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Canada’s September Housing Starts Trend Sees Little Change

Ottawa, October 8, 2020

The trend in housing starts was 214,647 units in September 2020, up from 212,609 units in August 2020, 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.

“The national trend in housing starts was largely unchanged in September,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist. “Multi-family starts have been very volatile in recent months, partly reflecting the impact of COVID-19. High levels of multi-family starts in July and August were largely offset by lower levels in September, leaving the trend largely unchanged. This pattern was particularly evident in Ontario, including Toronto. We expect national starts to trend lower by the end of 2020 as a result of the negative impact of COVID-19 on economic and housing indicators.”

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 they are largely driven by the multi-unit segment of the market which can vary significantly from one month to the next.

The standalone monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada was 208,980 units in September, a decrease of 20.1% from 261,547 units in August. The SAAR of urban starts decreased by 21.1% in September to 195,909 units. Multiple urban starts decreased by 27% to 146,005 units in September while single-detached urban starts increased by 3.4% to 49,904 units.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 13,071 units.

Preliminary Housing Starts data are also available in English and French through our website and through CMHC’s Housing Market Information Portal. Our analysts are also available to provide further insight into their respective markets.

Like many other government organizations, businesses and individuals, we are closely following developments around COVID-19. The monthly release of our Preliminary Housing Starts data will continue as planned. CMHC will report any impact on our ability to collect housing data.

We are always looking to improve our products and the way we share key housing market data and analysis. As such, starting in November 2020, we will be moving our monthly housing starts data and news release from the 6th to 11th business day. This allows us to deliver a complete package of data all at once, rather than releasing preliminary data at an earlier date. October housing starts will be released at 8:15 ET on Tuesday, November 17, 2020.

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.

For more information, follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Information on this release:

Angelina Ritacco
Media Relations, CMHC
416-218-3320
aritacco@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

 

Table 1: Preliminary Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over
Single-Detached All Others Total
Sept. 2019 Sept. 2020 % Sept. 2019 Sept. 2020 % Sept. 2019 Sept. 2020 %
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L. 56 43 -23 31 6 -81 87 49 -44
P.E.I. 25 27 8 130 21 -84 155 48 -69
N.S. 164 187 14 172 381 122 336 568 69
N.B. 76 130 71 270 82 -70 346 212 -39
Atlantic 321 387 21 603 490 -19 924 877 -5
Qc 741 859 16 3,260 4,122 26 4,001 4,981 24
Ont. 1,804 2,053 14 5,627 5,046 -10 7,431 7,099 -4
Man. 168 178 6 158 107 -32 326 285 -13
Sask. 77 124 61 230 26 -89 307 150 -51
Alta. 952 781 -18 1,810 1,384 -24 2,762 2,165 -22
Prairies 1,197 1,083 -10 2,198 1,517 -31 3,395 2,600 -23
B.C. 653 607 -7 2,729 2,005 -27 3,382 2,612 -23
Canada (10,000+) 4,716 4,989 6 14,417 13,180 -9 19,133 18,169 -5
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission 31 43 39 145 53 -63 176 96 -45
Barrie 19 63 232 55 6 -89 74 69 -7
Belleville 55 46 -16 8 12 50 63 58 -8
Brantford 103 50 -51 28 51 82 131 101 -23
Calgary 383 310 -19 1,182 725 -39 1,565 1,035 -34
Edmonton 403 333 -17 517 535 3 920 868 -6
Greater Sudbury 22 14 -36 0 8 ## 22 22 -
Guelph 21 15 -29 106 4 -96 127 19 -85
Halifax 101 128 27 144 348 142 245 476 94
Hamilton 93 8 -91 99 218 120 192 226 18
Kelowna 44 38 -14 83 49 -41 127 87 -31
Kingston 45 37 -18 356 187 -47 401 224 -44
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 83 87 5 596 565 -5 679 652 -4
Lethbridge 31 34 10 12 11 -8 43 45 5
London 132 172 30 158 217 37 290 389 34
Moncton 18 41 128 202 30 -85 220 71 -68
Montréal 223 318 43 1,411 2,510 78 1,634 2,828 73
Oshawa 32 100 213 94 219 133 126 319 153
Ottawa-Gatineau 336 370 10 1,195 1,170 -2 1,531 1,540 1
Gatineau 60 124 107 182 301 65 242 425 76
Ottawa 276 246 -11 1,013 869 -14 1,289 1,115 -13
Peterborough 20 8 -60 13 6 -54 33 14 -58
Québec 77 89 16 909 661 -27 986 750 -24
Regina 19 38 100 54 11 -80 73 49 -33
Saguenay 14 15 7 18 16 -11 32 31 -3
St. Catharines-Niagara 112 59 -47 275 78 -72 387 137 -65
Saint John 19 36 89 51 34 -33 70 70 -
St. John's 42 32 -24 25 4 -84 67 36 -46
Saskatoon 52 78 50 165 9 -95 217 87 -60
Sherbrooke 77 46 -40 189 160 -15 266 206 -23
Thunder Bay 16 13 -19 3 2 -33 19 15 -21
Toronto 330 654 98 2,419 2,137 -12 2,749 2,791 2
Trois-Rivières 30 17 -43 56 30 -46 86 47 -45
Vancouver 316 257 -19 1,810 1,559 -14 2,126 1,816 -15
Victoria 67 55 -18 442 138 -69 509 193 -62
Windsor 51 77 51 101 133 32 152 210 38
Winnipeg 140 142 1 130 73 -44 270 215 -20
Total 3,557 3,823 7 13,051 11,969 -8 16,608 15,792 -5

Data based on 2016 Census Definitions.
Source: Market Analysis Centre, CMHC
## not calculable / extreme value

Table 2: Preliminary Housing Start Data — Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates (SAAR)
Single-Detached All Others Total
Aug. 2020 Sept. 2020 % Aug. 2020 Sept. 2020 % Aug. 2020 Sept. 2020 %
Provinces (10,000+)
N.L. 628 359 -43 60 68 13 688 427 -38
P.E.I. 250 236 -6 1,728 252 -85 1,978 488 -75
N.S. 1,507 1,626 8 1,697 4,401 159 3,204 6,027 88
N.B. 574 1,192 108 3,449 885 -74 4,023 2,077 -48
Qc 6,487 7,032 8 49,020 41,003 -16 55,507 48,035 -13
Ont. 21,764 21,324 -2 93,575 57,392 -39 115,339 78,716 -32
Man. 1,679 1,942 16 2,844 1,284 -55 4,523 3,226 -29
Sask. 938 1,178 26 1,440 312 -78 2,378 1,490 -37
Alta. 7,330 8,384 14 11,716 16,369 40 19,046 24,753 30
B.C. 7,087 6,631 -6 34,447 24,039 -30 41,534 30,670 -26
Canada (10,000+) 48,244 49,904 3 199,976 146,005 -27 248,220 195,909 -21
Canada (All Areas) 56,392 58,168 3 205,158 150,812 -26 261,547 208,980 -20
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission 372 438 18 1,068 636 -40 1,440 1,074 -25
Barrie 469 803 71 48 72 50 517 875 69
Belleville 379 421 11 60 144 140 439 565 29
Brantford 965 340 -65 672 612 -9 1,637 952 -42
Calgary 2,371 3,150 33 6,300 8,700 38 8,671 11,850 37
Edmonton 3,775 3,865 2 5,448 6,420 18 9,223 10,285 12
Greater Sudbury 142 98 -31 144 96 -33 286 194 -32
Guelph 187 182 -3 0 48 ## 187 230 23
Halifax 795 1,109 39 1,272 4,176 228 2,067 5,285 156
Hamilton 648 92 -86 2,820 2,616 -7 3,468 2,708 -22
Kelowna 738 464 -37 1,896 588 -69 2,634 1,052 -60
Kingston 211 313 48 744 2,244 202 955 2,557 168
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 1,341 1,017 -24 1,236 6,780 449 2,577 7,797 203
Lethbridge 316 307 -3 60 132 120 376 439 17
London 1,547 1,775 15 816 2,604 219 2,363 4,379 85
Moncton 139 378 172 1,524 360 -76 1,663 738 -56
Montréal 2,493 2,934 18 24,749 29,648 20 27,242 32,582 20
Oshawa 866 1,092 26 7,764 2,628 -66 8,630 3,720 -57
Ottawa-Gatineau 2,951 3,219 9 17,664 14,040 -21 20,615 17,259 -16
Gatineau 75 752 ## 1,788 3,612 102 1,863 4,364 134
Ottawa 2,876 2,467 -14 15,876 10,428 -34 18,752 12,895 -31
Peterborough 219 115 -47 816 72 -91 1,035 187 -82
Québec 907 976 8 8,652 7,932 -8 9,559 8,908 -7
Regina 190 397 109 756 132 -83 946 529 -44
Saguenay 133 196 47 24 192 ## 157 388 147
St. Catharines-Niagara 1,083 941 -13 1,224 936 -24 2,307 1,877 -19
Saint John 120 324 170 288 408 42 408 732 79
St. John's 555 274 -51 48 48 - 603 322 -47
Saskatoon 665 787 18 612 108 -82 1,277 895 -30
Sherbrooke 632 355 -44 1,440 1,920 33 2,072 2,275 10
Thunder Bay 33 78 136 0 24 ## 33 102 209
Toronto 5,214 6,504 25 57,024 25,644 -55 62,238 32,148 -48
Trois-Rivières 227 129 -43 144 360 150 371 489 32
Vancouver 3,218 2,770 -14 26,496 18,708 -29 29,714 21,478 -28
Victoria 562 668 19 2,172 1,656 -24 2,734 2,324 -15
Windsor 537 742 38 1,356 1,596 18 1,893 2,338 24
Winnipeg 1,394 1,604 15 2,376 876 -63 3,770 2,480 -34

Data based on 2016 Census Definitions.
Source: Market Analysis Centre, CMHC
## not calculable / extreme value

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Date Published: October 8, 2020

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