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How many new homes break ground in Canada each year, per CMHC — urban housing starts by year, and the record rental-construction wave behind the 2025 number.
housing starts across Canada in 2025 (all areas)
— up 5.6% from 2024, the fifth-highest annual total on record.
CMHC
Actual annual housing starts in Canadian centres of 10,000 population and over, CMHC's standard comparable urban series.
Actual annual housing starts in Canadian centres of 10,000 population and over (CMHC's standard comparable urban series). The 2025 all-areas total, including an estimate for rural starts, was 259,028. Source: CMHC.
2023 was the low point: Urban housing starts fell 7% to 223,513 units in 2023 as higher borrowing costs and labour shortages hit single-detached construction hardest.
2024 brought a modest recovery: Starts edged up 2% to 227,697 units in 2024, helped by record rental construction even as Toronto and Vancouver starts fell.
2025 was the fifth-highest year on record: All-areas starts reached 259,028 in 2025, up 5.6% from 2024, with record annual rental starts making up just over half of all urban starts.
The gains weren't evenly spread: Calgary and Edmonton posted record annual starts and Montréal jumped 58% in 2025, while Toronto starts fell 31% year-over-year.
| Year | Housing starts (urban 10,000+) | Change | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 240,590 | — | Near-record year |
| 2023 | 223,513 | -7% | Sharp drop in single-detached starts |
| 2024 | 227,697 | +2% | Third-highest year on record |
| 2025 | 241,171 | +6% | All-areas total (incl. rural estimate): 259,028 |
Source: CMHC monthly housing starts news releases (each January, reporting the prior calendar year).
Share of 2025 urban housing starts that were purpose-built rental units
CMHC
Homes sold across Canada in 2025, down 1.9% from 2024
CREA
National rental vacancy rate in 2025, up from 2.2% in 2024
CMHC
Canada's national average home price at the end of 2025
CREA
New-construction volume feeds pre-sale and builder-financing files that many brokers under-serve because they don't have the back-office capacity to process a construction draw schedule alongside a normal pipeline. Record rental starts also mean more clients financing purpose-built or investment units — a niche worth building a process for.
Last updated August 1, 2026. Each figure carries its source; projections are labelled. Page reviewed on every major source release. Information only — not advice.
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