Canadian Housing Starts Held at 229,046 in August as Montreal Outbuilt Toronto

Canadian housing starts reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 229,046 in August, against a revised 229,360 in July. The six-month trend eased 1.3%.

Canadian housing starts ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 229,046 units in August 2026, against a revised July figure of 229,360, according to the data Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation published on 16 September 2026. The difference between the two months is 314 units, or about a tenth of one per cent. The national number did nothing at all.

The movement is in the composition and in the cities.

The trend line is falling even though the month is flat

CMHC's six-month moving average, which is the measure the agency itself prefers because it strips out the volatility of multi-unit projects, stood at 244,149 units in August, down 1.3% from July.

Actual starts in centres of 10,000 people or more came to 17,691 in August, 2% below August 2025. For the year to date, those centres have recorded 149,542 starts, 4% below the same period of 2025.

Kevin Hughes, CMHC's Deputy Chief Economist, attributed the direction to provincial offsets: housing starts continued to trend slightly down in August, as modest gains in Quebec and Alberta only partially offset the decline in other provinces, most notably Ontario.

One percentage point is not one number of homes

On the six-month trend, single-detached starts were 45,067 units and up 2%, while multi-unit starts were 199,081 units and down 2%.

The two percentages cancel; the two counts do not. Multi-unit construction is more than four times the size of single-detached on this measure, so a 2% move in the larger category represents roughly four times as many homes as a 2% move in the smaller one. A reader who sees only the percentages would conclude the market is balanced. It is not.

Montreal is now building more than Toronto

On the same six-month trend, Montreal recorded 30,492 units and was up 6%, Toronto recorded 25,131 units and was flat, and Vancouver recorded 24,523 units and was up 6%.

Toronto is the country's largest housing market by population and is now third of the three on activity growth and second on level. Montreal, on this measure, is starting more homes than Toronto.

Flat construction against falling prices

Our Canada row records an average of USD 486,953 per dwelling as of the 13 September 2026 snapshot, drawn from transaction data for July 2026, and we carry it at Medium confidence. Over twelve months prices are down 3.3% in Canadian dollars and 3.2% in US dollars, the two figures sitting almost on top of each other because the Canadian dollar barely moved against the US dollar over the period.

That pairing is the part worth sitting with. Starts are holding roughly level while prices fall. New supply arriving into a market where values are declining is the combination that tends to extend a correction rather than end it, and Canada's year-to-date starts are still 4% below last year even so.

Over ten years the market is up 35.6% in Canadian dollars and 29.9% in US dollars. Round-trip transaction costs are 10.6% and the effective tax on rental income is 20.72%. Our bubble score for Canada is 45, in the moderate band.

We publish no rental yield for Canada, because we hold a national transaction-based price without a national rent from the same publisher and period to pair it with. Rather than divide one publisher's price by another publisher's rent, we leave the yield empty and say why.

Foreign buyers should also note the ownership rule recorded on the row: foreign purchase of residential property is banned until 2027. Whatever today's construction figures imply about supply, the buyer pool they are being built for does not currently include overseas individuals.

Sources: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Housing starts and construction data for August 2026, 16 September 2026 https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/media-newsroom/news-releases/2026/housing-starts-construction-data-august-2026; CMHC release via Cision Newswire, 16 September 2026 https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/housing-starts-and-construction-data-for-august-2026-883695558.html

Market data: Canada