OTTAWA – Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the total number of housing starts in 2024 rose two per cent compared with 2023, helped by increased starts in Alberta, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.
The national housing agency says housing starts totalled 245,120 last year, up from 240,267 a year earlier.
CMHC says housing starts in Canada’s six largest census metropolitan areas saw a combined drop of three per cent in 2024 as starts in Vancouver, Toronto, and Ottawa moved lower. Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal saw an increase in starts last year.
The results for the full year came as CMHC says the seasonally adjusted annual rate for housing starts fell to 231,468 units in December compared with 267,140 units in November.
The drop came as the annual pace of urban starts in December fell 14 per cent to 214,000 units. The pace of starts of multi-unit urban homes such as apartments, condominiums and townhouses dropped 15 per cent to 168,515, while the rate of urban single-detached home starts fell 10 per cent to 45,485.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of rural starts was 17,468 units in December.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2025.
