Canadian Housing Starts Fall in January

On Monday, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts fell 15.0% in January to 238,049 units, compared with 280,668 in December 2025.

Year-over-year, actual housing starts in centers with populations of 10,000 or greater increased 1.0% to 16,088 units in January, up from 15,957 units a year earlier.

The six-month “trend” in housing starts declined 3.5% to 254,794 units. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

Among Canada’s three largest cities, Vancouver recorded a 37.0% increase in actual starts, driven by higher multi-unit and single-detached construction. Toronto posted a 2.0% decline due to lower single-detached starts. Montreal recorded a 44.0% year-over-year decrease, reflecting declines in both multi-unit and single-detached starts.

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

“While actual starts in January were flat, the six-month trend has decreased for the fourth consecutive month, which is in line with recent signs of slowing momentum in residential construction. We expect new construction to continue trending lower going forward as trade and geopolitical uncertainty, high construction costs, weaker demand, and rising inventories continue to constrain developer activity. As a result, near-term improvements in housing supply are unlikely, reflecting the on-the-ground sentiments we’ve heard from developers over the past several months.”