Housing starts in Canada jumped by 14% over a month earlier to 253,468 units in February 2024, well above market expectations of 230,000 units, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It was the highest reading in four months, as the monthly SAAR of total urban housing starts climbed 15%, with 238,633 units recorded. Multi-unit urban starts increased by 20% to 196,392 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased by 2% to 42,241 units. The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 14,835 units. "Following two consecutive monthly declines, both the SAAR and Trend of housing starts increased in February. This was due to growth in actual year-over-year starts, driven by higher multi-unit starts, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver. As the national housing shortage continues, the focus for developers continues to shift towards multi-unit construction in Canada's major centers," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's Chief Economist. source: Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation

Housing Starts in Canada increased to 253.47 Thousand units in February from 223.18 Thousand units in January of 2024. Housing Starts in Canada averaged 191.70 Thousand units from 1977 until 2024, reaching an all time high of 321.28 Thousand units in March of 2021 and a record low of 90.70 Thousand units in August of 1982. This page provides the latest reported value for - Canada Housing Starts - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. Canada Housing Starts - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on March of 2024.

Housing Starts in Canada increased to 253.47 Thousand units in February from 223.18 Thousand units in January of 2024. Housing Starts in Canada is expected to be 263.00 Thousand units by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. In the long-term, the Canada Housing Starts is projected to trend around 250.00 Thousand units in 2025, according to our econometric models.



Calendar GMT Reference Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2024-02-15 01:15 PM
Housing Starts
Jan 223.6K 249K 235K 207.0K
2024-03-15 12:15 PM
Housing Starts
Feb 253.5K 223.2K 230K 220.0K
2024-04-16 12:15 PM
Housing Starts
Mar 253.5K 263K


Related Last Previous Unit Reference
Average House Prices 719400.00 719700.00 CAD Feb 2024
Building Permits 10775504.00 9495985.00 CAD Thousand Jan 2024
Building Permits MoM 13.50 -11.50 percent Jan 2024
Home Ownership Rate 66.50 66.80 percent Dec 2021
Home Sales 38454.00 39664.00 units Feb 2024
New Housing Price Index MoM 0.10 -0.10 percent Feb 2024
New Housing Price Index YoY -0.40 -0.70 percent Feb 2024
Housing Index 124.40 124.30 points Feb 2024
Housing Starts 253.47 223.18 Thousand units Feb 2024
Price to Rent Ratio 140.97 144.68 Dec 2023
Residential Property Prices -0.03 -8.60 Percent Sep 2023

Canada Housing Starts
In Canada, a housing start is defined as the beginning of construction work on the building where the dwelling unit will be located. This can be described in 2 ways: usually, the stage when the concrete has been poured for the whole of the footing around the structure; or an equivalent stage where a basement will not be part of the structure.
Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
253.47 223.18 321.28 90.70 1977 - 2024 Thousand units Monthly
Volume, SA

News Stream
Canada Housing Starts Rise to 4-Month High
Housing starts in Canada jumped by 14% over a month earlier to 253,468 units in February 2024, well above market expectations of 230,000 units, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It was the highest reading in four months, as the monthly SAAR of total urban housing starts climbed 15%, with 238,633 units recorded. Multi-unit urban starts increased by 20% to 196,392 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased by 2% to 42,241 units. The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 14,835 units. "Following two consecutive monthly declines, both the SAAR and Trend of housing starts increased in February. This was due to growth in actual year-over-year starts, driven by higher multi-unit starts, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver. As the national housing shortage continues, the focus for developers continues to shift towards multi-unit construction in Canada's major centers," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's Chief Economist.
2024-03-15
Canada Housing Starts Fall More than Expected
Housing starts in Canada slipped by 10% over a month earlier to 223,589 units in January 2024, under market expectations of 235,000 units, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The monthly SAAR of total urban housing starts decreased 11%, with 208,119 units recorded, as multi-unit urban starts slumped 14% to 164,789 units, while single-detached urban starts rose 0.1% to 43,330 units. The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 15,470 units. Total SAAR housing starts were up 179% in Toronto, driven by a significant increase in multi-unit starts. Montreal and Vancouver both posted declines of 28% and 55%, respectively, due to sizeable decreases in multi-unit starts. "Despite the trend performance, actual starts saw strong year-over-year growth, driven by high multi-unit starts, particularly in Toronto. In fact, from a historical perspective, we observed the second highest number of housing starts for January going back to 1990,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist.
2024-02-15
Canada Housing Starts Rise More than Expected
Housing starts in Canada jumped by 18% over a month earlier to 249,255 units in December 2023, topping market expectations of 243,000 units, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The monthly SAAR of total urban housing starts increased by 20%, with 234,705 units recorded, as multi-unit urban starts surged 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. Housing starts were down 7% over a year ago in 2023. “Following record and near-record highs in 2021 and 2022, housing starts dipped in 2023, but still significantly outperformed expectations for the year. 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.
2024-01-16