Housing starts continue to trend upward in October

Ottawa, November 16, 2023

The trend in housing starts was higher in October at 256,280 units, up 1% from 253,957 units in September, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

The monthly SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada also increased 1% in October (274,681 units) compared to September (270,669 units).

The monthly SAAR of total urban (centres 10,000 population and over) housing starts increased 2%, with 257,357 units recorded. Multi-unit urban starts increased 1% to 209,887 units, while single-detached urban starts increased 9% to 47,470 units.

Total SAAR housing starts were down 43% in Montreal and 24% in Toronto, while Vancouver recorded an increase of 35%, driven by a 40% increase in multi-unit starts.

The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 17,324 units.

Quote:

“Despite the upward trend in October, driven once again by persistent multi-unit starts activity off-setting declines in single detached starts, actual year-to-date starts are down. We will need to find innovative ways to deliver more housing and close the supply gap in this challenging economic environment,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist.

Key facts:

Actual 2023 year-to-date housing starts were 22% and 37% higher than the same period in 2022 in Toronto and Vancouver, respectively, driven by higher multi-unit starts.
Nationally, actual year-to-date housing starts were down 7% in centres of 10,000 population and over, due to lower single-detached starts.
Monthly Housing Starts and Other Construction Data are accessible in English and French on our website and the CMHC Housing Market Information Portal.
Housing starts data is available on the eleventh business day each month. We will release the November housing starts data on December 15 at 8:15 AM ET.
CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and to obtain a clearer picture of upcoming new housing supply. In some situations, analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading, as the multi-unit segment largely drives the market and can vary significantly from one month to the next.
Definitions and methodology to better understand the foundations of the Starts and Completions and Market Absorption surveys.

As a trusted source of housing information, CMHC provides unbiased housing-related data, research, and market information to help close knowledge gaps, and deepen understanding of complex housing issues to inform future policy decisions. Housing starts facilitate the analysis of monthly, quarterly, and year-over-year activity in the new home market. The data we collect as part of our Starts and Completions and Market Absorption surveys helps us obtain a clearer picture of upcoming new housing supply and is used as part of our various housing reports.

For more information, follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Additional information:

For information on this release:

To request an interview with a CMHC market analyst, contact:

Media Relations, CMHC
media@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

alt=

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Provinces)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Oct. 2022	Oct. 2023	%	Oct. 2022	Oct. 2023	%	Oct. 2022	Oct. 2023	%
N.-L.	23	40	74	3	24	##	26	64	146
P.E.I.	34	42	24	40	49	23	74	91	23
N.S.	142	153	8	83	652	##	225	805	258
N.B.	104	90	-13	56	289	416	160	379	137
Atlantic	303	325	7	182	1,014	457	485	1,339	176
Qc	579	410	-29	4,197	3,297	-21	4,776	3,707	-22
Ont.	1,900	1,480	-22	5,472	6,920	26	7,372	8,400	14
Man.	227	131	-42	545	74	-86	772	205	-73
Sask.	91	129	42	309	201	-35	400	330	-18
Alta.	1,088	1,310	20	2,827	2,044	-28	3,915	3,354	-14
Prairies	1,406	1,570	12	3,681	2,319	-37	5,087	3,889	-24
B.C.	598	449	-25	2,815	4,287	52	3,413	4,736	39
Canada (10,000+)	4,786	4,234	-12	16,347	17,837	9	21,133	22,071	4

Data for 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023 based on 2021 Census Definitions.
Source: CMHC
## not calculable / extreme value

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Metropolitan Areas)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Oct. 2022	Oct. 2023	%	Oct. 2022	Oct. 2023	%	Oct. 2022	Oct. 2023	%
Abbotsford – Mission	32	22	-31	29	193	##	61	215	252
Barrie	86	74	-14	34	84	147	120	158	32
Belleville – Quinte West	17	18	6	6	16	167	23	34	48
Brantford	138	24	-83	61	66	8	199	90	-55
Calgary	503	639	27	1,185	1,498	26	1,688	2,137	27
Chilliwack	19	18	-5	26	92	254	45	110	144
Drummondville	23	10	-57	69	39	-43	92	49	-47
Edmonton	438	544	24	1,529	435	-72	1,967	979	-50
Fredericton	46	26	-43	24	18	-25	70	44	-37
Greater / Grand Sudbury	6	1	-83	2	0	-100	8	1	-88
Guelph	7	12	71	18	0	-100	25	12	-52
Halifax	34	52	53	42	601	##	76	653	##
Hamilton	47	32	-32	308	1,165	278	355	1,197	237
Kamloops	9	13	44	5	0	-100	14	13	-7
Kelowna	41	33	-20	153	376	146	194	409	111
Kingston	24	24	-	10	350	##	34	374	##
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	115	67	-42	352	279	-21	467	346	-26
Lethbridge	20	27	35	8	27	238	28	54	93
London	113	56	-50	270	151	-44	383	207	-46
Moncton	22	27	23	23	264	##	45	291	##
Montréal	132	112	-15	2,325	1,428	-39	2,457	1,540	-37
Nanaimo	21	7	-67	29	106	266	50	113	126
Oshawa	47	58	23	775	20	-97	822	78	-91
Ottawa – Gatineau	431	251	-42	1,276	1,098	-14	1,707	1,349	-21
Gatineau	91	56	-38	478	187	-61	569	243	-57
Ottawa	340	195	-43	798	911	14	1,138	1,106	-3
Peterborough	24	24	-	0	0	-	24	24	-
Québec	88	29	-67	726	642	-12	814	671	-18
Red Deer	8	6	-25	17	17	-	25	23	-8
Regina	16	14	-13	140	76	-46	156	90	-42
Saguenay	27	16	-41	18	6	-67	45	22	-51
St. Catharines – Niagara	72	124	72	113	200	77	185	324	75
Saint John	27	26	-4	2	0	-100	29	26	-10
St. John's	20	33	65	2	23	##	22	56	155
Saskatoon	68	108	59	150	113	-25	218	221	1
Sherbrooke	25	11	-56	94	118	26	119	129	8
Thunder Bay	10	10	-	4	7	75	14	17	21
Toronto	496	434	-13	2,362	3,274	39	2,858	3,708	30
Trois-Rivières	18	19	6	62	284	358	80	303	279
Vancouver	309	217	-30	1,870	2,687	44	2,179	2,904	33
Victoria	41	35	-15	563	697	24	604	732	21
Windsor	33	33	-	26	139	435	59	172	192
Winnipeg	197	106	-46	508	51	-90	705	157	-78
Total	3,850	3,392	-12	15,216	16,640	9	19,066	20,032	5

Data for 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023 based on 2021 Census Definitions.
Source: CMHC
## not calculable / extreme value

Housing Start Data — Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates (SAAR) (Provinces — 10,000+)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Sept. 2023	Oct. 2023	%	Sept. 2023	Oct. 2023	%	Sept. 2023	Oct. 2023	%
N.L.	591	459	-22	274	354	29	865	813	-6
P.E.I.	95	307	223	120	588	390	215	895	316
N.S.	1,246	1,547	24	6,239	7,870	26	7,485	9,417	26
N.B.	786	935	19	5,193	3,493	-33	5,979	4,428	-26
Qc	4,399	4,424	1	40,678	35,021	-14	45,077	39,445	-12
Ont.	14,387	16,295	13	84,529	83,065	-2	98,916	99,360	0
Man.	1,544	1,456	-6	2,664	888	-67	4,208	2,344	-44
Sask.	1,573	1,405	-11	1,368	2,412	76	2,941	3,817	30
Alta.	13,278	15,054	13	35,334	24,383	-31	48,612	39,437	-19
B.C.	5,572	5,588	0	31,411	51,813	65	36,983	57,401	55
Canada (10,000+)	43,471	47,470	9	207,810	209,887	1	251,281	257,357	2
Canada (All Areas)	57,147	59,911	5	213,522	214,768	1	270,669	274,681	1

Data for 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023 based on 2021 Census Definitions.
Source: CMHC
## not calculable / extreme value

Housing Start Data — Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates (SAAR) (Metropolitan Areas)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Sept. 2023	Oct. 2023	%	Sept. 2023	Oct. 2023	%	Sept. 2023	Oct. 2023	%
Abbotsford – Mission	238	284	19	144	2,316	##	382	2,600	##
Barrie	389	738	90	1,476	1,008	-32	1,865	1,746	-6
Belleville – Quinte West	167	200	20	0	192	##	167	392	135
Brantford	77	171	122	324	792	144	401	963	140
Calgary	6,029	7,068	17	26,160	17,976	-31	32,189	25,044	-22
Chilliwack	282	256	-9	282	1,104	291	402	1,360	238
Drummondville	139	119	-14	504	468	-7	643	587	-9
Edmonton	5,433	6,424	18	7,440	5,220	-30	12,873	11,644	-10
Fredericton	297	280	-6	3,396	216	-94	3,693	496	-87
Greater / Grand Sudbury	0	8	##	60	0	-100	60	8	-87
Guelph	115	157	37	1,392	0	-100	1,507	157	-90
Halifax	642	732	14	6,096	7,212	18	6,738	7,944	18
Hamilton	364	443	22	2,004	13,980	##	2,368	14,423	##
Kamloops	457	175	-62	936	0	-100	1,393	175	-87
Kelowna	257	500	95	1,812	4,512	149	2,069	5,012	142
Kingston	289	279	-3	528	4,200	##	817	4,479	448
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	522	754	44	5,976	3,348	-44	6,498	4,102	-37
Lethbridge	277	292	5	96	324	238	373	616	65
London	528	589	12	1,524	1,812	19	2,052	2,401	17
Moncton	210	284	35	1,620	3,168	96	1,830	3,452	89
Montréal	994	1,142	15	30,851	17,072	-45	31,845	18,214	-43
Nanaimo	135	93	-31	72	1,272	##	207	1,365	##
Oshawa	831	757	-9	120	240	100	951	997	5
Ottawa – Gatineau	1,792	2,306	29	15,672	13,176	-16	17,464	15,482	-11
Gatineau	313	378	21	2,628	2,244	-15	2,941	2,622	-11
Ottawa	1,479	1,928	30	13,044	10,932	-16	14,523	12,860	-11
Peterborough	176	318	81	0	0	-	176	318	81
Québec	769	286	-63	6,816	7,704	13	7,585	7,990	5
Red Deer	118	83	-30	120	204	70	238	287	21
Regina	347	196	-44	408	912	124	755	1,108	47
Saguenay	240	177	-26	180	72	-60	420	249	-41
St. Catharines – Niagara	980	1,543	57	3,696	2,400	-35	4,676	3,943	-16
Saint John	214	266	24	60	0	-100	274	266	-3
St. John's	413	335	-19	240	276	15	653	611	-6
Saskatoon	1,172	1,167	0	240	1,356	465	1,412	2,523	79
Sherbrooke	255	153	-40	1,008	1,416	40	1,263	1,569	24
Thunder Bay	172	88	-49	360	84	-77	532	172	-68
Toronto	4,896	5,295	8	53,628	39,288	-27	58,524	44,583	-24
Trois-Rivières	183	205	12	1,020	3,408	234	1,203	3,613	200
Vancouver	2,726	2,513	-8	23,064	32,244	40	25,790	34,757	35
Victoria	457	421	-8	2,100	8,364	298	2,557	8,785	244
Windsor	361	414	15	132	1,668	##	493	2,082	322
Winnipeg	1,259	1,228	-2	1,908	612	-68	3,167	1,840	-42