The housing starts increased for the second consecutive month

Ottawa, August 16, 2023

The housing starts trendline increased for the second consecutive month due to a healthy number of actual housing starts in July. The trend was 242,525 units, up 2.8% from 235,819 units in June, 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 standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada decreased 10% in July (254,966 units) compared to June (283,498 units), which was the strongest month so far this year. Despite the monthly drop, total SAAR housing starts for all areas in Canada was 7.4% above the 5-year average.

The monthly SAAR of total urban starts (centres 10,000 population and over) decreased by 11%, with 234,857 units recorded in July. Multi-unit urban starts decreased 12% to 193,446 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased 4% to 41,411 units.

The Vancouver and Toronto CMAs saw decreases in total SAAR housing starts in July, with Vancouver down 23%, and Toronto down 29%. In contrast, the Montreal, Calgary, and Edmonton CMAs recorded respective increases of 12%, 33%, and 67% in total SAAR housing starts.

The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 20,109 units.

Quote:

“Despite a decrease in the SAAR of housing starts relative to last month, July saw a healthy number of actual housings starts from a historical perspective. This pushed the trend of housing starts upward for the second consecutive month. Market intelligence suggests multi-unit projects started in June and July were likely financed a few months prior, so, the effect of the most recent interest rate hikes on housing starts 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 35% and 49% higher than the same period in 2022 in Toronto and Vancouver respectively.
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 August housing starts data on September 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 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

July Housing Starts in Canada — All areas

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Provinces)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	July 2022	July 2023	%	July 2022	July 2023	%	July 2022	July 2023	%
N.-L.	78	42	-46	7	16	129	85	58	-32
P.E.I.	27	21	-22	16	51	219	43	72	67
N.S.	216	181	-16	545	266	-51	761	447	-41
N.B.	131	104	-21	356	306	-14	487	410	-16
Atlantic	452	348	-23	924	639	-31	1,376	987	-28
Qc	663	471	-29	3,720	2,313	-38	4,383	2,784	-36
Ont.	2,198	1,482	-33	6,047	6,865	14	8,245	8,347	1
Man.	273	136	-50	330	644	95	603	780	29
Sask.	141	86	-39	133	327	146	274	413	51
Alta.	1,356	1,122	-17	2,204	2,168	-2	3,560	3,290	-8
Prairies	1,770	1,344	-24	2,667	3,139	18	4,437	4,483	1
B.C.	672	428	-36	3,126	3,574	14	3,798	4,002	5
Canada (10,000+)	5,755	4,073	-29	16,484	16,530	0	22,239	20,603	-7

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
	July 2022	July 2023	%	July 2022	July 2023	%	July 2022	July 2023	%
Abbotsford – Mission	26	16	-38	130	14	-89	156	30	-81
Barrie	188	55	-71	141	61	-57	329	116	-65
Belleville – Quinte West	20	45	125	5	4	-20	25	49	96
Brantford	71	24	-66	110	41	-63	181	65	-64
Calgary	523	542	4	1,356	1,079	-20	1,879	1,621	-14
Chilliwack	17	12	-29	2	7	250	19	19	-
Drummondville	29	21	-28	4	33	##	33	54	64
Edmonton	625	443	-29	752	1,029	37	1,377	1,472	7
Fredericton	32	41	28	142	186	31	174	227	30
Greater / Grand Sudbury	8	35	338	22	87	295	30	122	307
Guelph	12	8	-33	17	185	##	29	193	##
Halifax	78	76	-3	417	209	-50	495	285	-42
Hamilton	92	27	-71	103	33	-68	195	60	-69
Kamloops	16	0	-100	10	0	-100	26	0	-100
Kelowna	52	32	-38	40	56	40	92	88	-4
Kingston	49	35	-29	22	368	##	71	403	468
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	93	60	-35	305	223	-27	398	283	-29
Lethbridge	30	27	-10	9	3	-67	39	30	-23
London	102	82	-20	204	60	-71	306	142	-54
Moncton	49	30	-39	185	97	-48	234	127	-46
Montréal	165	118	-28	1,944	854	-56	2,109	972	-54
Nanaimo	15	6	-60	90	9	-90	105	15	-86
Oshawa	103	97	-6	234	67	-71	337	164	-51
Ottawa – Gatineau	306	137	-55	1,824	779	-57	2,130	916	-57
Gatineau	70	47	-33	276	85	-69	346	132	-62
Ottawa	236	90	-62	1,548	694	-55	1,784	784	-56
Peterborough	41	10	-76	0	0	-	41	10	-76
Québec	102	59	-42	521	334	-36	623	393	-37
Red Deer	9	4	-56	2	6	200	11	10	-9
Regina	39	25	-36	44	10	-77	83	35	-58
Saguenay	36	17	-53	12	246	##	48	263	448
St. Catharines – Niagara	130	46	-65	26	101	288	156	147	-6
Saint John	28	17	-39	5	4	-20	33	21	-36
St. John's	68	34	-50	3	13	333	71	47	-34
Saskatoon	95	54	-43	77	308	300	172	362	110
Sherbrooke	42	22	-48	70	223	219	112	245	119
Thunder Bay	23	8	-65	19	0	-100	42	8	-81
Toronto	533	472	-11	2,882	4,728	64	3,415	5,200	52
Trois-Rivières	17	26	53	66	129	95	83	155	87
Vancouver	276	211	-24	1,700	2,751	62	1,976	2,962	50
Victoria	107	31	-71	861	428	-50	968	459	-53
Windsor	68	27	-60	90	23	-74	158	50	-68
Winnipeg	228	111	-51	243	621	156	471	732	55
Total	4,543	3,143	-31	14,689	15,409	5	19,232	18,552	-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
	June 2023	July 2023	%	June 2023	July 2023	%	June 2023	July 2023	%
N.L.	422	385	-9	53	122	130	475	507	7
P.E.I.	142	169	19	120	612	410	262	781	198
N.S.	2,175	1,786	-18	11,134	3,168	-72	13,309	4,954	-63
N.B.	1,004	809	-19	2,966	3,654	23	3,970	4,463	12
Qc	3,559	4,726	33	21,992	25,276	15	25,551	30,002	17
Ont.	15,429	14,525	-6	101,423	80,244	-21	116,852	94,769	-19
Man.	1,548	1,328	-14	5,208	7,728	48	6,756	9,056	34
Sask.	934	871	-7	5,796	3,924	-32	6,730	4,795	-29
Alta.	11,376	12,052	6	14,585	25,748	77	25,961	37,800	46
B.C.	6,368	4,760	-25	57,175	42,970	-25	63,543	47,730	-25
Canada (10,000+)	42,957	41,411	-4	220,452	193,446	-12	263,409	234,857	-11
Canada (All Areas)	57,317	55,093	-4	226,179	199,873	-12	283,498	254,966	-10

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
	June 2023	July 2023	%	June 2023	July 2023	%	June 2023	July 2023	%
Abbotsford – Mission	204	245	20	636	168	-74	840	413	-51
Barrie	1,197	449	-62	4,356	732	-83	5,553	1,181	-79
Belleville – Quinte West	203	377	86	384	48	-88	587	425	-28
Brantford	1,202	348	-71	24	492	##	1,226	840	-31
Calgary	5,693	6,112	7	8,652	12,948	50	14,345	19,060	33
Chilliwack	278	155	-44	278	84	-70	446	239	-46
Drummondville	131	232	77	324	396	22	455	628	38
Edmonton	4,703	4,704	0	5,484	12,348	125	10,187	17,052	67
Fredericton	390	326	-16	972	2,232	130	1,362	2,558	88
Greater / Grand Sudbury	22	253	##	24	1,044	##	46	1,297	##
Guelph	45	77	71	1,632	2,220	36	1,677	2,297	37
Halifax	722	726	1	10,644	2,508	-76	11,366	3,234	-72
Hamilton	315	283	-10	3,456	396	-89	3,771	679	-82
Kamloops	59	0	-100	12	0	-100	71	0	-100
Kelowna	519	389	-25	3,864	672	-83	4,383	1,061	-76
Kingston	239	290	21	0	4,416	##	239	4,706	##
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	1,122	747	-33	648	2,676	313	1,770	3,423	93
Lethbridge	227	206	-9	24	36	50	251	242	-4
London	345	756	119	2,568	720	-72	2,913	1,476	-49
Moncton	263	193	-27	1,968	1,164	-41	2,231	1,357	-39
Montréal	1,057	1,224	16	9,068	10,092	11	10,125	11,316	12
Nanaimo	166	87	-48	36	108	200	202	195	-3
Oshawa	1,010	994	-2	720	804	12	1,730	1,798	4
Ottawa – Gatineau	2,655	1,271	-52	9,504	9,348	-2	12,159	10,619	-13
Gatineau	331	372	12	4,956	1,020	-79	5,287	1,392	-74
Ottawa	2,324	899	-61	4,548	8,328	83	6,872	9,227	34
Peterborough	35	63	80	0	0	-	35	63	80
Québec	352	493	40	6,480	4,008	-38	6,832	4,501	-34
Red Deer	39	37	-5	48	72	50	87	109	25
Regina	101	214	112	1,788	120	-93	1,889	334	-82
Saguenay	202	152	-25	168	2,952	##	370	3,104	##
St. Catharines – Niagara	428	415	-3	1,584	1,212	-23	2,012	1,627	-19
Saint John	247	161	-35	0	48	##	247	209	-15
St. John's	363	337	-7	60	156	160	423	493	17
Saskatoon	757	545	-28	3,996	3,696	-8	4,753	4,241	-11
Sherbrooke	193	198	3	852	2,676	214	1,045	2,874	175
Thunder Bay	97	51	-47	48	0	-100	145	51	-65
Toronto	4,253	4,330	2	81,612	56,736	-30	85,865	61,066	-29
Trois-Rivières	65	313	382	3,204	1,548	-52	3,269	1,861	-43
Vancouver	3,622	2,426	-33	42,660	33,012	-23	46,282	35,438	-23
Victoria	249	273	10	5,724	5,136	-10	5,973	5,409	-9
Windsor	236	241	2	300	276	-8	536	517	-4
Winnipeg	1,386	1,111	-20	5,136	7,452	45	6,522	8,563	31