Housing starts down 7% in 2023 from 2022

Ottawa, January 16, 2024

Nationally, actual 2023 housing starts were down 7% in centres of 10,000 population and over, with 223,513 units recorded, compared to 240,590 in 2022, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This decline is primarily explained by a 25% decline in single-detached starts in 2023.

Despite the national decline, actual 2023 housing starts were 5% and 28% higher than in 2022 in Toronto and Vancouver, respectively, driven by higher multi-unit starts. Montreal starts were 37% lower due to large declines in both single-detached and multi-unit starts in 2023.

The six-month trend in housing starts was also lower in December at 249,898 units, down 2.1% from 255,198 units in November. 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 increased 18% in December (249,255 units) compared to November (210,918 units).

Quote:

“Following record and near-record highs in 2021 and 2022, housing starts dipped in 2023, but still significantly outperformed expectations for the year. The decline was driven mainly by a sharp drop-off in single-detached starts and tighter economic conditions affecting multi-unit starts in the year’s final quarter. The recent monthly multi-unit volatility is not surprising as we’re now starting to see 2023’s challenging borrowing conditions and labour shortages in the housing starts numbers and we expect to see continued downward pressure in the coming months,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist.

Key facts:

The monthly SAAR of total urban (centres 10,000 population and over) housing starts increased 20%, with 234,705 units recorded. Multi-unit urban starts increased 26% to 191,463 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased 2% to 43,242 units.
The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 14,550 units.
Total SAAR housing starts were down 35% in Toronto, driven by a significant decline in multi-unit starts. Montreal and Vancouver both posted gains of 66% and 92%, respectively, due to sizeable increases in multi-unit 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 January housing starts data on February 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.

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.

Additional information:

For information on this release:

To request an interview with a CMHC economist, contact:

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

December housing starts in Canada — all areas

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Provinces)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2023	%	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2023	%	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2023	%
N.-L.	64	48	-25	89	22	-75	153	70	-54
P.E.I.	23	13	-43	35	24	-31	58	37	-36
N.S.	123	148	20	272	468	72	395	616	56
N.B.	47	86	83	89	281	216	136	367	170
Atlantic	257	295	15	485	795	64	742	1,090	47
Qc	254	223	-12	1,757	2,503	42	2,011	2,726	36
Ont.	1,427	1,053	-26	6,927	4,328	-38	8,354	5,381	-36
Man.	107	130	21	321	370	15	428	500	17
Sask.	61	84	38	181	367	103	242	451	86
Alta.	856	1,189	39	1,263	2,302	82	2,119	3,491	65
Prairies	1,024	1,403	37	1,765	3,039	72	2,789	4,442	59
B.C.	511	350	-32	3,939	4,604	17	4,450	4,954	11
Canada (10,000+)	3,473	3,324	-4	14,873	15,269	3	18,346	18,593	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 in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Metropolitan Areas)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2023	%	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2023	%	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2023	%
Abbotsford – Mission	21	5	-76	113	11	-90	134	16	-88
Barrie	27	84	211	71	17	-76	98	101	3
Belleville – Quinte West	13	18	38	5	4	-20	18	22	22
Brantford	65	42	-35	33	54	64	98	96	-2
Calgary	410	538	31	670	955	43	1,080	1,493	38
Chilliwack	19	10	-47	10	70	##	29	80	176
Drummondville	13	20	54	34	60	76	47	80	70
Edmonton	310	513	65	464	1,244	168	774	1,757	127
Fredericton	8	29	263	30	2	-93	38	31	-18
Greater / Grand Sudbury	19	1	-95	19	2	-89	38	3	-92
Guelph	3	6	100	13	136	##	16	142	##
Halifax	56	94	68	196	385	96	252	479	90
Hamilton	60	28	-53	83	606	##	143	634	343
Kamloops	2	3	50	64	155	142	66	158	139
Kelowna	54	52	-4	337	329	-2	391	381	-3
Kingston	3	38	##	0	8	##	3	46	##
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	39	47	21	630	1,460	132	669	1,507	125
Lethbridge	15	20	33	39	7	-82	54	27	-50
London	66	32	-52	140	40	-71	206	72	-65
Moncton	16	26	63	41	216	427	57	242	325
Montréal	62	39	-37	914	1,690	85	976	1,729	77
Nanaimo	15	5	-67	106	13	-88	121	18	-85
Oshawa	25	22	-12	44	19	-57	69	41	-41
Ottawa – Gatineau	116	130	12	201	690	243	317	820	159
Gatineau	1	14	##	0	6	##	1	20	##
Ottawa	115	116	1	201	684	240	316	800	153
Peterborough	11	29	164	0	32	##	11	61	455
Québec	45	21	-53	303	80	-74	348	101	-71
Red Deer	0	9	##	16	0	-100	16	9	-44
Regina	14	20	43	33	184	458	47	204	334
Saguenay	2	12	##	2	200	##	4	212	##
St. Catharines – Niagara	92	39	-58	141	31	-78	233	70	-70
Saint John	15	22	47	0	44	##	15	66	340
St. John's	61	39	-36	88	20	-77	149	59	-60
Saskatoon	41	58	41	129	163	26	170	221	30
Sherbrooke	19	13	-32	86	98	14	105	111	6
Thunder Bay	4	5	25	0	4	##	4	9	125
Toronto	565	329	-42	5,287	1,107	-79	5,852	1,436	-75
Trois-Rivières	10	4	-60	115	17	-85	125	21	-83
Vancouver	256	154	-40	2,869	3,208	12	3,125	3,362	8
Victoria	40	27	-33	230	617	168	270	644	139
Windsor	38	15	-61	17	12	-29	55	27	-51
Winnipeg	88	104	18	269	305	13	357	409	15
Total	2,738	2,702	-1	13,842	14,295	3	16,580	16,997	3

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
	Nov. 2023	Dec. 2023	%	Nov. 2023	Dec. 2023	%	Nov. 2023	Dec. 2023	%
N.L.	471	504	7	392	256	-35	863	760	-12
P.E.I.	93	168	81	360	288	-20	453	456	1
N.S.	1,445	1,608	11	10,821	5,599	-48	12,266	7,207	-41
N.B.	767	908	18	4,402	3,351	-24	5,169	4,259	-18
Qc	4,171	3,819	-8	20,686	35,841	73	24,857	39,660	60
Ont.	13,843	13,738	-1	47,331	54,113	14	61,174	67,851	11
Man.	1,823	1,696	-7	5,496	4,440	-19	7,319	6,136	-16
Sask.	1,402	1,107	-21	3,936	4,404	12	5,338	5,511	3
Alta.	15,042	15,135	1	25,841	27,842	8	40,883	42,977	5
B.C.	4,976	4,559	-8	32,286	55,329	71	37,262	59,888	61
Canada (10,000+)	44,033	43,242	-2	151,551	191,463	26	195,584	234,705	20
Canada (All Areas)	53,987	52,426	-3	156,930	196,830	25	210,918	249,255	18

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
	Nov. 2023	Dec. 2023	%	Nov. 2023	Dec. 2023	%	Nov. 2023	Dec. 2023	%
Abbotsford – Mission	194	68	-65	4,488	132	-97	4,682	200	-96
Barrie	571	1,015	78	1,668	204	-88	2,239	1,219	-46
Belleville – Quinte West	342	253	-26	1,320	48	-96	1,662	301	-82
Brantford	341	592	74	864	648	-25	1,205	1,240	3
Calgary	7,043	6,634	-6	14,568	11,460	-21	21,611	18,094	-16
Chilliwack	227	144	-37	227	840	270	1,307	984	-25
Drummondville	122	284	133	1,092	720	-34	1,214	1,004	-17
Edmonton	6,384	7,125	12	10,068	14,928	48	16,452	22,053	34
Fredericton	253	299	18	888	24	-97	1,141	323	-72
Greater / Grand Sudbury	20	24	20	24	24	-	44	48	9
Guelph	93	122	31	96	1,632	##	189	1,754	##
Halifax	686	913	33	9,624	4,620	-52	10,310	5,533	-46
Hamilton	248	359	45	828	7,272	##	1,076	7,631	##
Kamloops	22	51	132	12	1,860	##	34	1,911	##
Kelowna	367	447	22	240	3,948	##	607	4,395	##
Kingston	164	387	136	0	96	##	164	483	195
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	880	704	-20	3,888	17,520	351	4,768	18,224	282
Lethbridge	199	232	17	0	84	##	199	316	59
London	633	385	-39	1,392	480	-66	2,025	865	-57
Moncton	208	385	85	3,084	2,592	-16	3,292	2,977	-10
Montréal	998	832	-17	11,764	20,392	73	12,762	21,224	66
Nanaimo	613	78	-87	300	156	-48	913	234	-74
Oshawa	25	568	##	4,932	228	-95	4,957	796	-84
Ottawa – Gatineau	1,357	1,950	44	8,760	8,280	-5	10,117	10,230	1
Gatineau	29	248	##	324	72	-78	353	320	-9
Ottawa	1,328	1,702	28	8,436	8,208	-3	9,764	9,910	1
Peterborough	424	402	-5	192	384	100	616	786	28
Québec	479	402	-16	2,688	960	-64	3,167	1,362	-57
Red Deer	109	79	-28	0	0	-	109	79	-28
Regina	275	251	-9	1,380	2,208	60	1,655	2,459	49
Saguenay	98	171	74	384	2,400	##	482	2,571	433
St. Catharines – Niagara	848	562	-34	1,080	372	-66	1,928	934	-52
Saint John	172	229	33	60	528	##	232	757	226
St. John's	348	364	5	288	240	-17	636	604	-5
Saskatoon	1,058	834	-21	2,280	1,956	-14	3,338	2,790	-16
Sherbrooke	285	191	-33	972	1,176	21	1,257	1,367	9
Thunder Bay	36	89	147	168	48	-71	204	137	-33
Toronto	4,281	4,335	1	22,620	13,284	-41	26,901	17,619	-35
Trois-Rivières	194	102	-47	888	204	-77	1,082	306	-72
Vancouver	2,338	2,100	-10	18,792	38,496	105	21,130	40,596	92
Victoria	372	346	-7	5,220	7,404	42	5,592	7,750	39
Windsor	289	221	-24	756	144	-81	1,045	365	-65
Winnipeg	1,494	1,390	-7	5,340	3,660	-31	6,834	5,050	-26