Canadian Housing Starts Climb in July

On Monday, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts rose 4% in July to 294,085 units, compared with 283,523 in June.

Year-over-year, actual housing starts in centers with populations of 10,000 or greater increased 4% to 23,464 units in July, up from 22,610 a year earlier. The year-to-date total reached 137,875, also up 4% from the same period in 2024.

The six-month “trend” in housing starts increased 3.7% to 263,088 units. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

In remarks accompanying the report, CMHC Deputy Chief Economist Tania Bourassa-Ochoa said:

“Through the first seven months of the year, actual housing starts have remained above 2024 levels, primarily driven by increased multi-unit starts in the Prairie Provinces and Québec. These persistently elevated national results are reflective of investment decisions made months or even years ago, highlighting the influence of previous market conditions and builder sentiment on current construction trends.”