Futures and Commodity Market News

Housing starts for April 2026

OTTAWA, ON, May 15, 2026 (CNW Group via COMTEX) --

Â The six-month trend in housing starts was higher in April, with an increase of 3.2% to 256,777 units, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

Actual housing starts were down 1% year-over-year in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater, with 21,805 units recorded in April, compared to 21,938 units in April 2025. The year-to-date total was 71,011 units, up 6% from the same period in 2025, driven by higher starts in British Columbia and Ontario.

The total monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada increased 17% in April (279,317 units) compared to March (239,747 units).

New to this release, CMHC is publishing building permit data and additional data from the Starts and Completions Survey (SCS). This includes approved units awaiting housing start, as well as the under-construction inventory and the number of units completed. These indicators show a complete view of the residential construction pipeline and are available for centres with a population of 50,000 or more.

Quote:

"While the sixâ??month trend in housing starts rose slightly in April, it follows several consecutive months of decline, underscoring the uneven nature of current construction activity, and month-to-month volatility. Building permit data provides additional context for this pattern, pointing to a construction pipeline that remains subdued, in line with CMHC's Housing Market Outlook," said Kevin Hughes, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC.

"Building permits provide an early signal of future residential construction activity, while housing starts capture construction that has begun and offer the best indication of future housing supply. Together, these measures show how development intentions translate into real construction activity, providing a more complete picture of the residential construction market's trajectory," said Mathieu Laberge, CMHC's Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of Housing Insights. "This is why CMHC is proactively releasing building permits data alongside Starts and Completions Survey data."

Key Facts:

Housing starts facilitate the analysis of monthly, quarterly, and year-over-year activity in the new home market. The data CMHC collects as part of the Starts and Completions and Market Absorption surveys helps us obtain a clearer picture of upcoming new housing supply and is used as part of our various housing reports.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is a federal Crown corporation and a backbone institution of Canada's housing system. For over 80 years, CMHC has supported the functioning of housing markets across the country through housing finance solutionsâ??including mortgage loan insurance and securitizationâ??while providing trusted, unbiased data, research and market intelligence to inform policy and decision making. Through its national presence, deep expertise in housing economics and finance, and a system-wide perspective, CMHC helps foster a more stable, well-functioning housing market that supports households, communities and the broader economy.