Housing starts for October 2024

Ottawa, November 18, 2024

The six-month trend in housing starts was flat in October at 243,522 units. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

The total monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada increased 8% in October (240,761 units) compared to September (223,391 units), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

In Canada’s urban centres with a population of 10,000 or greater, there have been 188,567 actual housing starts year-to-date (January – October) in 2024. This compares to 187,722 for the same period in 2023, meaning actual year-to-date housing starts are statistically unchanged so far this year.

Quote:

“Actual year-to-date housing starts are similar to last year, but we continue to see higher activity in the Prairie provinces, Québec and the Atlantic provinces, while Ontario and British Columbia have seen declines in all housing types. The increases in the monthly SAAR in Toronto and Vancouver are a promising sign for Ontario and British Columbia, as they drove the national SAAR increase in October. Despite these results, we remain well below what is required to restore affordability in Canada’s urban centres.” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist.

Key facts:

The monthly SAAR of total urban (centres 10,000 population and over) housing starts was 6% higher (223,111 units). Multi-unit urban starts increased 7% (175,705 units), while single-detached urban starts increased 1% (47,406 units).
The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 17,650 units.
Actual year-to-date housing starts between January and October 2024 are up 12% in Montreal from the same period last year, showing some recovery from historically low new home construction in 2023.
In Vancouver, actual starts are down 18% in 2024 compared to 2023, but it’s important to note 2023 was a record high year.
In Toronto, actual year-to-date housing starts are down 21% from 2023, which was also a high year for housing starts by historical standards.
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 November housing starts data on December 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.
See the Definitions and methodology page to better understand the foundations of the Starts and Completions and Market Absorption surveys.
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 plays a critical role as a national convenor to promote stability and sustainability in Canada’s housing finance system. Our mortgage insurance products support access to home ownership and the creation and maintenance of rental supply. We actively support the Government of Canada in delivering on its commitment to make housing more affordable. Our research and data help inform housing policy. By facilitating cooperation between all levels of government, private and non-profit sectors, we contribute to advancing housing affordability, equity, and climate compatibility.

Information on this release:

To request an interview with a CMHC economist, contact:
Media Relations, CMHC
media@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

October housing starts in Canada — all areas

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Provinces)
January – October 2023 – 2024
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	2023	2024	%	2023	2024	%	2023	2024	%
N.-L.	370	510	38	115	288	150	485	798	65
P.E.I.	176	228	30	544	982	81	720	1,210	68
N.S.	1,257	1,332	6	3,412	4,404	29	4,669	5,736	23
N.B.	755	800	6	2,418	3,281	36	3,173	4,081	29
Atlantic	2,558	2,870	12	6,489	8,955	38	9,047	11,825	31
Qc	3,529	3,569	1	23,944	29,547	23	27,473	33,116	21
Ont.	12,730	10,936	-14	61,987	50,669	-18	74,717	61,605	-18
Man.	1,394	1,469	5	3,623	3,639	0	5,017	5,108	2
Sask.	854	1,088	27	2,461	2,253	-8	3,315	3,341	1
Alta.	9,896	12,690	28	18,417	25,281	37	28,313	37,971	34
Prairies	12,144	15,247	26	24,501	31,173	27	36,645	46,420	27
B.C.	4,772	3,731	-22	35,068	31,870	-9	39,840	35,601	-11
Canada	35,733	36,353	2	151,989	152,214	0	187,722	188,567	0

1 Data for 2021 and 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023 and 2024 based on 2021 Census Definitions.

Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Metropolitan Areas)
January – October 2023 – 2024
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	2023	2024	%	2023	2024	%	2023	2024	%
Abbotsford – Mission	209	158	-24	543	808	49	752	966	28
Barrie	626	360	-42	1,389	472	-66	2,015	832	-59
Belleville – Quinte West	168	177	5	145	135	-7	313	312	0
Brantford	333	172	-48	330	92	-72	663	264	-60
Calgary	4,743	5,869	24	11,535	14,235	23	16,278	20,104	24
Chilliwack	159	127	-20	270	282	4	429	409	-5
Drummondville	131	141	8	330	697	111	461	838	82
Edmonton	4,009	5,619	40	6,069	9,177	51	10,078	14,796	47
Fredericton	234	258	10	637	320	-50	871	578	-34
Greater Sudbury	77	89	16	184	67	-64	261	156	-40
Guelph	68	49	-28	1,052	346	-67	1,120	395	-65
Halifax	471	662	41	2,999	3,789	26	3,470	4,451	28
Hamilton	254	328	29	2,723	1,741	-36	2,977	2,069	-31
Kamloops	91	78	-14	270	256	-5	361	334	-7
Kelowna	372	313	-16	2,168	3,406	57	2,540	3,719	46
Kingston	240	193	-20	1,113	316	-72	1,353	509	-62
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	724	314	-57	2,078	2,350	13	2,802	2,664	-5
Lethbridge	145	213	47	57	411	##	202	624	209
London	423	459	9	1,518	3,059	102	1,941	3,518	81
Moncton	212	225	6	1,394	2,227	60	1,606	2,452	53
Montréal	879	936	6	11,538	12,945	12	12,417	13,881	12
Nanaimo	148	137	-7	314	677	116	462	814	76
Oshawa	590	377	-36	809	1,142	41	1,399	1,519	9
Ottawa – Gatineau	1,602	1,504	-6	8,715	8,105	-7	10,317	9,609	-7
Gatineau	306	335	9	2,392	2,754	15	2,698	3,089	14
Ottawa	1,296	1,169	-10	6,323	5,351	-15	7,619	6,520	-14
Peterborough	108	110	2	27	128	374	135	238	76
Québec	476	511	7	4,163	5,160	24	4,639	5,671	22
Red Deer	59	76	29	110	251	128	169	327	93
Regina	170	245	44	664	836	26	834	1,081	30
Saguenay	170	161	-5	435	504	16	605	665	10
St. Catharines – Niagara	792	548	-31	1,714	841	-51	2,506	1,389	-45
Saint John	189	186	-2	264	444	68	453	630	39
St. John's	277	435	57	97	251	159	374	686	83
Saskatoon	643	774	20	1,509	1,356	-10	2,152	2,130	-1
Sherbrooke	187	239	28	986	1,287	31	1,173	1,526	30
Thunder Bay	86	70	-19	140	202	44	226	272	20
Toronto	3,973	3,922	-1	39,715	30,515	-23	43,688	34,437	-21
Trois-Rivières	153	174	14	1,055	1,292	22	1,208	1,466	21
Vancouver	2,483	1,820	-27	25,638	21,224	-17	28,121	23,044	-18
Victoria	330	247	-25	3,555	3,112	-12	3,885	3,359	-14
Windsor	264	392	48	831	1,488	79	1,095	1,880	72
Winnipeg	1,194	1,209	1	3,279	3,129	-5	4,473	4,338	-3
Total	28,462	29,877	5	142,362	139,075	-2	170,824	168,952	-1

1 Data for 2021 and 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023 and 2024 based on 2021 Census Definitions.

Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Provinces)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Oct. 2023	Oct. 2024	%	Oct. 2023	Oct. 2024	%	Oct. 2023	Oct. 2024	%
N.-L.	39	52	33	23	56	143	62	108	74
P.E.I.	42	39	-7	49	86	76	91	125	37
N.S.	140	159	14	648	205	-68	788	364	-54
N.B.	91	90	-1	291	302	4	382	392	3
Atlantic	312	340	9	1,011	649	-36	1,323	989	-25
Qc	461	443	-4	3,201	3,884	21	3,662	4,327	18
Ont.	1,473	1,360	-8	6,949	4,117	-41	8,422	5,477	-35
Man.	144	170	18	72	533	##	216	703	225
Sask.	129	177	37	214	253	18	343	430	25
Alta.	1,318	1,395	6	2,091	2,999	43	3,409	4,394	29
Prairies	1,591	1,742	9	2,377	3,785	59	3,968	5,527	39
B.C.	436	382	-12	4,352	2,968	-32	4,788	3,350	-30
Canada (10,000+)	4,273	4,267	0	17,890	15,403	-14	22,163	19,670	-11

Data for 2023 and 2024 based on 2021 Census Definitions.

Source: CMHC

## not calculable / extreme value

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over (Metropolitan Areas)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Oct. 2023	Oct. 2024	%	Oct. 2023	Oct. 2024	%	Oct. 2023	Oct. 2024	%
Abbotsford – Mission	22	12	-45	193	52	-73	215	64	-70
Barrie	74	48	-35	84	26	-69	158	74	-53
Belleville – Quinte West	18	14	-22	16	12	-25	34	26	-24
Brantford	24	4	-83	66	53	-20	90	57	-37
Calgary	639	644	1	1,498	2,046	37	2,137	2,690	26
Chilliwack	18	6	-67	92	4	-96	110	10	-91
Drummondville	10	16	60	39	76	95	49	92	88
Edmonton	544	627	15	435	810	86	979	1,437	47
Fredericton	26	32	23	18	40	122	44	72	64
Greater / Grand Sudbury	1	28	##	0	9	##	1	37	##
Guelph	12	6	-50	0	4	##	12	10	-17
Halifax	52	58	12	601	107	-82	653	165	-75
Hamilton	32	78	144	1,165	50	-96	1,197	128	-89
Kamloops	13	10	-23	0	60	##	13	70	438
Kelowna	33	33	-	376	19	-95	409	52	-87
Kingston	24	22	-8	350	167	-52	374	189	-49
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	67	24	-64	279	288	3	346	312	-10
Lethbridge	27	19	-30	27	6	-78	54	25	-54
London	56	44	-21	151	472	213	207	516	149
Moncton	27	26	-4	264	244	-8	291	270	-7
Montréal	112	122	9	1,428	1,270	-11	1,540	1,392	-10
Nanaimo	7	23	229	106	7	-93	113	30	-73
Oshawa	58	39	-33	20	8	-60	78	47	-40
Ottawa – Gatineau	251	179	-29	1,098	1,186	8	1,349	1,365	1
Gatineau	56	59	5	187	670	258	243	729	200
Ottawa	195	120	-38	911	516	-43	1,106	636	-42
Peterborough	24	8	-67	0	15	##	24	23	-4
Québec	29	59	103	642	366	-43	671	425	-37
Red Deer	6	9	50	17	4	-76	23	13	-43
Regina	14	41	193	76	102	34	90	143	59
Saguenay	16	9	-44	6	289	##	22	298	##
St. Catharines – Niagara	124	31	-75	200	60	-70	324	91	-72
Saint John	26	20	-23	0	6	##	26	26	-
St. John's	33	47	42	23	55	139	56	102	82
Saskatoon	108	127	18	113	128	13	221	255	15
Sherbrooke	11	19	73	118	334	183	129	353	174
Thunder Bay	10	14	40	7	72	##	17	86	406
Toronto	434	533	23	3,274	1,956	-40	3,708	2,489	-33
Trois-Rivières	19	14	-26	284	23	-92	303	37	-88
Vancouver	217	175	-19	2,687	2,366	-12	2,904	2,541	-13
Victoria	35	31	-11	697	262	-62	732	293	-60
Windsor	33	57	73	139	94	-32	172	151	-12
Winnipeg	106	138	30	51	515	##	157	653	316
Total	3,392	3,446	2	16,640	13,663	-18	20,032	17,109	-15

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) (Provinces — 10,000+)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Sept. 2024	Oct. 2024	%	Sept. 2024	Oct. 2024	%	Sept. 2024	Oct. 2024	%
N.L.	555	606	9	420	804	91	975	1,410	45
P.E.I.	418	308	-26	0	1,032	##	418	1,340	221
N.S.	1,225	1,738	42	2,697	2,442	-9	3,922	4,180	7
N.B.	942	988	5	6,498	3,636	-44	7,440	4,624	-38
Qc	4,197	4,322	3	35,926	37,404	4	40,123	41,726	4
Ont.	15,524	15,348	-1	45,797	49,257	8	61,321	64,605	5
Man.	1,921	1,878	-2	3,372	6,396	90	5,293	8,274	56
Sask.	1,499	1,759	17	4,308	3,036	-30	5,807	4,795	-17
Alta.	16,124	15,879	-2	28,232	35,791	27	44,356	51,670	16
B.C.	4,329	4,580	6	36,251	35,907	-1	40,580	40,487	0
Canada (10,000+)	46,734	47,406	1	163,501	175,705	7	210,235	223,111	6
Canada (All Areas)	54,076	58,912	9	169,316	181,849	7	223,391	240,761	8

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) (Metropolitan Areas)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Sept. 2024	Oct. 2024	%	Sept. 2024	Oct. 2024	%	Sept. 2024	Oct. 2024	%
Abbotsford – Mission	226	152	-33	2,964	624	-79	3,190	776	-76
Barrie	432	436	1	1,380	312	-77	1,812	748	-59
Belleville – Quinte West	377	171	-55	132	144	9	509	315	-38
Brantford	474	28	-94	240	636	165	714	664	-7
Calgary	7,099	6,921	-3	17,160	24,552	43	24,259	31,473	30
Chilliwack	160	82	-49	160	48	-70	208	130	-38
Drummondville	219	199	-9	804	912	13	1,023	1,111	9
Edmonton	7,372	7,397	0	9,576	9,720	2	16,948	17,117	1
Fredericton	329	357	9	312	480	54	641	837	31
Greater / Grand Sudbury	226	325	44	252	108	-57	478	433	-9
Guelph	85	64	-25	528	48	-91	613	112	-82
Halifax	609	861	41	1,992	1,284	-36	2,601	2,145	-18
Hamilton	484	880	82	4,980	600	-88	5,464	1,480	-73
Kamloops	10	110	##	768	720	-6	778	830	7
Kelowna	517	453	-12	5,100	228	-96	5,617	681	-88
Kingston	216	249	15	108	2,004	##	324	2,253	##
Kitchener – Cambridge – Waterloo	313	266	-15	1,428	3,456	142	1,741	3,722	114
Lethbridge	242	199	-18	0	72	##	242	271	12
London	554	439	-21	1,788	5,664	217	2,342	6,103	161
Moncton	262	279	6	4,968	2,928	-41	5,230	3,207	-39
Montréal	1,163	1,154	-1	11,901	15,174	28	13,064	16,328	25
Nanaimo	114	223	96	48	84	75	162	307	90
Oshawa	334	460	38	168	96	-43	502	556	11
Ottawa – Gatineau	2,024	1,491	-26	20,064	14,232	-29	22,088	15,723	-29
Gatineau	282	392	39	4,152	8,040	94	4,434	8,432	90
Ottawa	1,742	1,099	-37	15,912	6,192	-61	17,654	7,291	-59
Peterborough	54	79	46	216	180	-17	270	259	-4
Québec	593	621	5	6,564	4,392	-33	7,157	5,013	-30
Red Deer	106	111	5	0	48	##	106	159	50
Regina	406	516	27	372	1,224	229	778	1,740	124
Saguenay	122	101	-17	600	3,468	478	722	3,569	394
St. Catharines – Niagara	650	422	-35	120	720	##	770	1,142	48
Saint John	221	212	-4	900	72	-92	1,121	284	-75
St. John's	489	530	8	432	660	53	921	1,190	29
Saskatoon	988	1,224	24	3,804	1,536	-60	4,792	2,760	-42
Sherbrooke	313	286	-9	2,904	4,008	38	3,217	4,294	33
Thunder Bay	80	103	29	336	864	157	416	967	132
Toronto	6,348	6,075	-4	14,148	23,472	66	20,496	29,547	44
Trois-Rivières	413	140	-66	7,440	276	-96	7,853	416	-95
Vancouver	2,156	2,020	-6	21,288	28,392	33	23,444	30,412	30
Victoria	300	333	11	3,972	3,144	-21	4,272	3,477	-19
Windsor	517	606	17	3,216	1,128	-65	3,733	1,734	-54
Winnipeg	1,625	1,607	-1	1,668	6,180	271	3,293	7,787	136