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Housing Starts in Canada – All Areas. (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)
The monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts for all areas in Canada increased three per cent in January, and actual housing starts were up seven per cent year-over-year in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater, but despite the gains, the trend line declined 2.5 per cent, reports Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in its latest report on housing starts.
January’s trendline, a six-month moving average of the seasonally adjusted annual rate of total housing starts for all areas in Canada, came in at 236,892 units, while the SAAR of starts reached 239,739 units in January; a tidy gain over the 232,492 units reported in December.
Actual housing starts in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater reached 15,930 units in January, compared to the 14,883 reported 12 months earlier.
Looking at Canada’s three largest cities, Montreal posted a 112 per cent year-over-year increase in actual housing starts in January while Vancouver recorded a 37 per cent increase, both driven by higher multi-unit starts. Starts in Toronto fell 41 per cent from January 2024, however, driven by decreases in multi-unit starts.
“Both the monthly SAAR and actual housing starts increased in Canada’s urban centres in January. This was primarily driven by an eight per cent increase in multi-unit starts, particularly purpose-built rentals concentrated in Quebec and British Columbia,” said Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, CMHC’s deputy chief economist. “While these increases show early signs of progress to begin the year, foreign trade risks add significant uncertainty for housing construction going forward.”
The most recent CMHC Housing Market Outlook is projecting starts to slow down between this year and 2027 as the agency is seeing softness in condominium and apartment starts.