Canada’s housing starts extend slide as builders pull back
The six-month trend measure — a moving average used to smooth monthly volatility — declined 2.8% to 248,123 units, landing just above CMHC’s 2026 Housing Market Outlook baseline of 247,000 annual starts, published in February.
Actual monthly housing starts in centres with a population of 10,000 or more came in at 20,265 units in June, down 13% from 23,292 units recorded in June 2025.
The year-to-date total reached 113,017 units, down 1% from the same period last year, and far below the 430,000 to 480,000 annual units CMHC has estimated Canada requires to restore long-term housing affordability.
Kevin Hughes, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC in Ottawa, said the figures were consistent with what the agency had anticipated. “Through the first six months of the year, the rate of housing starts in Canada is lower than last year’s rate, in line with our baseline forecast published in February,” he said.
“There is little doubt that the slowdown reflects rising uncertainty, higher development costs, weaker demand and more unsold homes. Looking forward, we expect that this environment will continue to hold back new housing construction in Canada over the short-to-medium term and drive 2026 actual housing starts below last year’s levels.”
