Canadian housing starts trend lower in December

OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 18, 2022 /CNW/ - The trend in housing starts was 260,567 units in December, down from 267,606 units in November, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

Housing Starts in Canada - All Areas (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

Bob Dugan, Chief Economist, CMHC (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

"The six-month trend in housing starts was lower from November to December, but remains at very high levels," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist. "For SAAR housing starts in Canada's urban areas, both single-detached and multi-family starts decreased in December. On a positive note, actual urban housing starts were 21% higher in 2021, adding much needed supply. The increase was driven by higher single-detached (28%) and multi-family (19%) starts and was mainly due to recovery following COVID-19 shutdown measures in 2020."

On a trend and monthly SAAR basis, the level of housing starts activity in Canada remains high in historical terms. Among Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, Vancouver was the only market to post growth in total SAAR starts in December, due to higher single-detached and multi-family starts.

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of Canada's housing market. 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.

The standalone monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada was 236,106 units in December, a decrease of 22% from 303,813 units in November. The SAAR of urban starts decreased by 24% in December to 212,918 units. Multiple urban starts decreased by 29% to 157,687 units in December, while single-detached urban starts decreased by 4% to 55,231 units.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 23,188 units.

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 data on February 15 at 8:15 AM ET.

As Canada's authority on housing, 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 Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

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Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over
			Single-Detached						All Others						Total
			December 2020		December 2021		%		December 2020		December 2021		%		December 2020		December 2021			%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L.			53		56		6		7		24		243		60		80			33
P.E.I.			18		19		6		11		19		73		29		38			31
N.S.			143		149		4		353		607		72		496		756			52
N.B.			77		79		3		434		266		-39		511		345			-32
Atlantic			291		303		4		805		916		14		1,096		1,219			11
Qc			583		344		-41		3,952		3,274		-17		4,535		3,618			-20
Ont.			1,700		1,870		10		3,989		3,576		-10		5,689		5,446			-4
Man.			174		187		7		336		374		11		510		561			10
Sask.			137		125		-9		128		128		-		265		253			-5
Alta.			914		1,104		21		1,525		1,398		-8		2,439		2,502			3
Prairies			1,225		1,416		16		1,989		1,900		-4		3,214		3,316			3
B.C.			536		679		27		2,714		3,519		30		3,250		4,198			29
Canada (10,000+)			4,335		4,612		6		13,449		13,185		-2		17,784		17,797			0
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission			30		18		-40		13		165		##		43		183			326
Barrie			34		90		165		6		62		##		40		152			280
Belleville			37		25		-32		14		8		-43		51		33			-35
Brantford			31		153		394		81		2		-98		112		155			38
Calgary			402		473		18		438		682		56		840		1,155			38
Edmonton			377		445		18		1,009		615		-39		1,386		1,060			-24
Greater Sudbury			6		8		33		8		4		-50		14		12			-14
Guelph			21		8		-62		87		32		-63		108		40			-63
Halifax			75		86		15		253		495		96		328		581			77
Hamilton			45		41		-9		281		261		-7		326		302			-7
Kelowna			0		106		##		0		457		##		0		563			##
Kingston			20		28		40		37		17		-54		57		45			-21
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo			63		78		24		249		449		80		312		527			69
Lethbridge			28		27		-4		12		16		33		40		43			8
London			153		159		4		76		106		39		229		265			16
Moncton			18		17		-6		335		141		-58		353		158			-55
Montréal			159		104		-35		2,636		1,756		-33		2,795		1,860			-33
Oshawa			67		33		-51		97		19		-80		164		52			-68
Ottawa-Gatineau			262		223		-15		812		170		-79		1,074		393			-63
Gatineau			59		17		-71		248		11		-96		307		28			-91
Ottawa			203		206		1		564		159		-72		767		365			-52
Peterborough			25		39		56		0		0		-		25		39			56
Québec			44		50		14		397		605		52		441		655			49
Regina			47		33		-30		49		56		14		96		89			-7
Saguenay			22		10		-55		64		30		-53		86		40			-53
St. Catharines-Niagara			153		62		-59		79		101		28		232		163			-30
Saint John			29		28		-3		0		60		##		29		88			203
St. John's			44		52		18		6		24		300		50		76			52
Saskatoon			83		85		2		74		64		-14		157		149			-5
Sherbrooke			53		17		-68		103		260		152		156		277			78
Thunder Bay			1		11		##		0		0		-		1		11			##
Toronto			429		461		7		2,159		1,944		-10		2,588		2,405			-7
Trois-Rivières			10		12		20		33		131		297		43		143			233
Vancouver			241		222		-8		1,912		1,963		3		2,153		2,185			1
Victoria			67		92		37		274		545		99		341		637			87
Windsor			59		32		-46		54		72		33		113		104			-8
Winnipeg			136		149		10		179		333		86		315		482			53
Total			3,271		3,477		6		11,827		11,645		-2		15,098		15,122			0
Data based on 2016 Census Definitions.
Source:  Market Analysis Centre, CMHC
## not calculable / extreme value
Housing Start Data - Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates (SAAR)
				Single-Detached						All Others						Total
				November 2021		December 2021		%		November 2021		December 2021		%		November 2021		December 2021	%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.L.				332		496		49		12		309		##		344		805	134
P.E.I.				383		264		-31		588		228		-61		971		492	-49
N.S.				1,473		1,610		9		5,418		7,268		34		6,891		8,878	29
N.B.				690		829		20		3,922		3,193		-19		4,612		4,022	-13
Qc				7,466		4,523		-39		48,789		37,470		-23		56,255		41,993	-25
Ont.				24,291		22,076		-9		101,089		44,211		-56		125,380		66,287	-47
Man.				2,622		2,580		-2		3,204		4,488		40		5,826		7,068	21
Sask.				1,009		1,229		22		2,472		1,536		-38		3,481		2,765	-21
Alta.				12,130		12,887		6		28,093		16,730		-40		40,223		29,617	-26
B.C.				7,252		8,737		20		28,563		42,254		48		35,815		50,991	42
Canada (10,000+)				57,648		55,231		-4		222,150		157,687		-29		279,798		212,918	-24
Canada (All Areas)				73,324		70,826		-3		230,488		165,282		-28		303,813		236,106	-22
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission				372		215		-42		288		1,980		##		660		2,195	233
Barrie				853		1,193		40		1,416		744		-47		2,269		1,937	-15
Belleville				275		310		13		108		96		-11		383		406	6
Brantford				1,797		2,517		40		2,688		24		-99		4,485		2,541	-43
Calgary				5,071		5,420		7		20,892		8,184		-61		25,963		13,604	-48
Edmonton				5,086		5,509		8		6,336		7,380		16		11,422		12,889	13
Greater Sudbury				150		134		-11		144		48		-67		294		182	-38
Guelph				213		124		-42		216		384		78		429		508	18
Halifax				993		1,064		7		4,512		5,940		32		5,505		7,004	27
Hamilton				363		723		99		6,168		3,132		-49		6,531		3,855	-41
Kelowna				1,187		1,210		2		3,576		5,484		53		4,763		6,694	41
Kingston				367		361		-2		6,408		204		-97		6,775		565	-92
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo				608		854		40		2,616		5,388		106		3,224		6,242	94
Lethbridge				367		309		-16		264		192		-27		631		501	-21
London				1,934		1,918		-1		1,560		1,272		-18		3,494		3,190	-9
Moncton				147		251		71		3,120		1,692		-46		3,267		1,943	-41
Montréal				2,470		1,681		-32		33,742		21,067		-38		36,212		22,748	-37
Oshawa				715		571		-20		1,488		228		-85		2,203		799	-64
Ottawa-Gatineau				3,883		2,968		-24		14,616		2,040		-86		18,499		5,008	-73
Gatineau				872		186		-79		1,524		132		-91		2,396		318	-87
Ottawa				3,011		2,782		-8		13,092		1,908		-85		16,103		4,690	-71
Peterborough				337		437		30		0		0		-		337		437	30
Québec				940		783		-17		8,976		7,260		-19		9,916		8,043	-19
Regina				284		385		36		1,692		672		-60		1,976		1,057	-47
Saguenay				313		122		-61		624		360		-42		937		482	-49
St. Catharines-Niagara				896		827		-8		1,740		1,212		-30		2,636		2,039	-23
Saint John				171		294		72		0		720		##		171		1,014	493
St. John's				290		467		61		12		288		##		302		755	150
Saskatoon				593		962		62		660		768		16		1,253		1,730	38
Sherbrooke				439		171		-61		2,328		3,120		34		2,767		3,291	19
Thunder Bay				135		151		12		48		0		-100		183		151	-17
Toronto				7,687		6,309		-18		63,024		23,328		-63		70,711		29,637	-58
Trois-Rivières				300		228		-24		1,368		1,572		15		1,668		1,800	8
Vancouver				2,816		3,074		9		16,128		23,556		46		18,944		26,630	41
Victoria				492		1,261		156		3,708		6,540		76		4,200		7,801	86
Windsor				439		369		-16		1,428		864		-39		1,867		1,233	-34
Winnipeg				2,211		2,143		-3		2,532		3,996		58		4,743		6,139	29
Data based on 2016 Census Definitions.
Source:  Market Analysis Centre, CMHC
## not calculable / extreme value

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

on this release: Media Relations, CMHC, [email protected]