Canadian Housing Starts Fall in July

On Tuesday, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts fell 5% in July to 229,074 units, compared with 240,773 in June.

Year-over-year, actual housing starts in centers with populations of 10,000+ decreased 19.0% to 18,834 units in July, down from 23,155 a year earlier. The year-to-date total reached 131,851 units, down 4.0% from the same period in 2025.

The six-month “trend” in housing starts edged down 0.5% to 247,377 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 census metropolitan areas, Montreal housing starts increased 3.0% year-over-year, driven by higher multi-unit starts. Vancouver starts fell 42.0% due to lower multi-unit and single-detached starts, while Toronto starts declined 10.0% due to lower multi-unit starts.

In centers with populations of 50,000+, units under construction increased 0.6% month-over-month to 373,091 in July. Completions rose 8.1% to 19,773 units, while the number of units with approved building permits but not yet started increased 3.0% to 141,480.

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

“July’s results show that housing starts are continuing to moderate and new home construction in Canada is evolving as per CMHC’s recent Housing Market Outlook Summer Update. Although the pipeline of homes under construction remains substantial and completions are increasing, fewer new projects are being started in many markets, notably in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto. Based on the recent slowdown in activity, housing starts are likely to remain subdued over the coming months, reflecting ongoing challenges in bringing new projects to market. At the same time, the large volume of homes already under construction will continue to support completions and add to housing supply.”