SAAR housing starts in Canada's urban areas declined in August Français

News provided by

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Sep 16, 2022, 08:13 ET

OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 16, 2022 /CNW/ - The standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada in August was 267,443 units, down 3% from July. The SAAR of total urban starts decreased 3% to 246,771 units in August. Multi-unit urban starts declined 4% to 187,602 units, while single-detached urban starts increased 1% to 59,169 units.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 20,672 units.

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

"The six-month trend in housing starts was higher in August compared to July, despite a lower monthly SAAR. Housing starts activity remains elevated in Canada historically and have been well above 200,000 units since 2020," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's Chief Economist. "The decline in monthly SAAR housing starts in Canada's urban areas in August was driven by lower multi-unit starts. A decline in single-detached units in Vancouver was offset by higher multi-unit starts. Toronto posted strong increases across the board, while Montreal recorded a large (33%) decline in multi-unit starts, resulting in the overall decline for Canada."

The trend in housing starts was 267,309 units in August, up from 264,467 units in July, 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.

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.

Key Facts:

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.

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Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over



Single-Detached

All Others

Total




August
2021

August
2022

%

August
2021

August
2022

%

August
2021

August
2022

%

Provinces (10,000+)








N.-L.

57

76

33

3

14

367

60

90

50

P.E.I.   


31

16

-48

37

49

32

68

65

-4

N.S.   


119

103

-13

49

257

424

168

360

114

N.B.   


108

157

45

204

379

86

312

536

72

Atlantic

315

352

12

293

699

139

608

1,051

73

Qc

498

533

7

2,517

2,644

5

3,015

3,177

5

Ont.   


2,564

2,409

-6

6,430

6,534

2

8,994

8,943

-1

Man.   


254

244

-4

303

269

-11

557

513

-8

Sask.   


133

118

-11

34

317

##

167

435

160

Alta.   


1,234

1,312

6

1,408

1,495

6

2,642

2,807

6

Prairies

1,621

1,674

3

1,745

2,081

19

3,366

3,755

12

B.C.   


642

586

-9

2,911

3,231

11

3,553

3,817

7

Canada (10,000+)

5,640

5,554

-2

13,896

15,189

9

19,536

20,743

6

Metropolitan Areas








Abbotsford-Mission

23

38

65

26

18

-31

49

56

14

Barrie

89

165

85

248

68

-73

337

233

-31

Belleville

45

28

-38

50

15

-70

95

43

-55

Brantford

94

141

50

196

106

-46

290

247

-15

Calgary

524

510

-3

586

672

15

1,110

1,182

6

Edmonton

521

586

12

755

533

-29

1,276

1,119

-12

Greater Sudbury

8

32

300

2

36

##

10

68

##

Guelph

19

16

-16

12

39

225

31

55

77

Halifax

32

47

47

11

219

##

43

266

##

Hamilton

61

89

46

638

82

-87

699

171

-76

Kelowna

57

66

16

369

556

51

426

622

46

Kingston

43

16

-63

14

104

##

57

120

111

Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

86

65

-24

384

349

-9

470

414

-12

Lethbridge

27

24

-11

21

200

##

48

224

367

London

201

127

-37

209

43

-79

410

170

-59

Moncton

28

44

57

179

283

58

207

327

58

Montréal

155

114

-26

1,982

1,260

-36

2,137

1,374

-36

Oshawa

137

143

4

146

233

60

283

376

33

Ottawa-Gatineau

287

290

1

648

1,056

63

935

1,346

44

  Gatineau

32

81

153

34

8

-76

66

89

35

  Ottawa

255

209

-18

614

1,048

71

869

1,257

45

Peterborough

54

52

-4

158

4

-97

212

56

-74

Québec

35

58

66

135

737

446

170

795

368

Regina

49

22

-55

9

41

356

58

63

9

Saguenay

49

41

-16

19

40

111

68

81

19

St. Catharines-Niagara

134

117

-13

63

115

83

197

232

18

Saint John

29

26

-10

2

0

-100

31

26

-16

St. John's

47

68

45

3

14

367

50

82

64

Saskatoon

75

87

16

22

269

##

97

356

267

Sherbrooke

28

35

25

110

86

-22

138

121

-12

Thunder Bay

10

17

70

0

0

-

10

17

70

Toronto

776

689

-11

3,253

3,846

18

4,029

4,535

13

Trois-Rivières

22

28

27

6

46

##

28

74

164

Vancouver

253

230

-9

1,650

1,729

5

1,903

1,959

3

Victoria

59

56

-5

513

307

-40

572

363

-37

Windsor

58

76

31

76

167

120

134

243

81

Winnipeg

217

207

-5

273

226

-17

490

433

-12

Total

4,332

4,350

0

12,768

13,499

6

17,100

17,849

4

Data for  2021 and  2022  based on 2016 Census Definitions.






Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey






## not calculable / extreme value


















Housing Start Data - Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates (SAAR)


Single-Detached

All Others

Total


July 2022

August
2022

%

July 2022

August
2022

%

July 2022

August
2022

%

Provinces (10,000+)









N.L.

775

626

-19

48

169

252

823

795

-3

P.E.I.   


213

178

-16

192

588

206

405

766

89

N.S.   


1,502

1,143

-24

5,728

3,088

-46

7,230

4,231

-41

N.B.   


908

1,216

34

3,970

4,522

14

4,878

5,738

18

Qc  


7,219

7,835

9

45,453

42,375

-7

52,672

50,210

-5

Ont.   


21,627

22,982

6

70,780

73,110

3

92,407

96,092

4

Man.   


2,621

2,664

2

3,648

3,228

-12

6,269

5,892

-6

Sask.   


1,461

1,360

-7

1,572

3,804

142

3,033

5,164

70

Alta.   


14,887

14,515

-2

26,071

17,748

-32

40,958

32,263

-21

B.C.   


7,125

6,650

-7

38,365

38,970

2

45,490

45,620

0

Canada (10,000+)

58,338

59,169

1

195,827

187,602

-4

254,165

246,771

-3

Canada (All Areas)

72,685

73,406

1

202,473

194,040

-4

275,158

267,443

-3

Metropolitan Areas

Abbotsford-Mission

389

446

15

1,560

216

-86

1,949

662

-66

Barrie

1,532

1,252

-18

1,692

816

-52

3,224

2,068

-36

Belleville

195

268

37

60

180

200

255

448

76

Brantford

821

642

-22

1,320

1,272

-4

2,141

1,914

-11

Calgary

6,154

5,767

-6

16,272

8,064

-50

22,426

13,831

-38

Edmonton

6,836

6,688

-2

9,024

6,396

-29

15,860

13,084

-18

Greater Sudbury

56

184

229

264

432

64

320

616

93

Guelph

135

152

13

204

468

129

339

620

83

Halifax

832

565

-32

5,004

2,628

-47

5,836

3,193

-45

Hamilton

1,071

852

-20

1,236

984

-20

2,307

1,836

-20

Kelowna

652

993

52

480

6,672

##

1,132

7,665

##

Kingston

438

188

-57

264

1,248

373

702

1,436

105

Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

1,091

665

-39

3,660

4,188

14

4,751

4,853

2

Lethbridge

269

254

-6

108

2,400

##

377

2,654

##

London

895

1,435

60

2,448

516

-79

3,343

1,951

-42

Moncton

350

476

36

2,220

3,396

53

2,570

3,872

51

Montréal

1,703

1,805

6

23,160

15,404

-33

24,863

17,209

-31

Oshawa

1,177

1,413

20

2,808

2,796

0

3,985

4,209

6

Ottawa-Gatineau

3,024

3,225

7

21,888

12,672

-42

24,912

15,897

-36

  Gatineau

718

949

32

3,312

96

-97

4,030

1,045

-74

  Ottawa

2,306

2,276

-1

18,576

12,576

-32

20,882

14,852

-29

Peterborough

312

359

15

0

48

##

312

407

30

Québec

964

935

-3

6,252

8,844

41

7,216

9,779

36

Regina

443

233

-47

528

492

-7

971

725

-25

Saguenay

347

305

-12

144

480

233

491

785

60

St. Catharines-Niagara

1,159

1,122

-3

312

1,380

342

1,471

2,502

70

Saint John

243

260

7

60

0

-100

303

260

-14

St. John's

745

613

-18

36

168

367

781

781

-

Saskatoon

947

1,046

10

924

3,228

249

1,871

4,274

128

Sherbrooke

460

584

27

840

1,032

23

1,300

1,616

24

Thunder Bay

153

133

-13

228

0

-100

381

133

-65

Toronto

4,801

5,737

19

34,584

46,152

33

39,385

51,889

32

Trois-Rivières

209

387

85

792

552

-30

1,001

939

-6

Vancouver

2,881

2,517

-13

20,400

20,748

2

23,281

23,265

0

Victoria

995

854

-14

10,332

3,684

-64

11,327

4,538

-60

Windsor

697

756

8

1,080

2,004

86

1,777

2,760

55

Winnipeg

2,224

2,254

1

2,916

2,712

-7

5,140

4,966

-3

Data for  2021 and  2022  based on 2016 Census Definitions.







Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey







## not calculable / extreme value










SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

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). Media Relations, CMHC, [email protected]

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