Canadian Housing Starts Rise in September

On Friday, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts rose 3% in September to 248,896 units, compared with 242,223 in August.

Year-over-year, actual housing starts in centers with populations of 10,000 or greater declined 11.0% to 19,984 units in September, down from 22,375 a year earlier. The year-to-date total reached 170,964 units, down 4.0% from the same period in 2025.

The six-month trend in housing starts edged up 0.6% to 250,411 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 more, the number of units under construction was virtually unchanged month-over-month at 371,617 in September. Housing completions declined 0.9% to 17,398 units, while the number of units with approved building permits but not yet started increased 1.1% to 143,929 units.

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

“As outlined in CMHC’s latest Housing Supply Report (HSR), a key risk for Canada now is not building enough during this period of softening housing markets across the country. Of Canada’s four most populous provinces, only Quebec has seen modest gains in housing starts for 2026 and each of the seven major centers covered in the HSR are behind 2025’s pace for new home construction. Canada still faces a long-term housing supply gap and unless housing construction levels increase, improvements in housing affordability since 2023 will be difficult to sustain.”