Housing starts increased in April

OTTAWA, ON, May 15, 2023 /CNW/ - The standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada increased 22% in April (261,559 units) compared to March (213,780 units) according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

The monthly SAAR of total urban starts (centres 10,000 population and over) increased 26%, with 241,585 units recorded in April. Multi-unit urban starts increased 33% to 201,621 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased 2% to 39,964 units.

Housing Starts in Canada - All Areas (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

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

The Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal CMAs all recorded an increase in total SAAR housing starts in April, with Vancouver up 36%, Toronto up 54%, and Montreal up 43%. Both Toronto and Montreal recorded declines in single-detached starts that were offset by large increases in multi-unit starts, while Vancouver posted increases in both segments.

The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 19,974 units.

The trend in housing starts was 240,403 units in April, down 0.2% from 240,876 units in March. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

Quote:

While both the SAAR of housing starts and the trend have returned to levels observed before the pandemic, housing starts are expected to drop significantly in 2023, before seeing some recovery in 2024 and 2025, according to our latest forecast. The expected decline is due to constraints in new construction, including labour shortages, as well as higher construction and borrowing costs for housing developers," 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 May housing starts data on June 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, visit our website at https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en, and follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Related Links:

• Spring 2023 Housing Market Outlook
• Latest Housing Supply Report (HSR)
• Housing Supply Report (HSR) — Fall Edition
• 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

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over
			Single-Detached						All Others						Total
			April 2022		April 2023		%		April 2022		April 2023			%	April 2022		April 2023			%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L.			57		22		-61		8		6			-25	65		28			-57
P.E.I.			27		15		-44		61		42			-31	88		57			-35
N.S.			113		105		-7		27		197			##	140		302			116
N.B.			57		45		-21		88		323			267	145		368			154
Atlantic			254		187		-26		184		568			209	438		755			72
Qc			811		402		-50		4,663		2,463			-47	5,474		2,865			-48
Ont.			1,837		1,128		-39		4,163		7,809			88	6,000		8,937			49
Man.			154		156		1		389		187			-52	543		343			-37
Sask.			153		95		-38		362		122			-66	515		217			-58
Alta.			1,434		948		-34		2,096		1,454			-31	3,530		2,402			-32
Prairies			1,741		1,199		-31		2,847		1,763			-38	4,588		2,962			-35
B.C.			886		601		-32		3,455		4,390			27	4,341		4,991			15
Canada (10,000+)			5,529		3,517		-36		15,312		16,993			11	20,841		20,510			-2
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission			56		29		-48		147		11			-93	203		40			-80
Barrie			97		100		3		153		408			167	250		508			103
Belleville - Quinte West			27		8		-70		4		52			##	31		60			94
Brantford			18		61		239		76		33			-57	94		94			-
Calgary			609		447		-27		902		717			-21	1,511		1,164			-23
Chilliwack			106		6		-94		255		12			-95	361		18			-95
Drummondville			59		15		-75		96		19			-80	155		34			-78
Edmonton			619		370		-40		1,048		638			-39	1,667		1,008			-40
Fredericton			7		8		14		4		4			-	11		12			9
Greater/Grand Sudbury			11		12		9		6		4			-33	17		16			-6
Guelph			15		5		-67		0		0			-	15		5			-67
Halifax			81		40		-51		18		180			##	99		220			122
Hamilton			35		13		-63		432		544			26	467		557			19
Kamloops			27		8		-70		15		146			##	42		154			267
Kelowna			90		52		-42		195		62			-68	285		114			-60
Kingston			11		25		127		6		236			##	17		261			##
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo			77		46		-40		130		53			-59	207		99			-52
Lethbridge			32		13		-59		26		8			-69	58		21			-64
London			101		24		-76		99		190			92	200		214			7
Moncton			27		13		-52		43		173			302	70		186			166
Montréal			248		86		-65		2,751		1,151			-58	2,999		1,237			-59
Nanaimo			29		36		24		87		17			-80	116		53			-54
Oshawa			118		55		-53		309		409			32	427		464			9
Ottawa-Gatineau			370		118		-68		843		1,271			51	1,213		1,389			15
Gatineau			83		16		-81		163		447			174	246		463			88
Ottawa			287		102		-64		680		824			21	967		926			-4
Peterborough			28		10		-64		0		16			##	28		26			-7
Québec			87		62		-29		900		319			-65	987		381			-61
Red Deer			9		6		-33		4		21			425	13		27			108
Regina			32		22		-31		64		40			-38	96		62			-35
Saguenay			35		20		-43		44		50			14	79		70			-11
St. Catharines-Niagara			110		61		-45		384		86			-78	494		147			-70
Saint John			20		18		-10		40		139			248	60		157			162
St. John's			54		18		-67		7		6			-14	61		24			-61
Saskatoon			115		66		-43		297		52			-82	412		118			-71
Sherbrooke			37		20		-46		135		111			-18	172		131			-24
Thunder Bay			0		1		##		0		0			-	0		1			##
Toronto			521		316		-39		1,521		4,626			204	2,042		4,942			142
Trois-Rivières			49		23		-53		232		66			-72	281		89			-68
Vancouver			335		292		-13		2,281		3,875			70	2,616		4,167			59
Victoria			80		44		-45		250		47			-81	330		91			-72
Windsor			57		19		-67		138		14			-90	195		33			-83
Winnipeg			121		136		12		359		168			-53	480		304			-37
Total			4,560		2,724		-40		14,301		15,974			12	18,861		18,698			-1

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
		March 2023		April 2023		%		March 2023		April 2023		%	March 2023			April 2023		%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.L.		454		398		-12		24		74		208	478			472		-1
P.E.I.		275		210		-24		84		504		##	359			714		99
N.S.		1,878		1,770		-6		1,732		2,417		40	3,610			4,187		16
N.B.		1,183		983		-17		568		3,882		##	1,751			4,865		178
Qc		3,608		3,859		7		23,511		25,548		9	27,119			29,407		8
Ont.		16,025		14,683		-8		58,868		95,981		63	74,893			110,664		48
Man.		1,569		1,756		12		5,952		2,244		-62	7,521			4,000		-47
Sask.		844		937		11		1,896		1,464		-23	2,740			2,401		-12
Alta.		9,899		9,692		-2		15,819		17,087		8	25,718			26,779		4
B.C.		4,962		5,676		14		43,188		52,420		21	48,150			58,096		21
Canada (10,000+)		40,697		39,964		-2		151,642		201,621		33	192,339			241,585		26
Canada (All Areas)		56,056		53,843		-4		157,723		207,715		32	213,780			261,559		22
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission		243		287		18		156		132		-15	399			419		5
Barrie		1,277		1,762		38		396		4,896		##	1,673			6,658		298
Belleville - Quinte West		90		96		7		48		624		##	138			720		422
Brantford		251		1,208		381		396		396		-	647			1,604		148
Calgary		5,040		4,501		-11		9,036		8,604		-5	14,076			13,105		-7
Chilliwack		87		51		-41		87		144		66	87			195		124
Drummondville		84		100		19		444		228		-49	528			328		-38
Edmonton		3,797		3,964		4		6,300		7,656		22	10,097			11,620		15
Fredericton		414		349		-16		48		48		-	462			397		-14
Greater/Grand Sudbury		201		129		-36		48		48		-	249			177		-29
Guelph		47		61		30		3,060		0		-100	3,107			61		-98
Halifax		832		470		-44		1,476		2,160		46	2,308			2,630		14
Hamilton		249		206		-17		552		6,528		##	801			6,734		##
Kamloops		55		62		13		96		1,752		##	151			1,814		##
Kelowna		659		552		-16		2,484		744		-70	3,143			1,296		-59
Kingston		284		317		12		180		2,832		##	464			3,149		##
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo		1,160		604		-48		696		636		-9	1,856			1,240		-33
Lethbridge		102		119		17		0		96		##	102			215		111
London		463		307		-34		1,968		2,280		16	2,431			2,587		6
Moncton		126		157		25		24		2,076		##	150			2,233		##
Montréal		956		736		-23		9,071		13,555		49	10,027			14,291		43
Nanaimo		114		333		192		108		204		89	222			537		142
Oshawa		554		509		-8		384		4,908		##	938			5,417		478
Ottawa-Gatineau		1,855		1,421		-23		13,860		15,252		10	15,715			16,673		6
Gatineau		523		211		-60		1,236		5,364		334	1,759			5,575		217
Ottawa		1,332		1,210		-9		12,624		9,888		-22	13,956			11,098		-20
Peterborough		238		128		-46		0		192		##	238			320		34
Québec		600		565		-6		2,868		3,828		33	3,468			4,393		27
Red Deer		59		65		10		24		252		##	83			317		282
Regina		81		229		183		840		480		-43	921			709		-23
Saguenay		125		222		78		132		600		355	257			822		220
St. Catharines-Niagara		864		638		-26		480		1,032		115	1,344			1,670		24
Saint John		247		246		0		0		1,668		##	247			1,914		##
St. John's		493		392		-20		24		72		200	517			464		-10
Saskatoon		683		606		-11		732		624		-15	1,415			1,230		-13
Sherbrooke		166		189		14		1,416		1,332		-6	1,582			1,521		-4
Thunder Bay		80		79		-1		0		0		-	80			79		-1
Toronto		5,354		4,036		-25		33,360		55,512		66	38,714			59,548		54
Trois-Rivières		166		158		-5		492		792		61	658			950		44
Vancouver		2,519		2,884		14		33,876		46,500		37	36,395			49,384		36
Victoria		345		401		16		3,564		564		-84	3,909			965		-75
Windsor		275		238		-13		408		168		-59	683			406		-41
Winnipeg		1,340		1,455		9		5,232		2,016		-61	6,572			3,471		-47

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

Source: CMHC
## not calculable / extreme
value

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

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