Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has reported that actual 2023 housing starts were down seven per cent in centres with a population of 10,000 and over across Canada in 2023.

A total of 223,513 housing starts were recorded, compared to 240,590 in 2022, according to data released Jan. 16.  

The decline is primarily due to a 25-per-cent decline in single-detached starts in 2023.

Despite the national decline, actual 2023 housing starts were five per cent and 28 per cent higher than in 2022 in Toronto and Vancouver, respectively, driven by higher multi-unit starts. Montreal starts were 37 per cent lower due to large declines in both single-detached and multi-unit starts in 2023. 

“Following record and near-record highs in 2021 and 2022, housing starts dipped in 2023, but still significantly outperformed expectations for the year,” said the CMHC’s chief economist Bob Dugan in a release. “The decline was driven mainly by a sharp drop-off in single-detached starts and tighter economic conditions affecting multi-unit starts in the year’s final quarter."