Housing starts up 5.6% in 2025 from 2024

Canada NewsWire

OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 16, 2026

OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 16, 2026 /CNW/ - Nationally, the housing starts total for all areas in Canada in 2025 was 259,028, the fifth highest annual total on record and up 5.6% compared to 2024 (245,367). Actual 2025 housing starts in centres of 10,000 population and over were up 6%, with 241,171 units recorded, compared to 227,697 in 2024, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). These increases were driven by a second consecutive year of record rental housing starts which made up just over half of all housing starts in Canada's urban centres.

Canada's six largest Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) saw a combined 3.9% year-over-year increase from 2024, driven by record annual starts in Calgary and Edmonton, a 58% year-over-year increase in annual starts in Montréal, and a 12% increase in Ottawa-Gatineau. These results made up for year-over-year decreases in Toronto (-31%) and Vancouver (-3%).

Monthly Housing Starts:

The six-month trend in housing starts was flat (-0.1%) in December (264,428 units), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

The total monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada was up 11% in December (282,439 units) compared to November (254,625 units).

Actual housing starts increased 25% year-over-year in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater, with 20,716 units recorded in December, compared to 16,531 units in December 2024. This marks the most actual housing starts for December on record, primarily driven by increases in Ontario, which had its highest monthly starts total of 2025.

Quote:
"While housing starts in 2025 finished ahead of 2024 and inched up in December, most of the momentum in housing construction occurred in the Spring and Summer. Since September, the trend in housing starts has consistently decreased. In 2025, economic uncertainty and the diminished viability of large residential towers encouraged a shift towards smaller-scale projects," said Mathieu Laberge, Chief Economist and SVP, Housing Insights at CMHC. "As such, housing starts are beginning this year from a weaker position and market intelligence suggests slowing momentum for residential construction. These trends, along with geopolitical and trade uncertainty, remain top of mind as we expect to release an updated Housing Market Outlook in February."

Key Facts:

As part of the Modernizing Housing Data initiative, new housing completions data for centres with a population of 10,000+ and absorptions data for centres with a population of 50,000+ is now available on the Housing Market Information Portal.
The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 12,271 units.
Among Canada's big three cities, all saw year-over-year increases in December. Toronto led the way with a 151% increase, driven by higher multi-unit starts. Montreal posted a 123% year-over-year increase, driven by higher starts across all dwelling types. Vancouver recorded a +17% increase in December, also driven by multi-unit starts.
CMHC's Starts and Completions Survey provides Canadians with objective, accurate and timely information on actual new residential construction in Canada. Read more about why housing starts matter on CMHC's Housing Observer.
Monthly Housing Starts and Other Construction Data are accessible in English and French on our website and the CMHC Housing Market Information Portal.
Housing starts data is available on the eleventh business day each month. We will release the January housing starts data on February 16 at 8:15 AM ET.
CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and to obtain a clearer picture of upcoming new housing supply. In some situations, analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading, as the multi-unit segment largely drives the market and can vary significantly from one month to the next.
Read about our definitions and methodology to better understand the foundations of the Starts and Completions and Market Absorption surveys.

Housing starts facilitate the analysis of monthly, quarterly, and year-over-year activity in the new home market. The data CMHC collects as part of the Starts and Completions and Market Absorption surveys helps us obtain a clearer picture of upcoming new housing supply and is used as part of our various housing reports.

CMHC plays a critical role as a national convenor to promote stability and sustainability in Canada's housing finance system. CMHC's mortgage insurance products support access to home ownership and the creation and maintenance of rental supply. CMHC research and data help inform housing policy. By facilitating co-operation between all levels of government, private and non-profit sectors, CMHC contributes to advancing housing affordability, equity, and climate compatibility. CMHC actively supports the Government of Canada in delivering on its commitment to make housing more affordable.

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Table 1: Housing Starts - Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates - 6 Month Moving Average (Trend)
December
	Single-Detached			All Others
							Total
	November 2025	December 2025	%	November 2025	December 2025	%	November 2025	December 2025	%
*Provinces (10,000+)*
Nfld.Lab.	714	736	3	457	450	-2	1,171	1,187	1
P.E.I.	350	351	0	906	998	10	1,256	1,349	7
N.S.	1,676	1,603	-4	7,161	7,653	7	8,837	9,256	5
N.B.	1,021	1,082	6	6,409	5,866	-8	7,430	6,947	-7
Que.	4,862	4,802	-1	48,078	49,983	4	52,940	54,785	3
Ont.	10,378	9,942	-4	51,105	57,362	12	61,482	67,304	9
Man.	2,223	2,227	0	6,138	5,908	-4	8,361	8,135	-3
Sask.	1,761	1,874	6	3,658	3,698	1	5,419	5,572	3
Alta.	14,178	13,821	-3	38,849	35,802	-8	53,026	49,623	-6
B.C.	4,202	4,291	2	40,826	37,730	-8	45,028	42,021	-7
Canada (10,000+)	41,363	40,727	-2	203,586	205,450	1	244,949	246,177	1
Canada (All Areas)	52,742	50,938	-3	211,974	213,490	1	264,716	264,428	0
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission	184	181	-2	2,044	1,502	-27	2,228	1,683	-24
Barrie	215	195	-9	976	914	-6	1,191	1,109	-7
Belleville - Quinte West	180	174	-3	472	568	20	652	742	14
Brantford	363	278	-23	834	592	-29	1,197	870	-27
Calgary	6,148	5,934	-3	21,336	19,664	-8	27,484	25,598	-7
Chilliwack	137	130	-5	384	432	13	521	562	8
Drummondville	223	201	-10	1,380	1,366	-1	1,603	1,567	-2
Edmonton	6,078	5,939	-2	16,062	14,610	-9	22,140	20,549	-7
Fredericton	319	323	1	1,738	1,440	-17	2,057	1,763	-14
Greater/Grand Sudbury	125	113	-10	326	344	6	451	456	1
Guelph	28	30	7	226	506	124	254	536	111
Halifax	861	841	-2	5,956	6,454	8	6,817	7,296	7
Hamilton	404	360	-11	2,468	4,074	65	2,872	4,434	54
Kamloops	65	86	32	440	450	2	505	536	6
Kelowna	251	241	-4	2,476	1,318	-47	2,727	1,559	-43
Kingston	256	226	-12	1,158	332	-71	1,414	558	-61
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	514	538	5	4,584	5,588	22	5,098	6,126	20
Lethbridge	359	372	4	46	118	157	405	490	21
London	418	382	-9	4,492	4,224	-6	4,910	4,606	-6
Moncton	310	326	5	3,146	2,790	-11	3,456	3,117	-10
Montréal	1,331	1,477	11	29,380	28,750	-2	30,711	30,227	-2
Nanaimo	107	109	2	434	362	-17	541	471	-13
Oshawa	362	418	15	938	932	-1	1,300	1,350	4
Ottawa-Gatineau	1,652	1,708	3	9,558	11,132	16	11,210	12,840	15
Gatineau	429	350	-18	1,258	1,254	0	1,687	1,604	-5
Ottawa	1,223	1,358	11	8,300	9,878	19	9,523	11,236	18
Peterborough	87	88	1	28	28	-	115	116	1
Québec	688	663	-4	7,652	6,842	-11	8,340	7,505	-10
Red Deer	138	115	-17	116	118	2	254	233	-8
Regina	391	408	4	1,108	1,040	-6	1,499	1,447	-3
Saguenay	236	257	9	460	706	53	696	963	38
St. Catharines-Niagara	452	503	11	2,038	2,644	30	2,490	3,147	26
Saint John	251	276	10	594	598	1	845	874	3
St. John's	670	688	3	450	426	-5	1,120	1,114	-1
Saskatoon	1,299	1,406	8	2,514	2,642	5	3,813	4,047	6
Sherbrooke	247	242	-2	1,864	1,740	-7	2,111	1,982	-6
Thunder Bay	87	78	-10	196	184	-6	283	262	-7
Toronto	3,399	3,000	-12	21,540	23,440	9	24,939	26,440	6
Trois-Rivières	147	159	8	1,342	1,258	-6	1,489	1,417	-5
Vancouver	2,205	2,258	2	26,934	26,440	-2	29,139	28,698	-2
Victoria	362	333	-8	5,672	4,674	-18	6,034	5,007	-17
Windsor	308	304	-1	1,426	1,332	-7	1,734	1,636	-6
Winnipeg	1,903	1,877	-1	5,140	4,910	-4	7,043	6,787	-4
Data based on 2021 Census Definitions.
Source: Market Analysis Centre, CMHC

Table 2
Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over

January - December 2024 - 2025
Area	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
*Province*
	2024	2025	%	2024	2025	%	2024	2025	%
N.L.	644	708	10	370	423	14	1,014	1,131	12
P.E.I.	267	333	25	1,067	943	-12	1,334	1,276	-4
N.S.	1,609	1,626	1	5,054	7,106	41	6,663	8,732	31
N.B.	974	1,016	4	4,013	4,701	17	4,987	5,717	15
Atlantic	3,494	3,683	5	10,504	13,173	25	13,998	16,856	20
Que.	4,537	4,759	5	36,684	49,461	35	41,221	54,220	32
Ont.	13,161	10,057	-24	58,957	52,504	-11	72,118	62,561	-13
Man.	1,714	2,254	32	4,450	4,885	10	6,164	7,139	16
Sask.	1,337	1,828	37	2,654	3,851	45	3,991	5,679	42
Alta.	15,696	15,146	-4	30,936	38,038	23	46,632	53,184	14
Prairies	18,747	19,228	3	38,040	46,774	23	56,787	66,002	16
B.C.	4,444	4,124	-7	39,129	37,408	-4	43,573	41,532	-5
Canada	44,383	41,851	-6	183,314	199,320	9	227,697	241,171	6
Metropolitan Areas

Abbotsford-Mission	182	180	-1	1,001	1,945	94	1,183	2,125	80
Barrie	453	190	-58	1,052	612	-42	1,505	802	-47
Belleville - Quinte West	229	168	-27	158	468	196	387	636	64
Brantford	207	300	45	152	1,350	##	359	1,650	360
Calgary	7,100	6,688	-6	17,269	20,996	22	24,369	27,684	14
Chilliwack	149	132	-11	501	466	-7	650	598	-8
Drummondville	171	225	32	889	1,164	31	1,060	1,389	31
Edmonton	6,976	6,612	-5	11,408	14,725	29	18,384	21,337	16
Fredericton	317	305	-4	432	1,122	160	749	1,427	91
Greater/Grand Sudbury	131	95	-27	523	260	-50	654	355	-46
Guelph	63	33	-48	389	288	-26	452	321	-29
Halifax	816	817	0	4,265	6,183	45	5,081	7,000	38
Hamilton	416	344	-17	2,211	2,802	27	2,627	3,146	20
Kamloops	88	90	2	542	351	-35	630	441	-30
Kelowna	361	262	-27	3,429	2,338	-32	3,790	2,600	-31
Kingston	239	213	-11	776	881	14	1,015	1,094	8
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	376	433	15	3,035	3,873	28	3,411	4,306	26
Lethbridge	272	371	36	443	249	-44	715	620	-13
London	564	451	-20	3,607	2,655	-26	4,171	3,106	-26
Moncton	279	311	11	2,718	2,489	-8	2,997	2,800	-7
Montréal	1,107	1,347	22	16,463	26,430	61	17,570	27,777	58
Nanaimo	169	104	-38	860	344	-60	1,029	448	-56
Oshawa	425	376	-12	1,166	638	-45	1,591	1,014	-36
Ottawa-Gatineau	1,916	1,775	-7	9,633	11,209	16	11,549	12,984	12
Gatineau	401	378	-6	3,254	1,742	-46	3,655	2,120	-42
Ottawa	1,515	1,397	-8	6,379	9,467	48	7,894	10,864	38
Peterborough	134	83	-38	179	17	-91	313	100	-68
Québec	589	704	20	6,316	7,879	25	6,905	8,583	24
Red Deer	96	130	35	258	275	7	354	405	14
Regina	288	398	38	935	1,289	38	1,223	1,687	38
Saguenay	226	235	4	682	562	-18	908	797	-12
St. Catharines-Niagara	648	452	-30	1,095	2,062	88	1,743	2,514	44
Saint John	230	249	8	537	417	-22	767	666	-13
St. John's	548	652	19	323	385	19	871	1,037	19
Saskatoon	977	1,346	38	1,679	2,466	47	2,656	3,812	44
Sherbrooke	315	251	-20	1,617	1,562	-3	1,932	1,813	-6
Thunder Bay	92	92	-	208	129	-38	300	221	-26
Toronto	4,723	3,257	-31	32,995	22,830	-31	37,718	26,087	-31
Trois-Rivières	196	167	-15	1,488	1,261	-15	1,684	1,428	-15
Vancouver	2,176	2,138	-2	25,936	25,047	-3	28,112	27,185	-3
Victoria	298	309	4	3,887	4,550	17	4,185	4,859	16
Windsor	486	331	-32	1,671	931	-44	2,157	1,262	-41
Winnipeg	1,434	1,943	35	3,717	4,118	11	5,151	6,061	18
Total	36,462	34,559	-5	166,445	179,618	8	202,907	214,177	6
1Data for 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023, 2024 and 2025 based on 2021 Census Definitions.
Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	December 2024	December 2025	%	December 2024	December 2025	%	December 2024	December 2025	%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L.	54	63	17	40	37	-8	94	100	6
P.E.I.	26	33	27	82	61	-26	108	94	-13
N.S.	144	130	-10	315	750	138	459	880	92
N.B.	63	96	52	336	251	-25	399	347	-13
Atlantic	287	322	12	773	1,099	42	1,060	1,421	34
Qc	309	260	-16	2,332	3,715	59	2,641	3,975	51
Ont.	942	728	-23	4,003	6,819	70	4,945	7,547	53
Man.	123	149	21	269	132	-51	392	281	-28
Sask.	111	174	57	154	257	67	265	431	63
Alta.	1,251	912	-27	2,234	2,344	5	3,485	3,256	-7
Prairies	1,485	1,235	-17	2,657	2,733	3	4,142	3,968	-4
B.C.	325	338	4	3,418	3,467	1	3,743	3,805	2
Canada (10,000+)	3,348	2,883	-14	13,183	17,833	35	16,531	20,716	25
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission	13	12	-8	117	21	-82	130	33	-75
Barrie	31	7	-77	548	3	-99	579	10	-98
Belleville - Quinte West	23	16	-30	5	67	##	28	83	196
Brantford	11	23	109	2	0	-100	13	23	77
Calgary	514	360	-30	1,203	885	-26	1,717	1,245	-27
Chilliwack	11	7	-36	86	33	-62	97	40	-59
Drummondville	16	12	-25	52	137	163	68	149	119
Edmonton	568	401	-29	877	1,313	50	1,445	1,714	19
Fredericton	23	29	26	4	19	375	27	48	78
Greater/Grand Sudbury	9	4	-56	35	23	-34	44	27	-39
Guelph	6	2	-67	11	150	##	17	152	##
Halifax	78	59	-24	250	650	160	328	709	116
Hamilton	31	22	-29	453	877	94	484	899	86
Kamloops	3	13	333	2	21	##	5	34	##
Kelowna	16	19	19	3	53	##	19	72	279
Kingston	32	4	-88	451	84	-81	483	88	-82
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	27	37	37	636	526	-17	663	563	-15
Lethbridge	22	46	109	4	46	##	26	92	254
London	50	30	-40	412	158	-62	462	188	-59
Moncton	17	27	59	271	107	-61	288	134	-53
Montréal	52	92	77	988	2,223	125	1,040	2,315	123
Nanaimo	6	9	50	54	4	-93	60	13	-78
Oshawa	18	35	94	4	23	475	22	58	164
Ottawa-Gatineau	192	141	-27	623	1,826	193	815	1,967	141
Gatineau	36	2	-94	182	98	-46	218	100	-54
Ottawa	156	139	-11	441	1,728	292	597	1,867	213
Peterborough	5	8	60	0	0	-	5	8	60
Québec	12	18	50	145	129	-11	157	147	-6
Red Deer	7	11	57	5	20	300	12	31	158
Regina	18	31	72	82	14	-83	100	45	-55
Saguenay	45	21	-53	102	131	28	147	152	3
St. Catharines-Niagara	25	59	136	24	575	##	49	634	##
Saint John	15	28	87	47	43	-9	62	71	15
St. John's	42	55	31	29	25	-14	71	80	13
Saskatoon	90	135	50	72	241	235	162	376	132
Sherbrooke	28	15	-46	111	195	76	139	210	51
Thunder Bay	11	3	-73	0	0	-	11	3	-73
Toronto	328	171	-48	652	2,291	251	980	2,462	151
Trois-Rivières	7	7	-	128	51	-60	135	58	-57
Vancouver	156	159	2	2,234	2,642	18	2,390	2,801	17
Victoria	36	45	25	481	418	-13	517	463	-10
Windsor	43	24	-44	57	79	39	100	103	3
Winnipeg	109	126	16	162	67	-59	271	193	-29
Total	2,746	2,323	-15	11,422	16,170	42	14,168	18,493	31
Data for 2022 based on 2016 Census Definitions and data for 2023, 2024 and 2025 based on 2021 Census Definitions.
Source: CMHC Starts and Completion Survey, Market Absorption Survey
## not calculable / extreme value

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)