CMHC reports 143,929 approved homes not yet started in September
The count of homes with permits but no construction rose 1.1% from August, while actual housing starts fell 11% year-over-year.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation counted 143,929 homes in September that have approved building permits but no construction started.
That count, reported for centres of 50,000 or more, rose 1.1% from August.
Actual housing starts in centres of 10,000 or more were down 11% year-over-year in September, at 19,984 units compared with 22,375.
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"As outlined in CMHC’s latest Housing Supply Report (HSR), a key risk for Canada now is not building enough during this period of softening housing markets across the country," said Aled ab Iorwerth, deputy chief economist at CMHC.
"Canada still faces a long-term housing supply gap and unless housing construction levels increase, improvements in housing affordability since 2023 will be difficult to sustain," he said.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts across Canada rose 3% in September, to 248,896 units from 242,223 in August.
CMHC's six-month trend, a moving average of that rate, was 250,411.
CMHC uses the trend alongside the monthly SAAR to account for considerable swings in the monthly figure.
Multi-unit starts largely drive the market, and they can vary widely from one month to the next.
From January through September, centres of 10,000 or more recorded 170,964 starts, 4% behind the same period in 2025.
There were 371,617 units under construction in centres of 50,000 or more in September, flat from August.
Completions fell 0.9% to 17,398 units.
"Of Canada’s four most populous provinces, only Quebec has seen modest gains in housing starts for 2026 and each of the seven major centres covered in the HSR are behind 2025’s pace for new home construction," ab Iorwerth said.
Montreal’s six-month trend fell 8% in September on lower multi-unit starts, while Vancouver’s rose 6% on higher multi-unit starts.
Toronto’s trend was flat, with single-detached and multi-unit trends offsetting each other.
CMHC will release October’s housing starts data on November 17.
With files from Storeys