SAAR housing starts in Canada's urban areas declined in August

OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 16, 2022 /CNW/ - The standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada in August was 267,443 units, down 3% from July. The SAAR of total urban starts decreased 3% to 246,771 units in August. Multi-unit urban starts declined 4% to 187,602 units, while single-detached urban starts increased 1% to 59,169 units.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 20,672 units.

Housing Starts in Canada (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 higher in August compared to July, despite a lower monthly SAAR. Housing starts activity remains elevated in Canada historically and have been well above 200,000 units since 2020," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's Chief Economist. "The decline in monthly SAAR housing starts in Canada's urban areas in August was driven by lower multi-unit starts. A decline in single-detached units in Vancouver was offset by higher multi-unit starts. Toronto posted strong increases across the board, while Montreal recorded a large (33%) decline in multi-unit starts, resulting in the overall decline for Canada."

The trend in housing starts was 267,309 units in August, up from 264,467 units in July, 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.

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 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.

Key Facts:

• 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 September data on October 18 at 8:15 AM ET.
• 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.

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Related Links:

• The road ahead for the economy and housing
• Understanding Canada's housing supply shortages
• Household projections for Canada's major urban centres

 

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over
			Single-Detached							All Others						Total
			August 2021			August 2022		%		August 2021		August 2022		%		August 2021		August 2022		%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L.			57			76		33		3		14		367		60		90		50
P.E.I.			31			16		-48		37		49		32		68		65		-4
N.S.			119			103		-13		49		257		424		168		360		114
N.B.			108			157		45		204		379		86		312		536		72
Atlantic			315			352		12		293		699		139		608		1,051		73
Qc			498			533		7		2,517		2,644		5		3,015		3,177		5
Ont.			2,564			2,409		-6		6,430		6,534		2		8,994		8,943		-1
Man.			254			244		-4		303		269		-11		557		513		-8
Sask.			133			118		-11		34		317		##		167		435		160
Alta.			1,234			1,312		6		1,408		1,495		6		2,642		2,807		6
Prairies			1,621			1,674		3		1,745		2,081		19		3,366		3,755		12
B.C.			642			586		-9		2,911		3,231		11		3,553		3,817		7
Canada (10,000+)			5,640			5,554		-2		13,896		15,189		9		19,536		20,743		6
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission			23			38		65		26		18		-31		49		56		14
Barrie			89			165		85		248		68		-73		337		233		-31
Belleville			45			28		-38		50		15		-70		95		43		-55
Brantford			94			141		50		196		106		-46		290		247		-15
Calgary			524			510		-3		586		672		15		1,110		1,182		6
Edmonton			521			586		12		755		533		-29		1,276		1,119		-12
Greater Sudbury			8			32		300		2		36		##		10		68		##
Guelph			19			16		-16		12		39		225		31		55		77
Halifax			32			47		47		11		219		##		43		266		##
Hamilton			61			89		46		638		82		-87		699		171		-76
Kelowna			57			66		16		369		556		51		426		622		46
Kingston			43			16		-63		14		104		##		57		120		111
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo			86			65		-24		384		349		-9		470		414		-12
Lethbridge			27			24		-11		21		200		##		48		224		367
London			201			127		-37		209		43		-79		410		170		-59
Moncton			28			44		57		179		283		58		207		327		58
Montréal			155			114		-26		1,982		1,260		-36		2,137		1,374		-36
Oshawa			137			143		4		146		233		60		283		376		33
Ottawa-Gatineau			287			290		1		648		1,056		63		935		1,346		44
Gatineau			32			81		153		34		8		-76		66		89		35
Ottawa			255			209		-18		614		1,048		71		869		1,257		45
Peterborough			54			52		-4		158		4		-97		212		56		-74
Québec			35			58		66		135		737		446		170		795		368
Regina			49			22		-55		9		41		356		58		63		9
Saguenay			49			41		-16		19		40		111		68		81		19
St. Catharines-Niagara			134			117		-13		63		115		83		197		232		18
Saint John			29			26		-10		2		0		-100		31		26		-16
St. John's			47			68		45		3		14		367		50		82		64
Saskatoon			75			87		16		22		269		##		97		356		267
Sherbrooke			28			35		25		110		86		-22		138		121		-12
Thunder Bay			10			17		70		0		0		-		10		17		70
Toronto			776			689		-11		3,253		3,846		18		4,029		4,535		13
Trois-Rivières			22			28		27		6		46		##		28		74		164
Vancouver			253			230		-9		1,650		1,729		5		1,903		1,959		3
Victoria			59			56		-5		513		307		-40		572		363		-37
Windsor			58			76		31		76		167		120		134		243		81
Winnipeg			217			207		-5		273		226		-17		490		433		-12
Total			4,332			4,350		0		12,768		13,499		6		17,100		17,849		4
Data for  2021 and  2022  based on 2016 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
				July 2022	August 2022		%		July 2022		August 2022		%		July 2022		August 2022		%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.L.				775	626		-19		48		169		252		823		795		-3
P.E.I.				213	178		-16		192		588		206		405		766		89
N.S.				1,502	1,143		-24		5,728		3,088		-46		7,230		4,231		-41
N.B.				908	1,216		34		3,970		4,522		14		4,878		5,738		18
Qc				7,219	7,835		9		45,453		42,375		-7		52,672		50,210		-5
Ont.				21,627	22,982		6		70,780		73,110		3		92,407		96,092		4
Man.				2,621	2,664		2		3,648		3,228		-12		6,269		5,892		-6
Sask.				1,461	1,360		-7		1,572		3,804		142		3,033		5,164		70
Alta.				14,887	14,515		-2		26,071		17,748		-32		40,958		32,263		-21
B.C.				7,125	6,650		-7		38,365		38,970		2		45,490		45,620		0
Canada (10,000+)				58,338	59,169		1		195,827		187,602		-4		254,165		246,771		-3
Canada (All Areas)				72,685	73,406		1		202,473		194,040		-4		275,158		267,443		-3
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission				389	446		15		1,560		216		-86		1,949		662		-66
Barrie				1,532	1,252		-18		1,692		816		-52		3,224		2,068		-36
Belleville				195	268		37		60		180		200		255		448		76
Brantford				821	642		-22		1,320		1,272		-4		2,141		1,914		-11
Calgary				6,154	5,767		-6		16,272		8,064		-50		22,426		13,831		-38
Edmonton				6,836	6,688		-2		9,024		6,396		-29		15,860		13,084		-18
Greater Sudbury				56	184		229		264		432		64		320		616		93
Guelph				135	152		13		204		468		129		339		620		83
Halifax				832	565		-32		5,004		2,628		-47		5,836		3,193		-45
Hamilton				1,071	852		-20		1,236		984		-20		2,307		1,836		-20
Kelowna				652	993		52		480		6,672		##		1,132		7,665		##
Kingston				438	188		-57		264		1,248		373		702		1,436		105
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo				1,091	665		-39		3,660		4,188		14		4,751		4,853		2
Lethbridge				269	254		-6		108		2,400		##		377		2,654		##
London				895	1,435		60		2,448		516		-79		3,343		1,951		-42
Moncton				350	476		36		2,220		3,396		53		2,570		3,872		51
Montréal				1,703	1,805		6		23,160		15,404		-33		24,863		17,209		-31
Oshawa				1,177	1,413		20		2,808		2,796		0		3,985		4,209		6
Ottawa-Gatineau				3,024	3,225		7		21,888		12,672		-42		24,912		15,897		-36
Gatineau				718	949		32		3,312		96		-97		4,030		1,045		-74
Ottawa				2,306	2,276		-1		18,576		12,576		-32		20,882		14,852		-29
Peterborough				312	359		15		0		48		##		312		407		30
Québec				964	935		-3		6,252		8,844		41		7,216		9,779		36
Regina				443	233		-47		528		492		-7		971		725		-25
Saguenay				347	305		-12		144		480		233		491		785		60
St. Catharines-Niagara				1,159	1,122		-3		312		1,380		342		1,471		2,502		70
Saint John				243	260		7		60		0		-100		303		260		-14
St. John's				745	613		-18		36		168		367		781		781		-
Saskatoon				947	1,046		10		924		3,228		249		1,871		4,274		128
Sherbrooke				460	584		27		840		1,032		23		1,300		1,616		24
Thunder Bay				153	133		-13		228		0		-100		381		133		-65
Toronto				4,801	5,737		19		34,584		46,152		33		39,385		51,889		32
Trois-Rivières				209	387		85		792		552		-30		1,001		939		-6
Vancouver				2,881	2,517		-13		20,400		20,748		2		23,281		23,265		0
Victoria				995	854		-14		10,332		3,684		-64		11,327		4,538		-60
Windsor				697	756		8		1,080		2,004		86		1,777		2,760		55
Winnipeg				2,224	2,254		1		2,916		2,712		-7		5,140		4,966		-3
Data for  2021 and  2022  based on 2016 Census Definitions.
Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey
## not calculable / extreme value

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Information on this release: We encourage journalists to contact CMHC Media Relations and arrange to speak to our market analysts regarding the housing starts in their respective Canadian Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs). Media Relations, CMHC, [email protected]