Canadian Housing Starts (April 2026)

Housing starts flare higher in April

• Canadian housing starts came in at 279.3k annualized units in December, marking a 17% month-on-month (m/m) increase from March's level. On a trend basis, the six-month moving average of starts advanced 3.2% m/m to 256.8k units.
• March's gain was concentrated in the multi-family sector, with urban starts up 21% m/m to 229.1k units. Starts of purpose-built rental units drove April's multi-family gain. Meanwhile, urban single-detached starts declined 5.1% m/m to 36.5k units.
• Urban starts were up in 6 of 10 provinces:
  
   
  • Ontario led the way with starts rising nearly 30.3k to 81.8k units. They also gained in B.C. (+26.8k to 55.2k units), the Prairies (+3.4k to 53.4k units), and parts of the Atlantic (+1.3k to 13.1k units for the region overall). 
  • In contrast, starts declined notably in Quebec (-24.1k to 62.0k units) and were off in Alberta (-2.3k to 36.9k units). 

Key Implications

• April's starts bounce-back was larger than expected and suggests some upside risk to our view on residential investment's contribution to GDP to begin Q2. However, some recent easing in building permits signals some near-term cooling for starts. 
• Despite April's uptick, housing starts are down so far this year compared to the end of 2025, on a six-month moving average basis. We think this trend will continue for the remainder of this year amid weak population growth, elevated unsold inventories, and past weakness in pre-sales in key markets. Activity next year could see some support from recent government actions to cut taxes on new homes. 
  
   

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