Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in August slowed 22% compared with July.
The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 217,405 units in August, down from 279,804 a month earlier.
The drop came as the annual pace of urban starts fell 24% to 199,478 units compared with 261,043 in July.
The annual rate of starts of multi-unit urban projects such as apartments, condominiums and townhouses dropped 29% to 154,290 units, while the rate of single-detached urban starts rose 3% to 45,188.
The annual pace of rural starts was estimated at 17,927 units.
CMHC says the six-month moving average of the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 248,480 units in August, down 2.9% from 255,794 in July.