Housing starts for February 2024

OTTAWA, ON, March 15, 2024 /CNW/ - The total monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts for all areas in Canada increased 14% in February (253,468 units) compared to January (223,176), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

The six-month trend in housing starts increased from 244,638 units in January to 245,665 units in February for a slight 0.4% gain. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

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

The actual number of housing starts across Canada in urban centres of 10,000 population and over was up 11% to 17,495 units in February compared to 15,822 units in February 2023. The year-over-year increase was driven solely by higher multi-unit starts, up 16%. Single-detached starts decreased 14% in February.

February's actual housing starts were 10% and 82% higher year-over-year in Toronto and Vancouver, respectively, because of higher multi-unit starts, while single-detached starts decreased. Montreal's actual starts decreased 9%, as both housing segments were lower.

Quote:

"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 centres," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's Chief Economist.

Key Facts:

• The monthly SAAR of total urban (centres 10,000 population and over) housing starts increased 15%, with 238,633 units recorded. Multi-unit urban starts increased 20% to 196,392 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased 2% to 42,241 units.
• The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 14,835 units.
• Total SAAR housing starts were up 79% in Vancouver and 15% in Toronto, driven by significant increases in multi-unit starts. Montreal declined 31% due to sizeable decreases in both single-detached and 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 eleventh business day each month. We will release the March housing starts data on April 16 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.

As a trusted source of housing information, CMHC provides unbiased housing-related data, research, and market information to help close knowledge gaps, and deepen understanding of complex housing issues to inform future policy decisions. 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 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 all levels of governments, consumers and the housing industry.

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Related Links:

• 2024 Rental Market Report
• December 2023 Housing Starts: Housing starts down 7% in 2023 from 2022
• CMHC 2023: Housing reports retrospective

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over
		Single-Detached			All Others			Total
		February 2023	February 2024	%	February 2023	February 2024	%	February 2023	February 2024	%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L.		13	15	15	0	2	##	13	17	31
P.E.I.		8	1	-88	16	10	-38	24	11	-54
N.S.		79	86	9	204	877	330	283	963	240
N.B.		26	24	-8	11	289	##	37	313	##
Atlantic		126	126	-	231	1,178	410	357	1,304	265
Qc		190	178	-6	2,148	1,667	-22	2,338	1,845	-21
Ont.		1,169	637	-46	5,811	5,851	1	6,980	6,488	-7
Man.		117	127	9	551	208	-62	668	335	-50
Sask.		33	49	48	436	175	-60	469	224	-52
Alta.		794	981	24	1,429	2,698	89	2,223	3,679	65
Prairies		944	1,157	23	2,416	3,081	28	3,360	4,238	26
B.C.		375	306	-18	2,412	3,314	37	2,787	3,620	30
Canada (10,000+)		2,804	2,404	-14	13,018	15,091	16	15,822	17,495	11
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission		18	5	-72	77	56	-27	95	61	-36
Barrie		42	20	-52	144	8	-94	186	28	-85
Belleville - Quinte West		7	16	129	29	70	141	36	86	139
Brantford		30	11	-63	53	8	-85	83	19	-77
Calgary		391	460	18	847	1,214	43	1,238	1,674	35
Chilliwack		10	15	50	5	8	60	15	23	53
Drummondville		3	3	-	30	37	23	33	40	21
Edmonton		330	434	32	541	1,208	123	871	1,642	89
Fredericton		8	8	-	7	0	-100	15	8	-47
Greater/Grand Sudbury		6	28	367	0	0	-	6	28	367
Guelph		5	2	-60	339	96	-72	344	98	-72
Halifax		16	40	150	171	837	389	187	877	369
Hamilton		23	15	-35	72	191	165	95	206	117
Kamloops		2	10	400	1	9	##	3	19	##
Kelowna		15	28	87	455	310	-32	470	338	-28
Kingston		29	20	-31	20	16	-20	49	36	-27
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo		93	20	-78	320	148	-54	413	168	-59
Lethbridge		5	16	220	6	8	33	11	24	118
London		31	20	-35	17	192	##	48	212	342
Moncton		3	3	-	0	168	##	3	171	##
Montréal		49	49	-	839	759	-10	888	808	-9
Nanaimo		11	9	-18	105	4	-96	116	13	-89
Oshawa		23	17	-26	28	60	114	51	77	51
Ottawa-Gatineau		123	62	-50	954	525	-45	1,077	587	-45
Gatineau		60	35	-42	524	108	-79	584	143	-76
Ottawa		63	27	-57	430	417	-3	493	444	-10
Peterborough		4	3	-25	0	0	-	4	3	-25
Québec		27	29	7	497	280	-44	524	309	-41
Red Deer		5	1	-80	5	166	##	10	167	##
Regina		9	10	11	170	62	-64	179	72	-60
Saguenay		10	8	-20	10	22	120	20	30	50
St. Catharines-Niagara		74	61	-18	285	87	-69	359	148	-59
Saint John		6	9	50	0	118	##	6	127	##
St. John's		13	15	15	0	2	##	13	17	31
Saskatoon		23	36	57	239	88	-63	262	124	-53
Sherbrooke		5	18	260	31	18	-42	36	36	-
Thunder Bay		0	1	##	0	0	-	0	1	##
Toronto		468	237	-49	3,758	4,412	17	4,226	4,649	10
Trois-Rivières		4	2	-50	34	130	282	38	132	247
Vancouver		211	142	-33	1,280	2,566	100	1,491	2,708	82
Victoria		31	31	-	269	244	-9	300	275	-8
Windsor		18	10	-44	197	4	-98	215	14	-93
Winnipeg		103	111	8	507	195	-62	610	306	-50
Total		2,284	2,035	-11	12,342	14,326	16	14,626	16,361	12

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)
		Single-Detached			All Others			Total
		January 2024	February 2024	%	January 2024	February 2024	%	January 2024	February 2024	%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.L.		650	620	-5	565	82	-85	1,215	702	-42
P.E.I.		435	44	-90	804	120	-85	1,239	164	-87
N.S.		1,781	1,773	0	4,420	10,547	139	6,201	12,320	99
N.B.		952	1,107	16	2,695	3,975	47	3,647	5,082	39
Qc		4,873	4,993	2	34,088	29,549	-13	38,961	34,542	-11
Ont.		12,539	11,321	-10	66,767	74,938	12	79,306	86,259	9
Man.		1,796	1,920	7	2,268	2,496	10	4,064	4,416	9
Sask.		1,220	948	-22	2,028	2,100	4	3,248	3,048	-6
Alta.		14,245	14,930	5	26,411	32,733	24	40,656	47,663	17
B.C.		4,764	4,585	-4	24,188	39,852	65	28,952	44,437	53
Canada (10,000+)		43,255	42,241	-2	164,234	196,392	20	207,489	238,633	15
Canada (All Areas)		54,361	52,833	-3	168,814	200,638	19	223,176	253,468	14
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission		310	77	-75	936	672	-28	1,246	749	-40
Barrie		462	541	17	96	96	-	558	637	14
Belleville - Quinte West		222	384	73	0	840	##	222	1,224	451
Brantford		338	256	-24	0	96	##	338	352	4
Calgary		7,455	7,013	-6	17,568	14,568	-17	25,023	21,581	-14
Chilliwack		130	211	62	130	96	-26	142	307	116
Drummondville		101	105	4	12	444	##	113	549	386
Edmonton		4,879	5,955	22	5,292	14,496	174	10,171	20,451	101
Fredericton		285	367	29	84	0	-100	369	367	-1
Greater/Grand Sudbury		4	26,163	##	24	0	-100	28	26,163	##
Guelph		26	39	50	0	1,152	##	26	1,191	##
Halifax		831	923	11	3,468	10,044	190	4,299	10,967	155
Hamilton		733	239	-67	2,448	2,292	-6	3,181	2,531	-20
Kamloops		21	259	##	12	108	##	33	367	##
Kelowna		230	498	117	1,284	3,720	190	1,514	4,218	179
Kingston		393	432	10	24	192	##	417	624	50
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo		276	214	-22	2,004	1,776	-11	2,280	1,990	-13
Lethbridge		292	283	-3	1,056	96	-91	1,348	379	-72
London		476	314	-34	1,860	2,304	24	2,336	2,618	12
Moncton		294	250	-15	1,140	2,016	77	1,434	2,266	58
Montréal		1,372	1,147	-16	13,752	9,238	-33	15,124	10,385	-31
Nanaimo		357	154	-57	2,124	48	-98	2,481	202	-92
Oshawa		471	382	-19	3,744	720	-81	4,215	1,102	-74
Ottawa-Gatineau		2,425	1,087	-55	3,696	6,300	70	6,121	7,387	21
Gatineau		190	511	169	2,172	1,296	-40	2,362	1,807	-23
Ottawa		2,235	576	-74	1,524	5,004	228	3,759	5,580	48
Peterborough		182	147	-19	0	0	-	182	147	-19
Québec		562	564	0	6,456	3,360	-48	7,018	3,924	-44
Red Deer		81	13	-84	72	1,992	##	153	2,005	##
Regina		95	189	99	1,320	744	-44	1,415	933	-34
Saguenay		1,162	546	-53	216	264	22	1,378	810	-41
St. Catharines-Niagara		1,144	1,058	-8	456	1,044	129	1,600	2,102	31
Saint John		339	370	9	1,080	1,416	31	1,419	1,786	26
St. John's		528	472	-11	432	24	-94	960	496	-48
Saskatoon		1,075	783	-27	552	1,056	91	1,627	1,839	13
Sherbrooke		279	391	40	804	216	-73	1,083	607	-44
Thunder Bay		4	1,035	##	72	0	-100	76	1,035	##
Toronto		4,200	3,503	-17	44,688	52,944	18	48,888	56,447	15
Trois-Rivières		142	142	-	1,056	1,560	48	1,198	1,702	42
Vancouver		2,205	2,054	-7	16,104	30,792	91	18,309	32,846	79
Victoria		191	391	105	2,052	2,928	43	2,243	3,319	48
Windsor		214	168	-21	2,352	48	-98	2,566	216	-92
Winnipeg		1,467	1,642	12	2,052	2,340	14	3,519	3,982	13

Data for 2023 and 2024 based on 2021 Census Definitions.

Source: CMHC

## not calculable / extreme
value

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

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