Housing starts activity declined in January

OTTAWA, ON, Feb. 15, 2023 /CNW/ - The standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada declined 13% in January (215,365 units) compared to December (248,296 units) according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

The SAAR of total urban starts declined 16%, with 191,491 units recorded in January. Multi-unit urban starts declined 20% to 146,267 units, while single-detached urban starts increased 3% to 45,224 units.

Housing starts activity declined in January (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

Aled ab Iorwerth, Deputy Chief Economist, CMHC (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

The rural starts SAAR estimate was 23,874 units.

The trend in housing starts was 259,412 units in January, down 4% from 269,781 units in December. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

"Both the Monthly SAAR and the six-month trend of housing starts declined nationally in the first month of 2023, with SAAR of housing starts hitting its lowest level since September 2020. Among Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, Montreal was the only market with increases in total SAAR housing starts in January, up 36%. Toronto declined 52% while Vancouver declined 14%, which contributed to the overall monthly decline in SAAR housing starts for Canada," said Aled ab Iorwerth, CMHC's Deputy Chief Economist.

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 February housing starts data on March 15 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 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.

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

Related Links:

• Overview of residential construction in Canada's largest CMAs (HSR)
• The road ahead for the economy and housing — fall 2022 update
• Canada's housing supply shortage: skilled labour capacity
• Understanding Canada's housing supply shortages
• Household projections for Canada's major urban centres

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).

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over
			Single-Detached						All Others						Total
			January 2022		January 2023		%		January 2022		January 2023		%		January 2022		January 2023		%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L.			41		20		-51		2		5		150		43		25		-42
P.E.I.			6		14		133		7		10		43		13		24		85
N.S.			89		63		-29		441		162		-63		530		225		-58
N.B.			20		26		30		68		31		-54		88		57		-35
Atlantic			156		123		-21		518		208		-60		674		331		-51
Qc			350		215		-39		3,385		1,830		-46		3,735		2,045		-45
Ont.			1,307		1,000		-23		2,472		3,886		57		3,779		4,886		29
Man.			138		154		12		509		169		-67		647		323		-50
Sask.			64		42		-34		60		76		27		124		118		-5
Alta.			567		554		-2		1,158		1,456		26		1,725		2,010		17
Prairies			769		750		-2		1,727		1,701		-2		2,496		2,451		-2
B.C.			421		317		-25		2,283		3,359		47		2,704		3,676		36
Canada (10,000+)			3,003		2,405		-20		10,385		10,984		6		13,388		13,389		0
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission			6		6		-		161		6		-96		167		12		-93
Barrie			54		38		-30		23		61		165		77		99		29
Belleville - Quinte West			12		5		-58		6		0		-100		18		5		-72
Brantford			34		44		29		0		0		-		34		44		29
Calgary			258		304		18		303		991		227		561		1,295		131
Chilliwack			31		16		-48		7		9		29		38		25		-34
Drummondville			12		8		-33		127		29		-77		139		37		-73
Edmonton			227		169		-26		682		399		-41		909		568		-38
Fredericton			9		12		33		0		2		##		9		14		56
Greater/Grand Sudbury			4		2		-50		1		0		-100		5		2		-60
Guelph			14		7		-50		12		8		-33		26		15		-42
Halifax			52		17		-67		422		87		-79		474		104		-78
Hamilton			41		23		-44		85		138		62		126		161		28
Kamloops			15		7		-53		4		8		100		19		15		-21
Kelowna			40		27		-33		47		349		##		87		376		332
Kingston			29		6		-79		0		38		##		29		44		52
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo			28		51		82		79		335		324		107		386		261
Lethbridge			10		10		-		145		3		-98		155		13		-92
London			92		35		-62		266		285		7		358		320		-11
Moncton			6		4		-33		20		15		-25		26		19		-27
Montréal			87		68		-22		1,918		1,208		-37		2,005		1,276		-36
Nanaimo			13		9		-31		4		7		75		17		16		-6
Oshawa			36		18		-50		31		30		-3		67		48		-28
Ottawa-Gatineau			171		38		-78		469		63		-87		640		101		-84
Gatineau			60		0		-100		221		30		-86		281		30		-89
Ottawa			111		38		-66		248		33		-87		359		71		-80
Peterborough			11		4		-64		0		0		-		11		4		-64
Québec			57		28		-51		545		111		-80		602		139		-77
Red Deer			6		5		-17		0		14		##		6		19		217
Regina			31		6		-81		30		31		3		61		37		-39
Saguenay			18		6		-67		44		13		-70		62		19		-69
St. Catharines-Niagara			35		119		240		115		129		12		150		248		65
Saint John			4		6		50		48		0		-100		52		6		-88
St. John's			39		17		-56		2		3		50		41		20		-51
Saskatoon			27		33		22		29		42		45		56		75		34
Sherbrooke			27		17		-37		130		56		-57		157		73		-54
Thunder Bay			2		3		50		0		6		##		2		9		350
Toronto			478		390		-18		1,165		2,305		98		1,643		2,695		64
Trois-Rivières			17		20		18		14		88		##		31		108		248
Vancouver			164		174		6		1,616		2,437		51		1,780		2,611		47
Victoria			54		23		-57		232		440		90		286		463		62
Windsor			34		24		-29		67		221		230		101		245		143
Winnipeg			119		133		12		371		138		-63		490		271		-45
Total			2,404		1,932		-20		9,220		10,105		10		11,624		12,037		4
Data for 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023 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
		December 2022		January 2023		%		December 2022		January 2023		%		December 2022		January 2023		%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.L.		637		389		-39		1,185		62		-95		1,822		451		-75
P.E.I.		313		418		34		420		120		-71		733		538		-27
N.S.		1,325		986		-26		3,259		1,979		-39		4,584		2,965		-35
N.B.		587		957		63		1,074		416		-61		1,661		1,373		-17
Qc		3,517		5,902		68		23,762		28,708		21		27,279		34,610		27
Ont.		18,161		18,370		1		85,247		53,175		-38		103,408		71,545		-31
Man.		1,430		2,479		73		3,852		2,028		-47		5,282		4,507		-15
Sask.		708		843		19		2,172		912		-58		2,880		1,755		-39
Alta.		10,541		8,973		-15		15,255		18,219		19		25,796		27,192		5
B.C.		6,660		5,907		-11		47,395		40,648		-14		54,055		46,555		-14
Canada (10,000+)		43,879		45,224		3		183,621		146,267		-20		227,500		191,491		-16
Canada (All Areas)		57,420		62,863		9		190,875		152,501		-20		248,296		215,365		-13
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission		277		110		-60		1,356		72		-95		1,633		182		-89
Barrie		439		736		68		852		732		-14		1,291		1,468		14
Belleville - Quinte West		175		139		-21		60		0		-100		235		139		-41
Brantford		1,237		1,267		2		396		0		-100		1,633		1,267		-22
Calgary		4,816		4,604		-4		8,040		11,892		48		12,856		16,496		28
Chilliwack		248		247		0		248		108		-56		368		355		-4
Drummondville		225		239		6		408		348		-15		633		587		-7
Edmonton		4,034		2,739		-32		5,568		4,788		-14		9,602		7,527		-22
Fredericton		99		418		322		360		24		-93		459		442		-4
Greater/Grand Sudbury		394		105		-73		228		0		-100		622		105		-83
Guelph		56		102		82		156		96		-38		212		198		-7
Halifax		612		248		-59		2,352		1,044		-56		2,964		1,292		-56
Hamilton		916		383		-58		996		1,656		66		1,912		2,039		7
Kamloops		32		114		256		768		96		-88		800		210		-74
Kelowna		513		488		-5		4,044		4,188		4		4,557		4,676		3
Kingston		37		263		##		0		456		##		37		719		##
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo		494		765		55		7,560		4,020		-47		8,054		4,785		-41
Lethbridge		182		194		7		468		36		-92		650		230		-65
London		861		678		-21		1,680		3,420		104		2,541		4,098		61
Moncton		255		247		-3		492		180		-63		747		427		-43
Montréal		1,193		1,807		51		10,976		14,777		35		12,169		16,584		36
Nanaimo		202		122		-40		1,272		84		-93		1,474		206		-86
Oshawa		556		454		-18		528		360		-32		1,084		814		-25
Ottawa-Gatineau		1,683		979		-42		2,412		756		-69		4,095		1,735		-58
Gatineau		13		0		-100		0		360		##		13		360		##
Ottawa		1,670		979		-41		2,412		396		-84		4,082		1,375		-66
Peterborough		156		119		-24		0		0		-		156		119		-24
Québec		816		822		1		3,636		1,332		-63		4,452		2,154		-52
Red Deer		0		82		##		192		168		-13		192		250		30
Regina		159		90		-43		396		372		-6		555		462		-17
Saguenay		30		269		##		24		156		##		54		425		##
St. Catharines-Niagara		1,261		2,249		78		1,692		1,548		-9		2,953		3,797		29
Saint John		169		163		-4		0		0		-		169		163		-4
St. John's		570		282		-51		1,056		36		-97		1,626		318		-80
Saskatoon		494		728		47		1,548		504		-67		2,042		1,232		-40
Sherbrooke		240		311		30		1,032		672		-35		1,272		983		-23
Thunder Bay		79		173		119		0		72		##		79		245		210
Toronto		7,846		6,641		-15		63,444		27,660		-56		71,290		34,301		-52
Trois-Rivières		228		354		55		1,380		1,056		-23		1,608		1,410		-12
Vancouver		3,544		3,292		-7		34,428		29,244		-15		37,972		32,536		-14
Victoria		516		356		-31		2,760		5,280		91		3,276		5,636		72
Windsor		499		520		4		204		2,652		##		703		3,172		351
Winnipeg		1,239		2,040		65		3,228		1,656		-49		4,467		3,696		-17
Data for 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023 based on 2021 Census Definitions.
Source: CMHC
## not calculable / extreme value

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Media Relations, CMHC, [email protected]