Housing starts for April 2024

Ottawa, May 15, 2024

The total monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts for all areas in Canada decreased 1% in April (240,229 units) compared to March (242,267), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

The six-month trend in housing starts decreased 2.2% from 243,907 units in March to 238,585 units in April. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

The actual number of housing starts across Canada in urban centres of 10,000 population and over was down 9% to 18,486 units in April compared to 20,231 units in April 2023. The year-over-year decrease was driven by lower multi-unit starts, down 11%, whereas single-detached starts increased 3%.

April’s actual housing starts were lower in all three major cities in Canada due to decreases in both multi-unit and single-detached starts. Toronto declined 38%, Vancouver fell 30% and Montreal was down 3% compared to April a year ago.

“Both the SAAR and Trend of housing starts decreased in April as did the actual number of starts, largely driven by fewer multi-unit starts, particularly in Ontario. The multi-unit volatility observed in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montréal in recent months is unsurprising as we continue to see last year’s challenging borrowing conditions reflected in multi-unit housing starts numbers. We expect to see continued downward pressure in these large centres,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist.

Key facts:

The monthly SAAR of total urban (centres 10,000 population and over) housing starts was flat at 220,123 units recorded. Multi-unit urban starts decreased 1% to 178,462 units, while single-detached urban starts increased 2% to 41,661 units.
The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 20,106 units.
Total SAAR housing starts were up 41% in Montreal, driven by a 50% increase in multi-unit starts. Vancouver declined 17% due to decreases in multi-unit starts. Toronto fell 12% with both multi-unit and single-detached starts lower.
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 May housing starts data on June 17 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.

CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and information to all levels of governments, consumers and the housing industry.

For information on this release:

To request an interview with a CMHC economist, contact:
Media Relations, CMHC
media@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

April housing starts in Canada — all areas

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Provinces)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Apr. 2023	Apr. 2024	%	Apr. 2023	Apr. 2024	%	Apr. 2023	Apr. 2024	%
N.-L.	21	40	90	6	11	83	27	51	89
P.E.I.	15	10	-33	42	8	-81	57	18	-68
N.S.	110	127	15	197	441	124	307	568	85
N.B.	46	42	-9	321	171	-47	367	213	-42
Atlantic	192	219	14	566	631	11	758	850	12
Qc	360	422	17	2,398	2,367	-1	2,758	2,789	1
Ont.	1,088	1,002	-8	7,743	4,587	-41	8,831	5,589	-37
Man.	146	117	-20	177	503	184	323	620	92
Sask.	92	72	-22	93	265	185	185	337	82
Alta.	925	1,263	37	1,431	2,553	78	2,356	3,816	62
Prairies	1,163	1,452	25	1,701	3,321	95	2,864	4,773	67
B.C.	595	405	-32	4,425	4,080	-8	5,020	4,485	-11
Canada (10,000+)	3,398	3,500	3	16,833	14,986	-11	20,231	18,486	-9

Data for 2023 and 2024 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
	Apr. 2023	Apr. 2024	%	Apr. 2023	Apr. 2024	%	Apr. 2023	Apr. 2024	%
Abbotsford – Mission	29	26	-10	11	39	255	40	65	63
Barrie	100	54	-46	408	9	-98	508	63	-88
Belleville – Quinte West	8	14	75	52	8	-85	60	22	-63
Brantford	61	17	-72	33	5	-85	94	22	-77
Calgary	447	528	18	717	1,303	82	1,164	1,831	57
Chilliwack	6	15	150	12	9	-25	18	24	33
Drummondville	15	15	-	19	45	137	34	60	76
Edmonton	370	598	62	638	1,058	66	1,008	1,656	64
Fredericton	8	9	13	4	0	-100	12	9	-25
Greater / Grand Sudbury	12	4	-67	4	0	-100	16	4	-75
Guelph	5	2	-60	0	32	##	5	34	##
Halifax	40	75	88	180	418	132	220	493	124
Hamilton	13	10	-23	544	41	-92	557	51	-91
Kamloops	8	9	13	146	5	-97	154	14	-91
Kelowna	52	31	-40	62	170	174	114	201	76
Kingston	25	20	-20	236	12	-95	261	32	-88
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	46	43	-7	53	469	##	99	512	417
Lethbridge	13	10	-23	8	51	##	21	61	190
London	24	40	67	190	375	97	214	415	94
Moncton	13	26	100	173	153	-12	186	179	-4
Montréal	86	70	-19	1,151	1,124	-2	1,237	1,194	-3
Nanaimo	36	13	-64	17	372	##	53	385	##
Oshawa	55	45	-18	409	90	-78	464	135	-71
Ottawa – Gatineau	118	138	17	1,271	309	-76	1,389	447	-68
Gatineau	16	24	50	447	32	-93	463	56	-88
Ottawa	102	114	12	824	277	-66	926	391	-58
Peterborough	10	8	-20	16	14	-13	26	22	-15
Québec	62	66	6	319	631	98	381	697	83
Red Deer	6	8	33	21	63	200	27	71	163
Regina	22	19	-14	40	204	410	62	223	260
Saguenay	20	7	-65	50	8	-84	70	15	-79
St. Catharines – Niagara	61	50	-18	86	93	8	147	143	-3
Saint John	18	1	-94	139	10	-93	157	11	-93
St. John's	18	36	100	6	11	83	24	47	96
Saskatoon	66	45	-32	52	60	15	118	105	-11
Sherbrooke	20	21	5	111	64	-42	131	85	-35
Thunder Bay	1	1	-	0	0	-	1	1	-
Toronto	316	305	-3	4,626	2,749	-41	4,942	3,054	-38
Trois-Rivières	23	11	-52	66	28	-58	89	39	-56
Vancouver	292	195	-33	3,875	2,718	-30	4,167	2,913	-30
Victoria	44	21	-52	47	485	##	91	506	456
Windsor	19	31	63	14	289	##	33	320	##
Winnipeg	136	101	-26	168	490	192	304	591	94
Total	2,724	2,738	1	15,974	14,014	-12	18,698	16,752	-10

Data for 2023 and 2024 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
	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	%	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	%	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	%
N.L.	305	636	109	20	304	##	325	940	189
P.E.I.	41	110	168	648	96	-85	689	206	-70
N.S.	1,714	1,955	14	5,854	5,380	-8	7,568	7,335	-3
N.B.	873	946	8	556	2,052	269	1,429	2,998	110
Qc	4,928	4,499	-9	30,072	25,878	-14	35,000	30,377	-13
Ont.	12,798	13,031	2	57,256	56,428	-1	70,054	69,459	-1
Man.	1,747	1,446	-17	2,964	6,036	104	4,711	7,482	59
Sask.	1,092	737	-33	1,968	3,180	62	3,060	3,917	28
Alta.	13,670	14,378	5	25,188	30,499	21	38,858	44,877	15
B.C.	3,548	3,923	11	55,116	48,609	-12	58,664	52,532	-10
Canada (10,000+)	40,716	41,661	2	179,642	178,462	-1	220,358	220,123	0
Canada (All Areas)	52,791	53,895	2	189,477	186,335	-2	242,267	240,229	-1

Data for 2023 and 2024 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
	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	%	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	%	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	%
Abbotsford – Mission	102	232	127	1,728	468	-73	1,830	700	-62
Barrie	852	715	-16	48	108	125	900	823	-9
Belleville – Quinte West	384	207	-46	12	96	##	396	303	-23
Brantford	303	346	14	0	60	##	303	406	34
Calgary	7,130	6,331	-11	14,736	15,636	6	21,866	21,967	0
Chilliwack	82	110	34	82	108	32	1,582	218	-86
Drummondville	192	115	-40	384	540	41	576	655	14
Edmonton	5,418	6,377	18	9,504	12,696	34	14,922	19,073	28
Fredericton	330	393	19	0	0	-	330	393	19
Greater / Grand Sudbury	43	11	-74	0	0	-	43	11	-74
Guelph	50	28	-44	72	384	433	122	412	238
Halifax	1,040	932	-10	5,340	5,016	-6	6,380	5,948	-7
Hamilton	443	226	-49	204	492	141	647	718	11
Kamloops	219	81	-63	24	60	150	243	141	-42
Kelowna	230	291	27	4,548	2,040	-55	4,778	2,331	-51
Kingston	168	257	53	108	144	33	276	401	45
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	579	576	-1	900	5,628	##	1,479	6,204	319
Lethbridge	217	134	-38	24	612	##	241	746	210
London	650	606	-7	6,084	4,500	-26	6,734	5,106	-24
Moncton	325	281	-14	168	1,836	##	493	2,117	329
Montréal	1,105	766	-31	8,773	13,130	50	9,878	13,896	41
Nanaimo	19	134	##	12	4,464	##	31	4,598	##
Oshawa	299	389	30	936	1,080	15	1,235	1,469	19
Ottawa – Gatineau	1,719	1,772	3	7,128	3,708	-48	8,847	5,480	-38
Gatineau	270	280	4	1,788	384	-79	2,058	664	-68
Ottawa	1,449	1,492	3	5,340	3,324	-38	6,789	4,816	-29
Peterborough	189	130	-31	0	168	##	189	298	58
Québec	386	577	49	6,240	7,572	21	6,626	8,149	23
Red Deer	120	85	-29	24	756	##	144	841	484
Regina	310	227	-27	888	2,448	176	1,198	2,675	123
Saguenay	989	72	-93	348	96	-72	1,337	168	-87
St. Catharines – Niagara	735	612	-17	960	1,116	16	1,695	1,728	2
Saint John	234	18	-92	0	120	##	234	138	-41
St. John's	215	651	203	12	132	##	227	783	245
Saskatoon	713	444	-38	1,056	720	-32	1,769	1,164	-34
Sherbrooke	290	225	-22	1,608	768	-52	1,898	993	-48
Thunder Bay	939	96	-90	288	0	-100	1,227	96	-92
Toronto	4,314	3,995	-7	37,704	32,988	-13	42,018	36,983	-12
Trois-Rivières	85	78	-8	372	336	-10	457	414	-9
Vancouver	1,666	1,969	18	40,068	32,616	-19	41,734	34,585	-17
Victoria	324	238	-27	5,148	5,820	13	5,472	6,058	11
Windsor	372	370	-1	264	3,468	##	636	3,838	##
Winnipeg	1,506	1,158	-23	2,808	5,880	109	4,314	7,038	63