be a factor when collecting data. We calculate the SAAR by:
- Using a rate adjustment to remove the data’s seasonal variations.
- Multiplying the seasonally adjusted level of starts by 12 to obtain the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of housing starts.
