Housing starts increased in February

OTTAWA, ON, March 15, 2023 /CNW/ - The standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada increased 13% in February (243,959 units) compared to January (216,514 units) according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

The monthly SAAR of total urban (centres 10,000 population and over) starts increased 16%, with 222,663 units recorded in February. Multi-unit urban starts increased 18% to 173,745 units, while single-detached urban starts increased 8% to 48,918 units.

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

Bob Dugan, Chief Economist, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 21,296 units.

The trend in housing starts was 255,735 units in February, down 2% from 259,830 units in January. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

"After hitting its lowest level since September 2020, the monthly SAAR of housing starts rebounded in February, while the six-month trend declined slightly. Among Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, only Toronto recorded an increase in total SAAR housing starts in February, up 55%. Montreal declined 31% and Vancouver declined 43%. February's housing starts provided much needed new housing supply nationally, but in order to improve affordability, we need to find innovative ways to deliver more supply and to keep building at a higher pace," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's 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 March housing starts data on April 19 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
		February 2022		February 2023			%		February 2022		February 2023		%		February 2022		February 2023			%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L.		21		14			-33		11		2		-82		32		16			-50
P.E.I.		5		8			60		10		16		60		15		24			60
N.S.		67		55			-18		120		240		100		187		295			58
N.B.		17		20			18		2		12		##		19		32			68
Atlantic		110		97			-12		143		270		89		253		367			45
Qc		257		206			-20		2,312		2,218		-4		2,569		2,424			-6
Ont.		1,333		1,176			-12		5,703		5,946		4		7,036		7,122			1
Man.		155		123			-21		510		524		3		665		647			-3
Sask.		102		36			-65		152		412		171		254		448			76
Alta.		918		813			-11		1,289		1,448		12		2,207		2,261			2
Prairies		1,175		972			-17		1,951		2,384		22		3,126		3,356			7
B.C.		532		370			-30		1,937		2,354		22		2,469		2,724			10
Canada (10,000+)		3,407		2,821			-17		12,046		13,172		9		15,453		15,993			3
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission		30		18			-40		84		77		-8		114		95			-17
Barrie		41		42			2		21		144		##		62		186			200
Belleville - Quinte West		18		7			-61		0		29		##		18		36			100
Brantford		24		30			25		6		53		##		30		83			177
Calgary		398		391			-2		761		847		11		1,159		1,238			7
Chilliwack		28		10			-64		21		5		-76		49		15			-69
Drummondville		12		3			-75		21		30		43		33		33			-
Edmonton		422		330			-22		394		541		37		816		871			7
Fredericton		7		8			14		0		7		##		7		15			114
Greater/Grand Sudbury		0		6			##		0		0		-		0		6			##
Guelph		10		5			-50		4		339		##		14		344			##
Halifax		42		16			-62		90		171		90		132		187			42
Hamilton		51		23			-55		148		72		-51		199		95			-52
Kamloops		12		2			-83		2		1		-50		14		3			-79
Kelowna		36		15			-58		27		455		##		63		470			##
Kingston		6		29			383		9		20		122		15		49			227
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo		96		93			-3		87		320		268		183		413			126
Lethbridge		21		5			-76		99		6		-94		120		11			-91
London		115		31			-73		49		17		-65		164		48			-71
Moncton		3		3			-		2		0		-100		5		3			-40
Montréal		102		49			-52		1,053		839		-20		1,155		888			-23
Nanaimo		21		11			-48		163		105		-36		184		116			-37
Oshawa		42		23			-45		31		28		-10		73		51			-30
Ottawa-Gatineau		134		123			-8		743		954		28		877		1,077			23
Gatineau		5		60			##		381		524		38		386		584			51
Ottawa		129		63			-51		362		430		19		491		493			0
Peterborough		10		4			-60		0		0		-		10		4			-60
Québec		53		27			-49		341		497		46		394		524			33
Red Deer		10		5			-50		0		5		##		10		10			-
Regina		23		9			-61		13		170		##		36		179			397
Saguenay		13		10			-23		18		10		-44		31		20			-35
St. Catharines-Niagara		46		74			61		96		285		197		142		359			153
Saint John		6		6			-		0		0		-		6		6			-
St. John's		20		13			-35		11		0		-100		31		13			-58
Saskatoon		73		23			-68		138		239		73		211		262			24
Sherbrooke		33		5			-85		100		31		-69		133		36			-73
Thunder Bay		0		0			-		4		0		-100		4		0			-100
Toronto		418		468			12		4,697		3,758		-20		5,115		4,226			-17
Trois-Rivières		1		4			300		75		34		-55		76		38			-50
Vancouver		247		211			-15		1,118		1,280		14		1,365		1,491			9
Victoria		46		31			-33		367		269		-27		413		300			-27
Windsor		51		18			-65		10		197		##		61		215			252
Winnipeg		130		103			-21		415		507		22		545		610			12
Total		2,851		2,284			-20		11,218		12,342		10		14,069		14,626			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
			January 2022		February 2023	%		January 2022		February 2023		%		January 2022		February 2023		%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.L.			427		601	41		61		26		-57		488		627		28
P.E.I.			452		421	-7		120		192		60		572		613		7
N.S.			983		1,001	2		1,980		2,898		46		2,963		3,899		32
N.B.			987		1,091	11		403		158		-61		1,390		1,249		-10
Qc			5,959		5,987	0		29,293		34,376		17		35,252		40,363		14
Ont.			18,501		19,514	5		53,519		78,895		47		72,020		98,409		37
Man.			2,428		1,888	-22		2,028		6,288		210		4,456		8,176		83
Sask.			827		595	-28		912		4,944		442		1,739		5,539		219
Alta.			8,925		12,512	40		18,230		17,601		-3		27,155		30,113		11
B.C.			5,804		5,308	-9		40,651		28,367		-30		46,455		33,675		-28
Canada (10,000+)			45,293		48,918	8		147,197		173,745		18		192,490		222,663		16
Canada (All Areas)			63,092		64,281	2		153,422		179,677		17		216,514		243,959		13
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission			109		275	152		72		924		##		181		1,199		##
Barrie			765		815	7		732		1,728		136		1,497		2,543		70
Belleville - Quinte West			143		219	53		0		348		##		143		567		297
Brantford			1,217		620	-49		0		636		##		1,217		1,256		3
Calgary			4,632		5,663	22		11,892		10,164		-15		16,524		15,827		-4
Chilliwack			239		143	-40		239		60		-75		347		203		-41
Drummondville			225		90	-60		348		360		3		573		450		-21
Edmonton			2,712		4,567	68		4,788		6,492		36		7,500		11,059		47
Fredericton			436		532	22		24		84		250		460		616		34
Greater/Grand Sudbury			127		7,439	##		0		0		-		127		7,439		##
Guelph			104		93	-11		96		4,068		##		200		4,161		##
Halifax			260		295	13		1,044		2,052		97		1,304		2,347		80
Hamilton			374		395	6		1,656		864		-48		2,030		1,259		-38
Kamloops			122		40	-67		96		12		-88		218		52		-76
Kelowna			474		258	-46		4,188		5,460		30		4,662		5,718		23
Kingston			276		772	180		456		240		-47		732		1,012		38
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo			782		1,056	35		4,020		3,840		-4		4,802		4,896		2
Lethbridge			185		87	-53		36		72		100		221		159		-28
London			631		435	-31		3,420		204		-94		4,051		639		-84
Moncton			243		196	-19		180		0		-100		423		196		-54
Montréal			1,731		1,116	-36		14,765		10,323		-30		16,496		11,439		-31
Nanaimo			120		193	61		84		1,260		##		204		1,453		##
Oshawa			456		379	-17		360		336		-7		816		715		-12
Ottawa-Gatineau			974		2,835	191		756		11,448		##		1,730		14,283		##
Gatineau			0		1,650	##		360		6,288		##		360		7,938		##
Ottawa			974		1,185	22		396		5,160		##		1,370		6,345		363
Peterborough			118		163	38		0		0		-		118		163		38
Québec			795		539	-32		1,332		5,964		348		2,127		6,503		206
Red Deer			80		66	-18		168		60		-64		248		126		-49
Regina			91		136	49		372		2,040		448		463		2,176		370
Saguenay			360		586	63		156		120		-23		516		706		37
St. Catharines-Niagara			2,334		1,301	-44		1,548		3,420		121		3,882		4,721		22
Saint John			242		274	13		0		0		-		242		274		13
St. John's			298		464	56		36		0		-100		334		464		39
Saskatoon			716		382	-47		504		2,868		469		1,220		3,250		166
Sherbrooke			303		192	-37		672		372		-45		975		564		-42
Thunder Bay			170		103	-39		72		0		-100		242		103		-57
Toronto			6,729		8,321	24		27,660		45,096		63		34,389		53,417		55
Trois-Rivières			361		321	-11		1,056		408		-61		1,417		729		-49
Vancouver			3,110		3,009	-3		29,244		15,360		-47		32,354		18,369		-43
Victoria			373		428	15		5,280		3,228		-39		5,653		3,656		-35
Windsor			504		307	-39		2,652		2,364		-11		3,156		2,671		-15
Winnipeg			2,012		1,543	-23		1,656		6,084		267		3,668		7,627		108
^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]