The six-month trend in housing starts declined 2.5% in January to 236,892 units, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). 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 3% in January (239,739 units) compared to December (232,492 units).
Actual housing starts were up 7% year-over-year in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater, with 15,930 units recorded in January 2025, compared to 14,883 in January 2024.
Quote:
“Both the monthly SAAR and actual housing starts increased in Canada's urban centres in January. This was primarily driven by an 8% increase in multi-unit starts, particularly purpose-built rentals concentrated in Quebec and British Columbia.While these increases show early signs of progress to begin the year, foreign trade risks add significant uncertainty for housing construction going forward,” said Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, CMHC's Deputy Chief Economist. “In our recently released Housing Market Outlook, CMHC projected housing starts to slow down from 2025 to 2027, mainly due to decreases in condominium apartment starts.”
Key Facts:
— The monthly SAAR for Canada's centres with a population of 10,000 or greater also increased 3% in January (220,643 units) compared to December (215,052 units).
— The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 19,096 units.
— Among Canada's three largest cities, Montreal posted a 112% year-over-year increase in actual housing starts in January while Vancouver recorded a 37% increase, both driven by higher multi-unit starts. Starts in Toronto fell 41% from January 2024, driven by decreases 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 11th business day each month. February housing starts data will be released on March 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.
— Read about our 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.
CMHCplays 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 supply.We actively support theGovernment of Canada in delivering on its commitment to make housing more affordable.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.
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Related Links:
— Housing starts for December 2024
— 2025 Housing Market Outlook
— 2024 Rental Market Report
— High housing costs making it harder to move for jobs many are seeking
— Higher rates hindered housing starts in 2023
— Canada's potential capacity for housing construction
Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over Single-Detached All Others Total January 2024 January 2025 % January 2024 January 2025 % January 2024 January 2025 %Provinces (10,000+)N.-L. 38 33 -13 36 23 -36 74 56 -24P.E.I. 17 11 -35 67 188 181 84 199 ##N.S. 104 114 10 351 516 47 455 630 38N.B. 28 30 7 215 48 -78 243 78 -68Atlantic 187 188 1 669 775 16 856 963 13Qc 237 256 8 2,347 3,749 60 2,584 4,005 55Ont. 661 495 -25 5,073 3,575 -30 5,734 4,070 -29Man. 110 145 32 191 251 31 301 396 32Sask. 60 59 -2 157 139 -11 217 198 -9Alta. 815 979 20 2,114 2,220 5 2,929 3,199 9Prairies 985 1,183 20 2,462 2,610 6 3,447 3,793 10B.C. 260 264 2 2,002 2,835 42 2,262 3,099 37Canada (10,000+) 2,330 2,386 2 12,553 13,544 8 14,883 15,930 7Metropolitan AreasAbbotsford-Mission 16 10 -38 78 280 259 94 290 ##Barrie 20 3 -85 8 18 125 28 21 -25Belleville – Quinte West 7 6 -14 0 0 – 7 6 -14Brantford 13 11 -15 0 242 ## 13 253 ##Calgary 487 552 13 1,464 1,077 -26 1,951 1,629 -17Chilliwack 8 10 25 1 4 300 9 14 56Drummondville 4 10 ## 1 18 ## 5 28 ##Edmonton 242 332 37 441 879 99 683 1,211 77Fredericton 8 10 25 7 2 -71 15 12 -20Greater/Grand Sudbury 0 2 ## 2 0 ### 2 2 -Guelph 2 1 -50 0 1 ## 2 2 -Halifax 51 60 18 289 451 56 340 511 50Hamilton 47 13 -72 204 17 -92 251 30 -88Kamloops 1 11 ## 1 8 ## 2 19 ##Kelowna 11 17 55 107 343 221 118 360 ##Kingston 9 4 -56 2 166 ## 11 170 ##Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 14 17 21 167 179 7 181 196 8Lethbridge 15 22 47 88 103 17 103 125 21London 27 32 19 155 22 -86 182 54 -70Moncton 5 8 60 95 8 -92 100 16 -84Montréal 63 101 60 1,134 2,439 115 1,197 2,540 ##Nanaimo 27 4 -85 177 0 ### 204 4 -98Oshawa 17 6 -65 312 0 ### 329 6 -98Ottawa-Gatineau 93 103 11 308 685 122 401 788 97Gatineau 11 12 9 181 310 71 192 322 68Ottawa 82 91 11 127 375 195 209 466 ##Peterborough 5 6 20 0 0 – 5 6 20Québec 25 38 52 538 488 -9 563 526 -7Red Deer 5 16 ## 6 12 100 11 28 ##Regina 5 7 40 110 96 -13 115 103 -10Saguenay 24 9 -63 18 48 167 42 57 36St. Catharines-Niagara 57 28 -51 38 83 118 95 111 17Saint John 9 7 -22 90 26 -71 99 33 -67St. John's 34 30 -12 36 22 -39 70 52 -26Saskatoon 51 49 -4 46 41 -11 97 90 -7Sherbrooke 17 8 -53 67 53 -21 84 61 -27Thunder Bay 0 3 ## 6 14 133 6 17 ##Toronto 281 219 -22 3,724 2,149 -42 4,005 2,368 -41Trois-Rivières 9 11 22 88 40 -55 97 51 -47Vancouver 121 141 17 1,342 1,866 39 1,463 2,007 37Victoria 11 15 36 171 90 -47 182 105 -42Windsor 11 13 18 196 31 -84 207 44 -79Winnipeg 99 133 34 171 236 38 270 369 37Total 1,951 2,078 7 11,688 12,237 5 13,639 14,315 5
Data for 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023, 2024 and 2025 based on 2021 Census Definitions.Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey## not calculable / extreme value
Housing Start Data – Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates (SAAR) Single-Detached All Others Total December 2024 January 2025 % December 2024 January 2025 % December 2024 January 2025 %Provinces (10,000+)N.L. 633 707 12 566 274 -52 1,199 981 -18P.E.I. 294 267 -9 984 2,256 129 1,278 2,523 97N.S. 1,700 1,872 10 3,743 6,316 69 5,443 8,188 50N.B. 806 964 20 4,022 785 -80 4,828 1,749 -64Qc 5,854 5,961 2 35,910 52,399 46 41,764 58,360 40Ont. 12,448 9,426 -24 50,988 47,571 -7 63,436 56,997 -10Man. 1,656 2,081 26 3,228 3,012 -7 4,884 5,093 4Sask. 1,508 1,289 -15 1,848 1,668 -10 3,356 2,957 -12Alta. 16,208 16,918 4 27,197 27,901 3 43,405 44,819 3B.C. 4,354 4,898 12 41,105 34,078 -17 45,459 38,976 -14Canada (10,000+) 45,461 44,383 -2 169,591 176,260 4 215,052 220,643 3Canada (All Areas) 57,284 57,299 0 175,207 182,443 4 232,492 239,739 3Metropolitan AreasAbbotsford-Mission 187 193 3 1,404 3,360 139 1,591 3,553 123Barrie 521 73 -86 6,576 216 -97 7,097 289 -96Belleville – Quinte West 280 186 -34 60 0 ### 340 186 -45Brantford 117 198 69 24 2,904 ## 141 3,102 ##Calgary 6,486 8,444 30 14,436 12,924 -10 20,922 21,368 2Chilliwack 146 152 4 146 48 -67 1,178 200 -83Drummondville 244 262 7 624 216 -65 868 478 -45Edmonton 7,656 7,781 2 10,524 10,548 0 18,180 18,329 1Fredericton 294 305 4 48 24 -50 342 329 -4Greater/Grand Sudbury 127 104 -18 420 0 ### 547 104 -81Guelph 96 21 -78 132 12 -91 228 33 -86Halifax 749 1,030 38 3,000 5,412 80 3,749 6,442 72Hamilton 423 220 -48 5,436 204 -96 5,859 424 -93Kamloops 59 153 ## 24 96 300 83 249 200Kelowna 135 396 ## 36 4,116 ## 171 4,512 ##Kingston 278 166 -40 5,412 1,992 -63 5,690 2,158 -62Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 349 428 23 7,632 2,148 -72 7,981 2,576 -68Lethbridge 269 375 39 48 1,236 ## 317 1,611 408London 630 624 -1 4,944 264 -95 5,574 888 -84Moncton 283 412 46 3,252 96 -97 3,535 508 -86Montréal 1,297 1,478 14 12,311 29,880 143 13,608 31,358 130Nanaimo 111 66 -41 648 0 ### 759 66 -91Oshawa 458 193 -58 48 0 ### 506 193 -62Ottawa-Gatineau 2,691 2,358 -12 7,476 8,220 10 10,167 10,578 4Gatineau 512 265 -48 2,184 3,720 70 2,696 3,985 48Ottawa 2,179 2,093 -4 5,292 4,500 -15 7,471 6,593 -12Peterborough 59 164 ## 0 0 – 59 164 178Québec 230 781 ## 1,740 5,856 237 1,970 6,637 237Red Deer 76 208 ## 60 144 140 136 352 159Regina 243 208 -14 984 1,152 17 1,227 1,360 11Saguenay 561 425 -24 1,224 576 -53 1,785 1,001 -44St. Catharines-Niagara 384 475 24 288 996 246 672 1,471 119Saint John 181 217 20 564 312 -45 745 529 -29St. John's 436 478 10 348 264 -24 784 742 -5Saskatoon 1,275 1,013 -21 864 492 -43 2,139 1,505 -30Sherbrooke 450 129 -71 1,332 636 -52 1,782 765 -57Thunder Bay 157 105 -33 0 168 ## 157 273 74Toronto 4,066 3,341 -18 7,824 25,788 230 11,890 29,129 145Trois-Rivières 181 154 -15 1,536 480 -69 1,717 634 -63Vancouver 2,239 2,596 16 26,808 22,392 -16 29,047 24,988 -14Victoria 393 299 -24 5,772 1,080 -81 6,165 1,379 -78Windsor 649 286 -56 684 372 -46 1,333 658 -51Winnipeg 1,494 1,792 20 1,944 2,832 46 3,438 4,624 34
Data for 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023, 2024 and 2025 based on 2021 Census Definitions.Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey## not calculable / extreme value
SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
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