Canada residential building permits fall 5.8% in September 2026
Canadian residential building permits fell 5.8% to 7.8 billion Canadian dollars in September 2026, with multi-family intentions down 529.3 million, Statistics Canada said.
The facts
- Residential construction intentions fell -5.8%, or 475.7 million Canadian dollars, to 7.8 billion in September 2026, Statistics Canada reported on 12 November 2026.
- Multi-family permits carried the entire decline, down 529.3 million to 5.1 billion, while single-family permits rose 53.6 million to 2.7 billion.
- Total permit value across residential and non-residential fell 4.1% to 12.9 billion, with the non-residential side down 77.1 million to 5.1 billion.
- Builders were authorised to start 71,300 single-family and multi-family units in the third quarter, against 78,500 units in the same quarter a year earlier.
- Monthly figures are seasonally adjusted current dollars; quarterly figures are constant 2023 dollars, in which third-quarter residential intentions were virtually unchanged at 21.0 billion.
What it means for your money
- Fewer flats approved now means less rental stock delivered in 2028. Rents firm up, and so does the price of getting in.
- Glopra puts the Canadian apartment price at USD 4,585 per square metre, and that is the level any squeeze in new supply pushes against first.
- An owner already holding a Canadian unit benefits from a thinner pipeline, but single-family permits rose 53.6 million in the same month, so the tightening is specific to apartments.
What to watch
- The October permits release, and whether multi-family recovers the 529.3 million it shed.
- Permits are intentions, not starts. A permit can lapse unused, so the 71,300 units are an upper bound on what actually gets built.
Sources: Statistics Canada https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/261112/dq261112a-eng.htm