Monitor our most recent coronavirus (COVID-19) updates.

Skip to content
CMHC Home Canada Mortgage
and Housing Corporation
  • Sign In or Register
  • FRANÇAIS
  • MENU
MENU
× FRANÇAIS
  • Home
  • Professionals
    • Project funding and mortgage financing
      • Funding programs
        • National Housing Co-Investment Funding
        • Innovation and research
        • Community (social) housing
        • Funding for Indigenous housing
        • National Housing Strategy Project Profiles
      • Mortgage loan insurance
        • Homeowner and small rental mortgage loan insurance
        • Homeowner Business Transformation (HBT)
          • Arrears Report Upload Tool - Coming 2022
          • Default Management Request Submission Tool
          • Homeowner Claims Submission Tool
          • User Access Management
        • Multi-unit mortgage loan insurance
          • MLI Select
        • Default, claims and properties for sale
        • Underwriting centre
        • emili
        • NHA approved lenders
        • Calculating GDS / TDS
        • Mortgage fraud
        • Contact mortgage loan insurance
        • Insured Mortgage Purchase Program (IMPP)
        • COVID-19: CECRA for small businesses has ended
      • Securitization
        • NHA Mortgage Backed Securities
        • Canada Mortgage Bonds
        • Canadian registered covered bonds
        • Blockchain in the housing industry
    • Housing markets, data and research
      • Housing markets
        • CMHC Reports Calendar
        • Housing market reports
        • Mortgage market and consumer reports
      • Housing research
        • Housing research reports
        • Housing surveys
        • Research awards and scholarships
        • Understanding core housing need
        • Collaborative Housing Research Network
      • Housing data
        • Data tables
          • Household characteristics data
          • Housing market data
          • Mortgage and debt data
          • Rental market data
        • Housing market information portal
        • Residential Mortgage Industry Data Dashboard
        • Housing in Canada Online (HiCO)
        • CMHC licence agreement for the use of data
        • Housing Knowledge Centre
    • Industry innovation and leadership
      • Housing innovation
      • Our Partners
        • Partnerships
      • Industry collaboration
      • Industry expertise
        • Affordable housing
        • Indigenous housing
        • Senior housing
        • Accessible and adaptable housing
        • Developing sustainable housing
        • Resources for mortgage professionals
        • CMHC e-newsletters
    • Events and speakers
      • Conferences
      • Speakers’ bureau
  • Consumers
    • Buying a home
      • Homebuying calculators
        • Mortgage calculator
        • Affordability calculator
        • Debt service calculator
      • Buying guides
        • Homebuying step by step
        • CMHC's condominium buyer's guide
      • Mortgage loan insurance for consumers
        • What is CMHC mortgage loan insurance?
        • Do I qualify for mortgage loan insurance?
        • CMHC mortgage loan insurance costs
        • CMHC Eco Plus
        • CMHC — home renovation financing options
        • FAQs — mortgage loan insurance
        • COVID-19: understanding mortgage payment deferral
      • First-time home buyer incentive
      • Incentives for homebuyers
      • Newcomers
    • Owning a home
      • Manage your mortgage
        • Mortgage fraud
        • Mortgage planning tips
        • Plan and manage your mortgage
        • Your credit report
        • Your home value
      • Aging in place
        • Housing options for Seniors
        • Housing and finance tips
        • Mortgage financing options for people 55+
        • Preventing fraud and financial abuse
    • Renting a home
      • I want to rent
        • Things to consider before renting
        • Types of housing for rent in Canada
        • Finding or advertising a rental property
        • Visiting the rental property
        • Lease and rental agreements
        • Signing the lease
        • Credit checks and bad credit
        • Rental payments and deposits
        • Roommates and pets
      • I am renting
        • Moving day
        • Landlord/Tenant responsibilities
        • Inspections
        • Maintenance and repairs
        • Complaints and evictions
        • Rent increases
        • When you can't pay rent
        • Renewing or terminating the lease
        • Moving out
      • COVID-19: eviction bans and suspensions to support renters
  • About CMHC
    • CMHC’s Story
    • Management and governance
      • Speakers’ bureau
      • Annual public meeting
      • Board of directors and committees
      • Our management committee
      • Pension governance
        • Pension overview
        • Key roles and responsibilities
        • Annual reports
    • Corporate reporting
      • CMHC annual report
      • Program evaluation
      • Quarterly financial reports
      • Joint auditors special examination report to CMHC board 2018
      • CMHC’s Insured Mortgage Deferral
      • Summary of the corporate plan
      • Transparency
        • Access to information and privacy protection
        • Accessibility at CMHC
        • Briefing materials
        • Procurement
        • Travel, hospitality and conference expenditures
    • Contact us
      • CMHC departments
        • Connect with a housing solutions specialist – multi-unit
        • Contact mortgage loan insurance
        • Indigenous and the North Housing Solutions
      • Granville lsland
      • Media relations
      • National office
      • Regional offices
      • Holiday service hours
    • Careers
  • Media Newsroom
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
    • Media relations
  • National Housing Strategy
    • What is the strategy?
      • About the initiatives
      • How to apply
      • Help and resources
      • Priority areas for action
      • The National Housing Strategy Glossary of Common Terms
      • The Strategy in Action
    • Federal/Provincial/Territorial housing agreements
    • Other funding and financing opportunities
  • The Housing Observer
  • Careers
  • Housing Knowledge Centre
 
  • Home
  • Media Newsroom
  • Canadian Housing Starts Declined in February
  • Save page to My Folder
    Save
  • Share this page
    Share
Save Icon

SAVE TO MY FOLDER

Canadian Housing Starts Declined in February

SAVE
Close this Window   |   Manage my Folder
Save Icon

SAVE TO MY FOLDER

Canadian Housing Starts Declined in February

Done Done!
Close this Window   |   Manage my Folder
Share icon

Share via

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
  • Twitter
  • print
Share icon

Share via

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
  • Twitter
  • print
share icon

Mail-blue Share via Email

Did You Know?

You can include an email signature?

Register | Sign In

×
Google Captcha Loader
share icon

Mail-blue Share via Email

Done Done!
Close this window

Canadian Housing Starts Declined in February

Ottawa, March 9, 2020

The trend in housing starts was 208,525 units in February 2020, compared to 211,153 units in January 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 declined in February, driven by lower-trending multi-unit starts.” said Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist. “Single and multi-unit starts in Toronto both trended lower, while activity in Montréal declined due to lower-trending multi-unit starts. This offset a slight up-tick in Vancouver, which follows four consecutive declines in that CMA.”

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 210,069 units in February, a decrease of 1.9% from 214,031 units in January. The SAAR of urban starts also decreased by 1.9% in February to 199,304 units. Multiple urban starts decreased by 6.1% to 146,072 units in February while single-detached urban starts increased by 11.9% to 53,232 units.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10,765 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.

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
February 2019 February 2020 % February 2019 February 2020 % February 2019 February 2020 %
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L. 7 6 -14 9 9 - 16 15 -6
P.E.I. 6 7 17 0 68 ## 6 75 ##
N.S. 43 95 121 190 459 142 233 554 138
N.B. 7 13 86 0 33 ## 7 46 ##
Atlantic 63 121 92 199 569 186 262 690 163
Qc 181 243 34 1,690 2,206 31 1,871 2,449 31
Ont. 670 1,084 62 2,763 4,269 55 3,433 5,353 56
Man. 134 172 28 241 170 -29 375 342 -9
Sask. 47 60 28 28 68 143 75 128 71
Alta. 513 713 39 888 732 -18 1,401 1,445 3
Prairies 694 945 36 1,157 970 -16 1,851 1,915 3
B.C. 418 444 6 2,430 2,572 6 2,848 3,016 6
Canada (10,000+) 2,026 2,837 40 8,239 10,586 28 10,265 13,423 31
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission 19 15 -21 100 207 107 119 222 87
Barrie 3 70 ## 72 0 -100 75 70 -7
Belleville 5 13 160 0 2 ## 5 15 200
Brantford 14 26 86 14 4 -71 28 30 7
Calgary 207 298 44 395 348 -12 602 646 7
Edmonton 221 324 47 383 296 -23 604 620 3
Greater Sudbury 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 -
Guelph 6 1 -83 170 10 -94 176 11 -94
Halifax 30 62 107 181 373 106 211 435 106
Hamilton 25 28 12 123 549 346 148 577 290
Kelowna 15 40 167 8 276 ## 23 316 ##
Kingston 2 15 ## 0 0 - 2 15 ##
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 63 63 - 24 241 ## 87 304 249
Lethbridge 8 15 88 44 12 -73 52 27 -48
London 50 112 124 23 84 265 73 196 168
Moncton 2 6 200 0 0 - 2 6 200
Montréal 90 113 26 1,000 1,330 33 1,090 1,443 32
Oshawa 12 48 300 19 140 ## 31 188 ##
Ottawa-Gatineau 87 176 102 727 1,002 38 814 1,178 45
Gatineau 8 23 188 122 370 203 130 393 202
Ottawa 79 153 94 605 632 4 684 785 15
Peterborough 3 3 - 0 0 - 3 3 -
Québec 24 42 75 83 132 59 107 174 63
Regina 18 24 33 9 42 367 27 66 144
Saguenay 2 1 -50 14 20 43 16 21 31
St. Catharines-Niagara 53 88 66 106 108 2 159 196 23
Saint John 1 4 300 0 33 ## 1 37 ##
St. John's 5 5 - 9 8 -11 14 13 -7
Saskatoon 27 33 22 15 24 60 42 57 36
Sherbrooke 8 8 - 291 36 -88 299 44 -85
Thunder Bay 1 0 -100 0 0 - 1 0 -100
Toronto 183 230 26 1,403 2,176 55 1,586 2,406 52
Trois-Rivières 0 1 ## 30 36 20 30 37 23
Vancouver 208 210 1 1,791 1,420 -21 1,999 1,630 -18
Victoria 39 68 74 299 414 38 338 482 43
Windsor 13 42 223 42 23 -45 55 65 18
Winnipeg 112 155 38 192 159 -17 304 314 3
Total 1,556 2,339 50 7,567 9,505 26 9,123 11,844 30

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
January 2020 February 2020 % January 2020 February 2020 % January 2020 February 2020 %
Provinces (10,000+)
N.L. 358 313 -13 133 357 168 491 670 36
P.E.I. 201 311 55 228 816 258 429 1,127 163
N.S. 1,575 1,962 25 803 5,809 ## 2,378 7,771 227
N.B. 608 860 41 1,136 412 -64 1,744 1,272 -27
Qc 6,875 7,658 11 66,429 37,333 -44 73,304 44,991 -39
Ont. 18,706 20,782 11 50,537 58,186 15 69,243 78,968 14
Man. 2,204 2,554 16 4,512 2,040 -55 6,716 4,594 -32
Sask. 1,086 1,150 6 2,184 816 -63 3,270 1,966 -40
Alta. 10,132 10,444 3 10,952 9,215 -16 21,084 19,659 -7
B.C. 5,831 7,198 23 18,730 31,088 66 24,561 38,286 56
Canada (10,000+) 47,576 53,232 12 155,644 146,072 -6 203,220 199,304 -2
Canada (All Areas) 55,463 61,135 10 158,571 148,934 -6 214,031 210,069 -2
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission 214 243 14 2,784 2,484 -11 2,998 2,727 -9
Barrie 359 3,413 ## 48 0 -100 407 3,413 ##
Belleville 726 757 4 1,380 24 -98 2,106 781 -63
Brantford 453 517 14 120 48 -60 573 565 -1
Calgary 3,892 4,341 12 4,596 4,176 -9 8,488 8,517 0
Edmonton 4,740 4,730 0 4,692 3,552 -24 9,432 8,282 -12
Greater Sudbury 7 135 ## 0 0 - 7 135 ##
Guelph 151 13 -91 516 120 -77 667 133 -80
Halifax 995 1,324 33 324 4,476 ## 1,319 5,800 340
Hamilton 522 473 -9 1,212 6,588 444 1,734 7,061 307
Kelowna 317 571 80 1,272 3,312 160 1,589 3,883 144
Kingston 202 488 142 72 0 -100 274 488 78
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 667 725 9 4,068 2,892 -29 4,735 3,617 -24
Lethbridge 248 197 -21 60 144 140 308 341 11
London 2,063 1,918 -7 3,060 1,008 -67 5,123 2,926 -43
Moncton 99 407 311 120 0 -100 219 407 86
Montréal 3,021 2,837 -6 25,778 16,942 -34 28,799 19,779 -31
Oshawa 564 784 39 312 1,680 438 876 2,464 181
Ottawa-Gatineau 3,162 4,987 58 5,892 12,024 104 9,054 17,011 88
Gatineau 424 530 25 2,676 4,440 66 3,100 4,970 60
Ottawa 2,738 4,457 63 3,216 7,584 136 5,954 12,041 102
Peterborough 103 121 17 0 0 - 103 121 17
Québec 930 927 0 3,696 1,584 -57 4,626 2,511 -46
Regina 362 335 -7 492 504 2 854 839 -2
Saguenay 361 73 -80 756 240 -68 1,117 313 -72
St. Catharines-Niagara 1,002 1,226 22 1,116 1,296 16 2,118 2,522 19
Saint John 108 301 179 312 396 27 420 697 66
St. John's 275 261 -5 120 96 -20 395 357 -10
Saskatoon 594 697 17 1,656 288 -83 2,250 985 -56
Sherbrooke 515 459 -11 2,184 432 -80 2,699 891 -67
Thunder Bay 92 115 25 0 0 - 92 115 25
Toronto 6,656 4,749 -29 25,344 26,112 3 32,000 30,861 -4
Trois-Rivières 212 122 -42 144 432 200 356 554 56
Vancouver 2,792 3,533 27 10,380 17,040 64 13,172 20,573 56
Victoria 516 929 80 156 4,968 ## 672 5,897 ##
Windsor 204 861 322 60 276 360 264 1,137 331
Winnipeg 1,895 2,191 16 4,284 1,908 -55 6,179 4,099 -34

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

Was this page relevant to your needs?

Thank you for your feedback!

Sorry to hear that! Can you tell us about the problem?

Google Captcha Loader

For further assistance, please contact us

Thank you. Your feedback has been submitted.

Date Published: March 9, 2020

By Topic

  • Professionals
    • Project funding and mortgage financing
    • Housing markets data and research
    • Industry innovation and leadership
    • Events and speakers
  • Consumers
    • Home buying
    • Owning a home
    • Renting a home

About Us

  • CMHC's Story
  • Management and Governance
  • Our Partners
  • Corporate Reporting
  • Contact Us
  • Careers

More

  • CMHC e-Newsletters
  • CMHC Library
  • Housing Observer Online
  • Media Newsroom
  • CMHC on Twitter
  • CMHC on LinkedIn
  • CMHC on Facebook
  • CMHC on Instagram
  • CMHC on YouTube
Privacy Policy    |    Terms and Conditions    |    Transparency     Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) ©2022 
Canada
loader icon