CMHC says Toronto starts slump 69% while multi-unit growth boosts Montreal and Vancouver
Canada’s housing starts reached their strongest pace in nearly three years in July, with new construction driven by multi-unit projects in key provinces.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), builders began work on a seasonally adjusted 294,100 annualized units in July, a 3.7 percent increase from June.
That marked the highest level since September 2022 and exceeded all economist estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
Montreal led the gains with a 212 percent year-over-year jump in housing starts, fuelled by large-scale rental projects, CMHC reported.
Ottawa also recorded a sharp increase, with 6,314 starts between January and July, up 68 percent from the same period last year, according to CTV News.
July alone saw 1,164 starts in Ottawa, 27 percent higher than a year earlier.
Vancouver recorded a 24 percent rise in July, also driven by multi-unit construction, but CMHC cautioned the market remains volatile.
In contrast, Toronto’s housing starts fell 69 percent from July 2024, as both condominium and single-detached projects slowed.
CMHC Deputy Chief Economist Tania Bourassa-Ochoa told BNN Bloomberg that “the condominium market is really what’s triggering that so we’re seeing a lot of projects that are either being cancelled or postponed.”
Nationally, CMHC said the six-month trend rose 3.7 percent to 263,088 units.
Actual housing starts in centres of 10,000 or greater reached 23,464 in July, up 4 percent from the same month last year. The year-to-date total stood at 137,875 units, also up 4 percent from 2024.
Bloomberg reported that Ontario, Quebec, and the east coast posted solid gains in multiple-unit construction, while Alberta and British Columbia recorded declines of 18 percent and 16 percent, respectively.
Bourassa-Ochoa said elevated results reflected investment decisions made months or years earlier.
“Through the first seven months of the year, actual housing starts have remained above 2024 levels, primarily driven by increased multi-unit starts in the Prairie Provinces and Québec,” she said in a CMHC release.
She added in her BNN Bloomberg interview that “more housing starts means more homes down the road” and noted construction activity also supports employment and material demand.
Despite the recent momentum, Toronto Dominion Bank economist Rishi Sondhi wrote in a report cited by Bloomberg that slowing population growth, weaker rents, and a condo surplus could weigh on future activity.
“We anticipate some cooling taking place in 2026,” he said.
The broader supply challenge remains considerable.
CMHC has estimated that Canada needs to build as many as 480,000 units annually to restore affordability to pre-pandemic levels.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to boost construction, with housing expected to feature prominently in the October federal budget, Bloomberg reported.
In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced an additional $1.6bn for the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, adding to $2.3bn already committed.
Ford told the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference that the funding will support water and wastewater systems, roads, and bridges, reported CBC News.
However, the province remains behind its target of building 1.5m homes by 2031. Government data showed 94,753 units began construction in 2024, below the interim goal of 125,000 homes.
