Canadian Housing Starts Trend Higher in August

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMCH) announced today (9-16-22) that the trend in housing starts in August was 267,309 units, up from 264,467 units reported in July. This “trend” measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

The standalone monthly SAAR of total housing starts for all areas of Canada in August was 267,443 units, which is down 3% from July. The SAAR of total urban starts decreased 3% to 246,771 units in August; multi-unit urban starts declined 4% to 187,602 units; and single-detached urban starts increased by 1% to 59,169 units. Rural estimates were at a SAAR of 20,672 units.

Adding additional background and analysis, Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist, said:

“The six-month trend in housing starts was higher in August compared to July, despite a lower monthly SAAR. Housing starts activity remains elevated in Canada historically and have been well above 200,000 units since 2020. The decline in monthly SAAR housing starts in Canada’s urban areas in August was driven by lower multi-unit starts. A decline in single-detached units in Vancouver was offset by higher multi-unit starts. Toronto posted strong increases across the board, while Montreal recorded a large (33%) decline in multi-unit starts, resulting in the overall decline for Canada.”