Canada's Housing Starts Tumble in October on Weaker Starts in Ontario, British Columbia, Says CMHC

08:31 AM EST, 11/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The total monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts for all areas in Canada was down 17% to 232,765 units compared with September's 279,174 units, said Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) on Tuesday.

October's drop was higher than the 265,000 consensus starts provided by MUFG.

The six-month trend in housing starts decreased 3% in October to 268,907 units, noted CMHC in a statement.

"Both the six-month trend in housing starts and the SAAR were pushed lower in October by significantly lower monthly starts in Ontario and British Columbia," Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, CMHC's deputy chief economist, said in a statement.

Actual housing starts were down 3% year over year in centers with a population of 10,000 or greater, with 19,174 units recorded in October, compared with 19,763 units in October 2024. The year-to-date total was 197,207, up 5% from the same period in 2024.

The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 22,062 units.

CMHC, the country's national housing agency, defines a housing start as the beginning of construction work on the building where the dwelling unit will be located. It uses a rate adjustment to remove the data's seasonal variations.

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