Housing starts flat in August

Ottawa, September 18, 2023

The trend in housing starts was flat in August at 244,507 units, up only 0.8% from 242,552 units in July, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

The monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada decreased 1% in August (252,787 units) compared to July (255,232 units).

The monthly SAAR of total urban (centres 10,000 population and over) housing starts also decreased 1%, with 233,075 units recorded in August. Multi-unit urban starts decreased 1% to 191,250 units, while single-detached urban starts increased 2% to 41,825 units in August.

Total SAAR housing starts were down 12% in Vancouver and 20% in Toronto in August, while Montreal recorded an increase of 41%, driven by a 48% increase in multi-units.

The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 19,712 units.

Quote:

“While both the SAAR and trend in housing starts were flat relative to the previous month, total housing starts are under pressure in 2023, except in Ontario and British Columbia. The one bright spot in Canada has been multi-unit starts which have helped offset significant declines recorded in single-detached starts in all provinces this year. Market intelligence suggests multi-unit projects started during the busy summer months were likely financed a few months prior, so the full effect of higher interest rates on construction activity remains to be seen,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC's Chief Economist.

Key facts:

Toronto and Vancouver have been performing well this year compared to last. Actual 2023 year-to-date housing starts were 28% and 47% higher, respectively, than the same period in 2022. As a result, Ontario and British Columbia are the only provinces with positive year-to-date housing starts in Canada.
Monthly Housing Starts and Other Construction Data are accessible in English and French on our website and the CMHC Housing Market Information Porta
Housing starts data is available on the eleventh business day each month. We will release the September housing starts data on October 18 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.

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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

August Housing Starts in Canada — All areas

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Provinces)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	August 2022	August 2023	%	August 2022	August 2023	%	August 2022	August 2023	%
N.-L.	84	45	-46	18	22	22	102	67	-34
P.E.I.	16	23	44	49	51	4	65	74	14
N.S.	176	100	-43	296	126	-57	472	226	-52
N.B.	163	124	-24	397	476	20	560	600	7
Atlantic	439	292	-33	760	675	-11	1,199	967	-19
Qc	493	359	-27	2,559	2,628	3	3,052	2,987	-2
Ont.	2,389	1,348	-44	6,598	5,923	-10	8,987	7,271	-19
Man.	248	143	-42	295	374	27	543	517	-5
Sask.	116	103	-11	320	325	2	436	428	-2
Alta.	1,290	1,091	-15	1,522	2,246	48	2,812	3,337	19
Prairies	1,654	1,337	-19	2,137	2,945	38	3,791	4,282	13
B.C.	587	524	-11	3,171	3,408	7	3,758	3,932	5
Canada (10,000+)	5,562	3,860	-31	15,225	15,579	2	20,787	19,439	-6

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
	August 2022	August 2023	%	August 2022	August 2023	%	August 2022	August 2023	%
Abbotsford – Mission	38	28	-26	18	7	-61	56	35	-38
Barrie	165	40	-76	68	76	12	233	116	-50
Belleville – Quinte West	28	18	-36	15	4	-73	43	22	-49
Brantford	141	2	-99	106	12	-89	247	14	-94
Calgary	510	495	-3	672	1,185	76	1,182	1,680	42
Chilliwack	19	23	21	17	62	265	36	85	136
Drummondville	16	29	81	14	29	107	30	58	93
Edmonton	586	481	-18	533	990	86	1,119	1,471	31
Fredericton	74	32	-57	90	30	-67	164	62	-62
Greater / Grand Sudbury	32	6	-81	36	72	100	68	78	15
Guelph	16	9	-44	39	8	-79	55	17	-69
Halifax	47	24	-49	219	89	-59	266	113	-58
Hamilton	89	19	-79	82	207	152	171	226	32
Kamloops	16	0	-100	88	25	-72	104	25	-76
Kelowna	66	40	-39	556	70	-87	622	110	-82
Kingston	16	21	31	104	33	-68	120	54	-55
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	65	87	34	349	116	-67	414	203	-51
Lethbridge	24	7	-71	200	0	-100	224	7	-97
London	127	40	-69	43	111	158	170	151	-11
Moncton	44	43	-2	283	392	39	327	435	33
Montréal	114	62	-46	1,260	1,234	-2	1,374	1,296	-6
Nanaimo	22	20	-9	238	6	-97	260	26	-90
Oshawa	143	51	-64	233	27	-88	376	78	-79
Ottawa – Gatineau	290	216	-26	1,056	1,029	-3	1,346	1,245	-8
Gatineau	81	13	-84	8	309	##	89	322	262
Ottawa	209	203	-3	1,048	720	-31	1,257	923	-27
Peterborough	52	19	-63	4	1	-75	56	20	-64
Québec	58	71	22	737	670	-9	795	741	-7
Red Deer	9	5	-44	4	13	225	13	18	38
Regina	22	30	36	41	60	46	63	90	43
Saguenay	41	33	-20	40	46	15	81	79	-2
St. Catharines – Niagara	117	58	-50	115	351	205	232	409	76
Saint John	26	33	27	0	36	##	26	69	165
St. John's	68	35	-49	14	19	36	82	54	-34
Saskatoon	87	67	-23	269	257	-4	356	324	-9
Sherbrooke	35	30	-14	86	102	19	121	132	9
Thunder Bay	17	13	-24	0	93	##	17	106	##
Toronto	689	390	-43	3,846	3,747	-3	4,535	4,137	-9
Trois-Rivières	28	8	-71	46	10	-78	74	18	-76
Vancouver	230	293	27	1,729	2,331	35	1,959	2,624	34
Victoria	56	22	-61	307	642	109	363	664	83
Windsor	76	38	-50	167	123	-26	243	161	-34
Winnipeg	207	123	-41	226	348	54	433	471	9
Total	4,506	3,061	-32	13,950	14,663	5	18,456	17,724	-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 — Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates (SAAR) (Provinces — 10,000+)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	July 2023	August 2023	%	July 2023	August 2023	%	July 2023	August 2023	%
N.L.	383	337	-12	159	279	75	542	616	14
P.E.I.	173	246	42	612	612	-	785	858	9
N.S.	1,706	1,205	-29	3,159	1,463	-54	4,865	2,668	-45
N.B.	820	1,010	23	3,652	5,631	54	4,472	6,641	49
Qc	4,605	4,916	7	25,807	40,237	56	30,412	45,153	48
Ont.	14,455	13,231	-8	80,309	66,662	-17	94,764	79,893	-16
Man.	1,343	1,455	8	7,728	4,488	-42	9,071	5,943	-34
Sask.	886	1,112	26	3,924	3,900	-1	4,810	5,012	4
Alta.	12,032	11,999	0	25,746	26,863	4	37,778	38,862	3
B.C.	4,705	6,314	34	42,965	41,115	-4	47,670	47,429	-1
Canada (10,000+)	41,108	41,825	2	194,061	191,250	-1	235,169	233,075	-1
Canada (All Areas)	54,783	55,665	2	200,447	197,121	-2	255,232	252,787	-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
	July 2023	August 2023	%	July 2023	August 2023	%	July 2023	August 2023	%
Abbotsford – Mission	250	320	28	168	84	-50	418	404	-3
Barrie	430	315	-27	732	912	25	1,162	1,227	6
Belleville – Quinte West	407	170	-58	48	48	-	455	218	-52
Brantford	338	10	-97	492	144	-71	830	154	-81
Calgary	6,083	5,691	-6	12,948	14,220	10	19,031	19,911	5
Chilliwack	160	285	78	160	744	365	244	1,029	322
Drummondville	272	387	42	396	348	-12	668	735	10
Edmonton	4,728	5,104	8	12,348	11,880	-4	17,076	16,984	-1
Fredericton	312	241	-23	2,232	360	-84	2,544	601	-76
Greater / Grand Sudbury	208	65	-69	1,044	864	-17	1,252	929	-26
Guelph	80	80	-	2,220	96	-96	2,300	176	-92
Halifax	693	407	-41	2,508	1,068	-57	3,201	1,475	-54
Hamilton	274	189	-31	396	2,484	##	670	2,673	299
Kamloops	0	0	-	0	300	##	0	300	##
Kelowna	393	465	18	672	840	25	1,065	1,305	23
Kingston	288	252	-13	4,416	396	-91	4,704	648	-86
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	753	899	19	2,676	1,392	-48	3,429	2,291	-33
Lethbridge	203	75	-63	36	0	-100	239	75	-69
London	761	389	-49	720	1,332	85	1,481	1,721	16
Moncton	206	343	67	1,164	4,704	304	1,370	5,047	268
Montréal	1,204	997	-17	10,152	15,029	48	11,356	16,026	41
Nanaimo	82	214	161	108	72	-33	190	286	51
Oshawa	911	562	-38	804	324	-60	1,715	886	-48
Ottawa – Gatineau	1,246	2,406	93	9,348	12,348	32	10,594	14,754	39
Gatineau	340	230	-32	1,020	3,708	264	1,360	3,938	190
Ottawa	906	2,176	140	8,328	8,640	4	9,234	10,816	17
Peterborough	73	114	56	0	12	##	73	126	73
Québec	526	1,066	103	4,008	8,040	101	4,534	9,106	101
Red Deer	39	50	28	72	156	117	111	206	86
Regina	240	284	18	120	720	##	360	1,004	179
Saguenay	163	219	34	2,952	552	-81	3,115	771	-75
St. Catharines – Niagara	418	544	30	1,212	4,212	248	1,630	4,756	192
Saint John	165	306	85	48	432	##	213	738	246
St. John's	330	281	-15	156	228	46	486	509	5
Saskatoon	563	735	31	3,696	3,084	-17	4,259	3,819	-10
Sherbrooke	218	343	57	2,676	1,224	-54	2,894	1,567	-46
Thunder Bay	51	93	82	0	1,116	##	51	1,209	##
Toronto	4,338	3,628	-16	56,736	44,964	-21	61,074	48,592	-20
Trois-Rivières	316	120	-62	1,548	120	-92	1,864	240	-87
Vancouver	2,393	3,278	37	33,012	27,972	-15	35,405	31,250	-12
Victoria	286	280	-2	5,136	7,704	50	5,422	7,984	47
Windsor	251	310	24	276	1,476	435	527	1,786	239
Winnipeg	1,121	1,257	12	7,452	4,176	-44	8,573	5,433	-37