Report finds national housing starts rise while Ottawa numbers decline in 2024

New data by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has revealed that Ottawa housing starts significantly declined in 2024, compared with the previous year.

CMHC reported 7,900 housing starts in the nation’s capital in 2024, down 15 per cent from 2023, they wrote in an email to CityNews.

While housing starts in Ottawa have dropped for a second year in a row, the number of new builds this year is comparable to pre-pandemic levels — from 2017 to 2019, on average.

Housing starts in the Ottawa area. Table by CMHC.
Housing starts in the Ottawa area. Table by CMHC.

But CMHC notes a slight rise in housing starts across the country in 2024, contrary to Ottawa’s drop in new housing builds.

Nationally, housing starts increased by 2 per cent in centres with populations of 10,000 and more — with 227,697 new units recorded compared to 223,513 in 2023, added the corporation in a news release.

An estimated 17,423 rural housing starts were added to the 2024 national total, bringing the number to 245,120 — also representing a 2 per cent increase compared with 2023.

According to CMHC, this increase is linked with historically high rental construction levels and an overall increase in housing starts in Alberta, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

Lower starts levels were observed in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver, as multi-unit sales fell due to weak pre-construction condominium sales.

Canada’s six largest Census Metropolitan Areas (seen in Table 1) saw a combined 3 per cent year-over-year decrease from 2023.

Table 1: Housing starts by dwelling type, 2024, and % change, select CMAs.
Table 1: Housing starts by dwelling type, 2024, and % change, select CMAs. Table by CMHC.

But Calgary, Edmonton, and Montréal saw a rise in starts in 2024, especially in the multi-unit segment, driven by high rental starts, wrote CMHC.

“Canada’s urban centres saw an uptick in housing starts in 2024 compared to last year, marking the third-highest year on record.” said Mathieu Laberge, CMHC’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President, Market Insights.

“While this annual increase shows some signs of progress, Canada still needs significantly higher supply growth to restore affordability in urban centres,” he added.

But as overall housing starts in Ottawa declined, the addition of 3,8000 single-family housing starts in 2024 represented a 15 per cent increase, compared with 2023.

CMHC notes that 2023 was a particularly slow year for single-family housing starts.

But they also reported a downward trend in rental apartment starts in Ottawa.

An eight per cent decline in rental apartment starts was observed in 2024 — attributing this to a record year for rental apartment starts in 2023, wrote CMHC.

A sharper decline in condominium starts in Ottawa took place in 2024, falling by 54 per cent compared in 2024, explained CMHC.

More data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation can be found on their website. Click here for monthly housing starts and other construction data.

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