Housing starts for August 2025

Canada NewsWire

OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 16, 2025

OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 16, 2025 /CNW/ - The six-month trend in housing starts increased (1.6%) in August (267,259 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.

Actual housing starts were up 10% year-over-year in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater, with 18,408 units recorded in August, compared to 16,775 units in August 2024. The year-to-date total was 156,283, up 4% from the same period in 2024.

The total monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada was down 16% in August (245,791 units) compared to July (293,537 units).

"The slowdown in the SAAR that we saw in August is notable as it is well below the six-month trend line. If sustained, this adjustment in the level of housing starts would be consistent with both our forecast and current market intelligence indicating a slowdown in the pace of housing construction. It is worth noting that current housing starts levels are generally reflective of decisions made when interest rates were receding and investor confidence was higher than it is today," said Kevin Hughes, CMHC's Deputy Chief Economist.

Key Facts:

The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 22,063 units.
Among Canada's big three cities, Vancouver recorded a 46% year-over-year increase in starts compared to the same month last year, driven by higher multi-unit and single-detached starts. Montreal posted a 32% year-over-year increase in actual housing starts, driven by significantly higher multi-unit starts. Toronto's housing starts were similar to August 2024.
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 September housing starts data on October 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.

Related Links:

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

January - August 2024 - 2025
Area	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
*Province*
	2024	2025	%	2024	2025	%	2024	2025	%
N.L.	399	440	10	188	261	39	587	701	19
P.E.I.	139	199	43	698	757	8	837	956	14
N.S.	996	1,014	2	3,953	4,944	25	4,949	5,958	20
N.B.	603	585	-3	2,439	2,772	14	3,042	3,357	10
Atlantic	2,137	2,238	5	7,278	8,734	20	9,415	10,972	17
Que.	2,723	2,999	10	22,109	30,656	39	24,832	33,655	36
Ont.	8,098	6,492	-20	42,572	32,478	-24	50,670	38,970	-23
Man.	1,130	1,474	30	2,827	2,707	-4	3,957	4,181	6
Sask.	763	1,085	42	1,640	2,515	53	2,403	3,600	50
Alta.	9,854	10,443	6	19,956	25,775	29	29,810	36,218	21
Prairies	11,747	13,002	11	24,423	30,997	27	36,170	43,999	22
B.C.	2,929	2,631	-10	25,862	26,056	1	28,791	28,687	0
Canada	27,634	27,362	-1	122,244	128,921	5	149,878	156,283	4
Metropolitan Areas

Abbotsford-Mission	120	118	-2	509	1,459	187	629	1,577	151
Barrie	265	102	-62	331	490	48	596	592	-1
Belleville - Quinte West	125	105	-16	112	272	143	237	377	59
Brantford	131	210	60	19	1,230	##	150	1,440	##
Calgary	4,565	4,596	1	10,759	14,036	30	15,324	18,632	22
Chilliwack	104	86	-17	274	269	-2	378	355	-6
Drummondville	110	154	40	554	645	16	664	799	20
Edmonton	4,355	4,732	9	7,569	9,969	32	11,924	14,701	23
Fredericton	189	164	-13	254	670	164	443	834	88
Greater/Grand Sudbury	43	65	51	37	125	238	80	190	138
Guelph	36	21	-42	298	78	-74	334	99	-70
Halifax	540	524	-3	3,516	4,442	26	4,056	4,966	22
Hamilton	199	212	7	1,276	1,826	43	1,475	2,038	38
Kamloops	67	57	-15	132	300	127	199	357	79
Kelowna	246	175	-29	2,962	1,862	-37	3,208	2,037	-37
Kingston	146	122	-16	140	734	424	286	856	199
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	268	244	-9	1,943	2,022	4	2,211	2,266	2
Lethbridge	172	232	35	405	199	-51	577	431	-25
London	357	320	-10	2,438	981	-60	2,795	1,301	-53
Moncton	170	192	13	1,569	1,756	12	1,739	1,948	12
Montréal	706	832	18	10,672	15,889	49	11,378	16,721	47
Nanaimo	106	59	-44	666	278	-58	772	337	-56
Oshawa	302	260	-14	1,120	426	-62	1,422	686	-52
Ottawa-Gatineau	1,109	1,124	1	5,247	7,292	39	6,356	8,416	32
Gatineau	244	286	17	1,738	1,436	-17	1,982	1,722	-13
Ottawa	865	838	-3	3,509	5,856	67	4,374	6,694	53
Peterborough	99	51	-48	95	17	-82	194	68	-65
Québec	403	457	13	4,247	5,457	28	4,650	5,914	27
Red Deer	53	89	68	247	232	-6	300	321	7
Regina	161	235	46	703	858	22	864	1,093	27
Saguenay	142	166	17	165	271	64	307	437	42
St. Catharines-Niagara	457	298	-35	771	1,166	51	1,228	1,464	19
Saint John	140	144	3	363	172	-53	503	316	-37
St. John's	340	398	17	160	238	49	500	636	27
Saskatoon	552	801	45	911	1,544	69	1,463	2,345	60
Sherbrooke	189	179	-5	711	766	8	900	945	5
Thunder Bay	41	59	44	102	63	-38	143	122	-15
Toronto	2,835	2,044	-28	27,380	14,407	-47	30,215	16,451	-46
Trois-Rivières	117	117	-	649	801	23	766	918	20
Vancouver	1,436	1,347	-6	17,084	17,058	0	18,520	18,405	-1
Victoria	187	190	2	2,519	3,357	33	2,706	3,547	31
Windsor	284	226	-20	1,126	515	-54	1,410	741	-47
Winnipeg	932	1,333	43	2,475	2,376	-4	3,407	3,709	9
Total	22,799	22,840	0	112,510	116,548	4	135,309	139,388	3
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
	August 2024	August 2025	%	August 2024	August 2025	%	August 2024	August 2025	%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L.	76	64	-16	52	44	-15	128	108	-16
P.E.I.	20	27	35	31	143	361	51	170	233
N.S.	124	142	15	166	428	158	290	570	97
N.B.	111	135	22	595	416	-30	706	551	-22
Atlantic	331	368	11	844	1,031	22	1,175	1,399	19
Qc	374	392	5	2,352	2,743	17	2,726	3,135	15
Ont.	1,352	1,071	-21	3,996	4,078	2	5,348	5,149	-4
Man.	195	183	-6	413	553	34	608	736	21
Sask.	117	159	36	158	239	51	275	398	45
Alta.	1,444	1,238	-14	2,554	2,686	5	3,998	3,924	-2
Prairies	1,756	1,580	-10	3,125	3,478	11	4,881	5,058	4
B.C.	413	395	-4	2,232	3,272	47	2,645	3,667	39
Canada (10,000+)	4,226	3,806	-10	12,549	14,602	16	16,775	18,408	10
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission	17	19	12	9	67	##	26	86	231
Barrie	31	10	-68	142	18	-87	173	28	-84
Belleville - Quinte West	24	16	-33	11	1	-91	35	17	-51
Brantford	17	22	29	0	176	##	17	198	##
Calgary	597	467	-22	1,078	1,564	45	1,675	2,031	21
Chilliwack	17	15	-12	5	3	-40	22	18	-18
Drummondville	25	14	-44	84	77	-8	109	91	-17
Edmonton	691	629	-9	1,177	1,013	-14	1,868	1,642	-12
Fredericton	36	28	-22	133	51	-62	169	79	-53
Greater/Grand Sudbury	3	12	300	0	14	##	3	26	##
Guelph	3	5	67	27	1	-96	30	6	-80
Halifax	75	81	8	129	371	188	204	452	122
Hamilton	36	52	44	89	168	89	125	220	76
Kamloops	4	0	###	1	0	-100	5	0	###
Kelowna	54	13	-76	14	13	-7	68	26	-62
Kingston	39	14	-64	63	4	-94	102	18	-82
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	27	36	33	304	613	102	331	649	96
Lethbridge	58	18	-69	218	1	-100	276	19	-93
London	58	38	-34	412	86	-79	470	124	-74
Moncton	33	58	76	408	327	-20	441	385	-13
Montréal	90	81	-10	1,148	1,557	36	1,238	1,638	32
Nanaimo	12	10	-17	2	109	##	14	119	##
Oshawa	52	72	38	241	190	-21	293	262	-11
Ottawa-Gatineau	163	177	9	582	354	-39	745	531	-29
Gatineau	37	50	35	84	101	20	121	151	25
Ottawa	126	127	1	498	253	-49	624	380	-39
Peterborough	8	10	25	55	0	-100	63	10	-84
Québec	73	55	-25	357	360	1	430	415	-3
Red Deer	6	11	83	0	13	##	6	24	300
Regina	25	37	48	24	47	96	49	84	71
Saguenay	11	24	118	30	20	-33	41	44	7
St. Catharines-Niagara	26	37	42	169	194	15	195	231	18
Saint John	24	31	29	24	12	-50	48	43	-10
St. John's	64	52	-19	43	33	-23	107	85	-21
Saskatoon	83	116	40	123	180	46	206	296	44
Sherbrooke	35	26	-26	93	34	-63	128	60	-53
Thunder Bay	7	13	86	0	0	-	7	13	86
Toronto	544	320	-41	1,619	1,836	13	2,163	2,156	0
Trois-Rivières	24	15	-38	125	118	-6	149	133	-11
Vancouver	192	209	9	1,534	2,317	51	1,726	2,526	46
Victoria	20	32	60	427	595	39	447	627	40
Windsor	65	38	-42	94	46	-51	159	84	-47
Winnipeg	161	155	-4	323	517	60	484	672	39
Total	3,530	3,068	-13	11,317	13,100	16	14,847	16,168	9
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

Housing Start Data - Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates (SAAR)
	Single-Detached			All Others			Total
	July 2025	August 2025	%	July 2025	August 2025	%	July 2025	August 2025	%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.L.	780	514	-34	432	480	11	1,212	994	-18
P.E.I.	387	311	-20	2,040	1,716	-16	2,427	2,027	-16
N.S.	1,657	1,696	2	15,035	5,139	-66	16,692	6,835	-59
N.B.	1,009	920	-9	7,234	4,855	-33	8,243	5,775	-30
Qc	5,108	4,744	-7	50,485	44,769	-11	55,593	49,513	-11
Ont.	10,404	10,717	3	63,728	45,338	-29	74,132	56,055	-24
Man.	2,309	1,934	-16	2,676	6,636	148	4,985	8,570	72
Sask.	1,531	1,699	11	3,288	2,868	-13	4,819	4,567	-5
Alta.	14,886	13,501	-9	34,909	32,127	-8	49,795	45,628	-8
B.C.	4,000	4,284	7	50,432	39,480	-22	54,432	43,764	-20
Canada (10,000+)	42,071	40,320	-4	230,259	183,408	-20	272,330	223,728	-18
Canada (All Areas)	56,114	55,271	-2	237,421	190,519	-20	293,537	245,791	-16
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission	251	180	-28	2,376	804	-66	2,627	984	-63
Barrie	174	134	-23	3,804	216	-94	3,978	350	-91
Belleville - Quinte West	217	156	-28	1,044	12	-99	1,261	168	-87
Brantford	235	373	59	0	2,112	##	235	2,485	##
Calgary	6,408	5,703	-11	15,696	18,768	20	22,104	24,471	11
Chilliwack	53	153	189	53	36	-32	245	189	-23
Drummondville	194	154	-21	1,044	924	-11	1,238	1,078	-13
Edmonton	6,729	6,434	-4	18,432	12,156	-34	25,161	18,590	-26
Fredericton	322	231	-28	2,604	612	-76	2,926	843	-71
Greater/Grand Sudbury	194	189	-3	276	168	-39	470	357	-24
Guelph	36	43	19	504	12	-98	540	55	-90
Halifax	721	943	31	13,380	4,452	-67	14,101	5,395	-62
Hamilton	417	550	32	10,716	2,016	-81	11,133	2,566	-77
Kamloops	87	10	-89	2,088	0	-100	2,175	10	-100
Kelowna	298	127	-57	2,040	156	-92	2,338	283	-88
Kingston	198	184	-7	180	48	-73	378	232	-39
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	713	386	-46	3,960	7,356	86	4,673	7,742	66
Lethbridge	380	249	-34	96	12	-88	476	261	-45
London	471	417	-11	4,224	1,032	-76	4,695	1,449	-69
Moncton	200	358	79	4,020	3,924	-2	4,220	4,282	1
Montréal	1,303	1,277	-2	26,899	19,090	-29	28,202	20,367	-28
Nanaimo	38	94	147	72	1,308	##	110	1,402	##
Oshawa	453	529	17	768	2,280	197	1,221	2,809	130
Ottawa-Gatineau	1,754	1,753	0	15,540	4,248	-73	17,294	6,001	-65
Gatineau	716	560	-22	2,640	1,212	-54	3,356	1,772	-47
Ottawa	1,038	1,193	15	12,900	3,036	-76	13,938	4,229	-70
Peterborough	108	84	-22	168	0	-100	276	84	-70
Québec	590	582	-1	7,668	4,320	-44	8,258	4,902	-41
Red Deer	155	137	-12	36	156	333	191	293	53
Regina	280	352	26	504	564	12	784	916	17
Saguenay	301	216	-28	504	240	-52	805	456	-43
St. Catharines-Niagara	536	460	-14	2,784	2,328	-16	3,320	2,788	-16
Saint John	274	276	1	504	144	-71	778	420	-46
St. John's	772	484	-37	396	396	-	1,168	880	-25
Saskatoon	1,235	1,338	8	2,628	2,160	-18	3,863	3,498	-9
Sherbrooke	345	215	-38	480	408	-15	825	623	-24
Thunder Bay	112	112	-	312	0	-100	424	112	-74
Toronto	2,535	3,254	28	17,532	22,032	26	20,067	25,286	26
Trois-Rivières	131	143	9	612	1,416	131	743	1,559	110
Vancouver	2,139	2,151	1	34,968	27,804	-20	37,107	29,955	-19
Victoria	342	396	16	6,588	7,140	8	6,930	7,536	9
Windsor	356	304	-15	2,448	552	-77	2,804	856	-69
Winnipeg	2,162	1,629	-25	2,352	6,204	164	4,514	7,833	74
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)