July Canadian Housing Starts Trend Higher

Historically elevated levels of housing starts activity continued in Canada as the trend in housing starts was 264,426 units in July, up from 257,862 units in June, says the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Starts have been well above 200,000 units since 2020, although urban starts have declined driven by lower single-detached starts. Vancouver, BC; and Toronto, ON; however, registered much stronger declines in multi-unit starts than single-detached starts, while Montreal, QC; saw similarly large declines in both unit types. The July standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada was 275,329 units, an increase of 1.1 per cent from June. The SAAR of total urban starts decreased by 0.8 per cent to 254,371 units. Multi-unit urban starts declined by 0.3 per cent to 195,987 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased by 2.3 per cent to 58,384 units. Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 20,958 units.