Canadian Housing Starts Fall in May

On Monday, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts fell 6% in May to 261,377 units, compared with 278,300 in April.

Year-over-year, actual housing starts in centers with populations of 10,000 or greater declined 5.2% to 22,633 units in May, down from 23,879 a year earlier. The year-to-date total reached 93,644 units, up 3% from the same period in 2025, driven by higher starts in British Columbia and Ontario, which outweighed year-over-year decreases in the Prairies.

The six-month “trend” in housing starts was virtually flat, rising 0.5% to 258,010 units. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

In centers with populations of 50,000 or greater, units under construction rose 0.9% month-over-month to 374,662 in May. Completions increased 10.6% to 16,880 units, while approved units not yet started fell 2.4% to 138,842.

Among Canada’s three largest CMAs, Montreal posted an 18% year-over-year increase in actual housing starts, driven by higher multi-unit starts. Vancouver recorded a 7% decrease due to lower multi-unit starts, while Toronto starts declined 12%.

In remarks accompanying the report, CMHC Deputy Chief Economist Aled Ab Iorwerth said:

“May’s data showed mixed results. Year-to-date housing starts are slightly up from last year, and the monthly starts trend was basically flat, while units under construction and completions increased. Overall, these results suggest that construction activity is uneven and taken together with the decline of approved units not yet started and market intelligence point to weaker momentum for future supply.”