A surge in apartment construction, particularly in Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary, more than offset declines in single-detached and semi-detached construction, causing the overall level of new home construction in Canada’s six largest cities for 2023 to remain virtually unchanged from 2022, according to the latest Housing Supply Report (HSR), released Wednesday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which examines new housing construction trends in Canada’s six largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs).
Apartment construction, which includes both purpose-built rental and condominium apartments, reached record levels in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa. Montréal, however, hit an 8-year low, said the federal agency.
Aled ab Iorwerth
“There were a large number of housing starts in 2023, particularly in the rental segment, which is good progress, but not enough to improve affordability. The concern now shifts to whether construction of apartments will hold at these high levels in 2024. Clearly the demand for housing exists, particularly in rental, but financing costs could become too heavy for homebuilders to begin construction on large multi-family projects at the same pace seen in 2023,” said Aled ab Iorwerth, Deputy Chief Economist for the CMHC.
The CMHC said purpose-built rental units accounted for a greater proportion of apartment starts in 2023, compared to historical averages, reflecting an unprecedented level of rental demand. Record condominium apartment starts reflected robust pre-sale activity and favourable borrowing rates secured before 2023.
Single-Detached | Semi-Detached | Row | Apartment | Total | ||||||
Units | 2022-2023 | Units | 2022-2023 | Units | 2022-2023 | Units | 2022-2023 | Units | 2022-2023 | |
Vancouver | 2,832 | -16.5 % | 914 | -11.9 % | 1,922 | -15.1 % | 27,576 | 43.0 % | 33,244 | 27.9 % |
Calgary | 5,875 | 2.1 % | 1,674 | 7.3 % | 2,996 | 33.5 % | 9,034 | 16.6 % | 19,579 | 13.1 % |
Edmonton | 5,032 | -18.5 % | 948 | -0.8 % | 2,069 | 18.4 % | 5,135 | -10.1 % | 13,184 | -9.6 % |
Toronto | 4,721 | -25.4 % | 328 | -36.2 % | 4,860 | -14.0 % | 37,519 | 15.0 % | 47,428 | 5.1 % |
Ottawa | 1,535 | -44.9 % | 186 | -33.6 % | 1,678 | -37.6 % | 5,846 | 2.1 % | 9,245 | -19.5 % |
Montréal | 1,021 | -44.3 % | 208 | -59.5 % | 342 | -58.6 % | 13,664 | -34.9 % | 15,235 | -36.9 % |
Total | 21,016 | -20.0 % | 4,258 | -12.4 % | 13,867 | -10.1 % | 98,774 | 7.3 % | 137,915 | -0.5 % |
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list. He was also named by RETHINK to its global list of Top Retail Experts 2024.
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