Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in June fell 9% compared with May.
The housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in June amounted to 241,672 units, down from 264,929 in May.
The move came as actual housing starts were markedly lower in two of Canada’s three major cities compared with June 2023, with Toronto down 60% and Vancouver down 55%.
However, Montreal’s housing starts rose 226% compared with May as multi-unit activity picked up significantly.
The actual number of housing starts in urban centres across Canada was down 13% to 20,509 units in June compared with 23,518 units a year earlier. CMHC attributed the decrease to lower multi-unit starts.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of rural starts was estimated at 18,438.
The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate was down 0.4% at 247,205 units in June compared with 248,260 units in May.