Housing starts for September 2024

Ottawa, October 16, 2024

The six-month trend in housing starts decreased 1.3% from 246,972 units in August to 243,759 units in September. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

The total monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada increased 5% in September (223,808 units) compared to August (213,012 units), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

In Canada’s urban centres with a population of 10,000 or greater, there have been 168,897 actual housing starts year-to-date (January – September) in 2024. This compares to 165,559 for the same period in 2023, meaning actual housing starts are currently 2% higher this year.

Quote:

“Growth in actual year-to-date housing starts has been driven by both higher multi-unit and single-detached units in Alberta, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. By contrast, year-to-date starts in Ontario and British Columbia have decreased across all housing types. Despite the increase in housing starts in September, we remain well below what is required to restore affordability in Canada’s urban centres.” said Kevin Hughes, CMHC’s Deputy Chief Economist.

Key facts:

The monthly SAAR of total urban (centres 10,000 population and over) housing starts was 6% higher (210,002 units). Multi-unit urban starts increased 6% (163,400 units), while single-detached urban starts increased 5% (46,602 units).
The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 13,806 units.
Actual year-to-date housing starts between January and September 2024 are up 15% in Montreal from the same period last year, showing some recovery from historically low new home construction in 2023.
In Vancouver, actual starts are down 19% in 2024 compared to 2023, but it’s important to note 2023 was a record high year.
In Toronto, actual year-to-date housing starts are down 20% from 2023, which was also a high year for housing starts by historical standards.
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 October housing starts data on November 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.
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 plays a critical role as a national convenor to promote stability and sustainability in Canada’s housing finance system. Our mortgage insurance products support access to home ownership and the creation and maintenance of rental housing supply. Our research and data help inform housing policy. By facilitating cooperation between all levels of government, private and non-profit sectors, we contribute to advancing housing affordability, equity, and climate compatibility. We actively support the Government of Canada in delivering on its commitment to make housing more affordable.

Information on this release:

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

September housing starts in Canada — all areas

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over – Cumulative, January – September (Provinces)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	2023	2024	%	2023	2024	%	2023	2024	%
N.-L.	331	458	38	92	232	152	423	690	63
P.E.I.	134	189	41	495	896	81	629	1,085	72
N.S.	1,117	1,173	5	2,764	4,199	52	3,881	5,372	38
N.B.	664	710	7	2,127	2,979	40	2,791	3,689	32
Atlantic	2,246	2,530	13	5,478	8,306	52	7,724	10,836	40
Qc	3,068	3,126	2	20,743	25,663	24	23,811	28,789	21
Ont.	11,257	9,576	-15	55,038	46,552	-15	66,295	56,128	-15
Man.	1,250	1,299	4	3,551	3,106	-13	4,801	4,405	-8
Sask.	725	911	26	2,247	2,000	-11	2,972	2,911	-2
Alta.	8,578	11,295	32	16,326	22,282	36	24,904	33,577	35
Prairies	10,553	13,505	28	22,124	27,388	24	32,677	40,893	25
B.C.	4,336	3,349	-23	30,716	28,902	-6	35,052	32,251	-8
Canada (10,000+)	31,460	32,086	2	134,099	136,811	2	165,559	168,897	2

Data for 2021 and 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023 and 2024 based on 2021 Census Definitions.

Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over – Cumulative, January – September (Metropolitan Areas)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	2023	2024	%	2023	2024	%	2023	2024	%
Abbotsford – Mission	187	146	-22	350	756	116	537	902	68
Barrie	552	312	-43	1,305	446	-66	1,857	758	-59
Belleville – Quinte West	150	163	9	129	123	-5	279	286	3
Brantford	309	168	-46	264	39	-85	573	207	-64
Calgary	4,104	5,225	27	10,037	12,189	21	14,141	17,414	23
Chilliwack	141	121	-14	178	278	56	319	399	25
Drummondville	121	125	3	291	621	113	412	746	81
Edmonton	3,465	4,992	44	5,634	8,367	49	9,099	13,359	47
Fredericton	208	226	9	619	280	-55	827	506	-39
Greater / Grand Sudbury	76	61	-20	184	58	-68	260	119	-54
Guelph	56	43	-23	1,052	342	-67	1,108	385	-65
Halifax	419	604	44	2,398	3,682	54	2,817	4,286	52
Hamilton	222	250	13	1,558	1,691	9	1,780	1,941	9
Kamloops	78	68	-13	270	196	-27	348	264	-24
Kelowna	339	280	-17	1,792	3,387	89	2,131	3,667	72
Kingston	216	171	-21	763	149	-80	979	320	-67
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	657	290	-56	1,799	2,062	15	2,456	2,352	-4
Lethbridge	118	194	64	30	405	##	148	599	305
London	367	415	13	1,367	2,587	89	1,734	3,002	73
Moncton	185	199	8	1,130	1,983	75	1,315	2,182	66
Montréal	767	814	6	10,110	11,675	15	10,877	12,489	15
Nanaimo	141	114	-19	208	670	222	349	784	125
Oshawa	532	338	-36	789	1,134	44	1,321	1,472	11
Ottawa – Gatineau	1,351	1,325	-2	7,617	6,919	-9	8,968	8,244	-8
Gatineau	250	276	10	2,205	2,084	-5	2,455	2,360	-4
Ottawa	1,101	1,049	-5	5,412	4,835	-11	6,513	5,884	-10
Peterborough	84	102	21	27	113	319	111	215	94
Québec	447	452	1	3,521	4,794	36	3,968	5,246	32
Red Deer	53	67	26	93	247	166	146	314	115
Regina	156	204	31	588	734	25	744	938	26
Saguenay	154	152	-1	429	215	-50	583	367	-37
St. Catharines – Niagara	668	517	-23	1,514	781	-48	2,182	1,298	-41
Saint John	163	166	2	264	438	66	427	604	41
St. John's	244	388	59	74	196	165	318	584	84
Saskatoon	535	647	21	1,396	1,228	-12	1,931	1,875	-3
Sherbrooke	176	220	25	868	953	10	1,044	1,173	12
Thunder Bay	76	56	-26	133	130	-2	209	186	-11
Toronto	3,539	3,389	-4	36,441	28,559	-22	39,980	31,948	-20
Trois-Rivières	134	160	19	771	1,269	65	905	1,429	58
Vancouver	2,266	1,645	-27	22,951	18,858	-18	25,217	20,503	-19
Victoria	295	216	-27	2,858	2,850	0	3,153	3,066	-3
Windsor	231	335	45	692	1,394	101	923	1,729	87
Winnipeg	1,088	1,071	-2	3,228	2,614	-19	4,316	3,685	-15
Total	25,070	26,431	5	125,722	125,412	0	150,792	151,843	1

Data for 2021 and 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023 and 2024 based on 2021 Census Definitions.

Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Provinces)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Sept. 2023	Sept. 2024	%	Sept. 2023	Sept. 2024	%	Sept. 2023	Sept. 2024	%
N.-L.	67	58	-13	26	45	73	93	103	11
P.E.I.	8	36	350	10	0	-100	18	36	100
N.S.	163	177	9	542	246	-55	705	423	-40
N.B.	91	107	18	434	539	24	525	646	23
Atlantic	329	378	15	1,012	830	-18	1,341	1,208	-10
Qc	431	402	-7	3,924	3,554	-9	4,355	3,956	-9
Ont.	1,341	1,477	10	7,266	3,981	-45	8,607	5,458	-37
Man.	139	170	22	230	281	22	369	451	22
Sask.	143	147	3	114	359	215	257	506	97
Alta.	1,184	1,441	22	2,921	2,325	-20	4,105	3,766	-8
Prairies	1,466	1,758	20	3,265	2,965	-9	4,731	4,723	0
B.C.	519	420	-19	2,641	3,041	15	3,160	3,461	10
Canada (10,000+)	4,086	4,435	9	18,108	14,371	-21	22,194	18,806	-15

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
	Sept. 2023	Sept. 2024	%	Sept. 2023	Sept. 2024	%	Sept. 2023	Sept. 2024	%
Abbotsford – Mission	24	26	8	12	247	##	36	273	##
Barrie	40	47	18	123	115	-7	163	162	-1
Belleville – Quinte West	16	38	138	0	11	##	16	49	206
Brantford	6	37	##	27	20	-26	33	57	73
Calgary	554	660	19	2,180	1,430	-34	2,734	2,090	-24
Chilliwack	27	17	-37	10	4	-60	37	21	-43
Drummondville	8	15	88	42	67	60	50	82	64
Edmonton	464	637	37	620	798	29	1,084	1,435	32
Fredericton	28	37	32	283	26	-91	311	63	-80
Greater / Grand Sudbury	0	18	##	5	21	320	5	39	##
Guelph	8	7	-13	116	44	-62	124	51	-59
Halifax	78	64	-18	508	166	-67	586	230	-61
Hamilton	36	51	42	167	415	149	203	466	130
Kamloops	47	1	-98	78	64	-18	125	65	-48
Kelowna	17	34	100	151	425	181	168	459	173
Kingston	38	25	-34	44	9	-80	82	34	-59
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	38	22	-42	498	119	-76	536	141	-74
Lethbridge	24	22	-8	8	0	-100	32	22	-31
London	52	58	12	127	149	17	179	207	16
Moncton	24	29	21	135	414	207	159	443	179
Montréal	99	108	9	2,583	1,003	-61	2,682	1,111	-59
Nanaimo	11	8	-27	6	4	-33	17	12	-29
Oshawa	86	36	-58	10	14	40	96	50	-48
Ottawa – Gatineau	193	216	12	1,306	1,672	28	1,499	1,888	26
Gatineau	48	32	-33	219	346	58	267	378	42
Ottawa	145	184	27	1,087	1,326	22	1,232	1,510	23
Peterborough	11	3	-73	0	18	##	11	21	91
Québec	68	49	-28	568	547	-4	636	596	-6
Red Deer	13	14	8	10	0	-100	23	14	-39
Regina	32	43	34	34	31	-9	66	74	12
Saguenay	18	10	-44	15	50	233	33	60	82
St. Catharines – Niagara	73	60	-18	308	10	-97	381	70	-82
Saint John	24	26	8	5	75	##	29	101	248
St. John's	42	48	14	20	36	80	62	84	35
Saskatoon	105	95	-10	20	317	##	125	412	230
Sherbrooke	25	31	24	84	242	188	109	273	150
Thunder Bay	30	15	-50	30	28	-7	60	43	-28
Toronto	406	554	36	4,469	1,179	-74	4,875	1,733	-64
Trois-Rivières	16	43	169	85	620	##	101	663	##
Vancouver	251	209	-17	1,922	1,774	-8	2,173	1,983	-9
Victoria	41	29	-29	175	331	89	216	360	67
Windsor	35	51	46	11	268	##	46	319	##
Winnipeg	108	139	29	159	139	-13	267	278	4
Total	3,216	3,632	13	16,954	12,902	-24	20,170	16,534	-18

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
	Aug. 2024	Sept. 2024	%	Aug. 2024	Sept. 2024	%	Aug. 2024	Sept. 2024	%
N.L.	561	553	-1	579	405	-30	1,140	958	-16
P.E.I.	225	431	92	372	0	-100	597	431	-28
N.S.	1,362	1,191	-13	1,930	2,671	38	3,292	3,862	17
N.B.	838	939	12	7,042	6,498	-8	7,880	7,437	-6
Qc	4,412	4,177	-5	36,693	35,909	-2	41,105	40,086	-2
Ont.	13,439	15,448	15	43,933	45,740	4	57,372	61,188	7
Man.	1,947	1,915	-2	4,956	3,372	-32	6,903	5,287	-23
Sask.	1,293	1,475	14	1,896	4,308	127	3,189	5,783	81
Alta.	15,426	16,140	5	30,481	28,242	-7	45,907	44,382	-3
B.C.	4,700	4,333	-8	26,950	36,255	35	31,650	40,588	28
Canada (10,000+)	44,203	46,602	5	154,832	163,400	6	199,035	210,002	6
Canada (All Areas)	51,639	54,105	5	161,373	169,707	5	213,012	223,808	5

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
	Aug. 2024	Sept. 2024	%	Aug. 2024	Sept. 2024	%	Aug. 2024	Sept. 2024	%
Abbotsford – Mission	185	233	26	108	2,964	##	293	3,197	##
Barrie	291	410	41	1,704	1,380	-19	1,995	1,790	-10
Belleville – Quinte West	235	356	51	132	132	-	367	488	33
Brantford	129	399	209	0	240	##	129	639	395
Calgary	6,960	7,167	3	12,936	17,160	33	19,896	24,327	22
Chilliwack	192	163	-15	192	48	-75	252	211	-16
Drummondville	258	245	-5	1,008	804	-20	1,266	1,049	-17
Edmonton	7,029	7,385	5	14,124	9,576	-32	21,153	16,961	-20
Fredericton	264	324	23	1,596	312	-80	1,860	636	-66
Greater / Grand Sudbury	-13	103	##	0	252	##	-13	355	##
Guelph	28	88	214	324	528	63	352	616	75
Halifax	974	606	-38	1,548	1,992	29	2,522	2,598	3
Hamilton	359	417	16	1,068	4,980	366	1,427	5,397	278
Kamloops	31	11	-65	12	768	##	43	779	##
Kelowna	534	519	-3	168	5,100	##	702	5,619	##
Kingston	385	215	-44	756	108	-86	1,141	323	-72
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	289	321	11	3,648	1,428	-61	3,937	1,749	-56
Lethbridge	590	247	-58	2,616	0	-100	3,206	247	-92
London	599	566	-6	4,944	1,788	-64	5,543	2,354	-58
Moncton	239	260	9	4,896	4,968	1	5,135	5,228	2
Montréal	1,255	1,171	-7	13,884	11,864	-15	15,139	13,035	-14
Nanaimo	129	110	-15	24	48	100	153	158	3
Oshawa	404	325	-20	2,892	168	-94	3,296	493	-85
Ottawa – Gatineau	1,952	1,967	1	6,984	20,064	187	8,936	22,031	147
Gatineau	523	287	-45	1,008	4,152	312	1,531	4,439	190
Ottawa	1,429	1,680	18	5,976	15,912	166	7,405	17,592	138
Peterborough	58	51	-12	660	216	-67	718	267	-63
Québec	854	660	-23	4,284	6,564	53	5,138	7,224	41
Red Deer	74	103	39	0	0	-	74	103	39
Regina	245	382	56	288	372	29	533	754	41
Saguenay	79	123	56	360	600	67	439	723	65
St. Catharines – Niagara	287	676	136	2,028	120	-94	2,315	796	-66
Saint John	251	224	-11	288	900	213	539	1,124	109
St. John's	539	491	-9	516	432	-16	1,055	923	-13
Saskatoon	944	963	2	1,476	3,804	158	2,420	4,767	97
Sherbrooke	327	318	-3	1,116	2,904	160	1,443	3,222	123
Thunder Bay	54	62	15	0	336	##	54	398	##
Toronto	5,304	6,384	20	19,428	14,148	-27	24,732	20,532	-17
Trois-Rivières	351	426	21	1,500	7,440	396	1,851	7,866	325
Vancouver	2,054	2,175	6	18,408	21,288	16	20,462	23,463	15
Victoria	249	285	14	5,124	3,972	-22	5,373	4,257	-21
Windsor	508	495	-3	1,128	3,216	185	1,636	3,711	127
Winnipeg	1,613	1,614	0	3,876	1,668	-57	5,489	3,282	-40