August housing starts: annualized pace flat, actual urban starts lower

Canada’s national monthly annualized pace of housing starts was broadly unchanged in August 2026, according to CMHC data released Sept. 16. The seasonally adjusted annual rate was 229,046 units, compared with 229,360 in July.

The six-month trend measure moved lower, falling 1.3% from July to 244,149 units. It smooths the monthly annualized figures and should be read as a different measure from the number of homes that started construction during a single month.

Actual August starts in centres with at least 10,000 residents totalled 17,691, down 2% from 18,112 in August 2025. The year-to-date count for those centres was 149,542, 4% below the same period a year earlier.

The geography and time period matter when comparing the figures. The national annualized rate, the six-month trend and actual urban starts describe different views of construction activity; none should be labelled as homes completed in August.

This article was prepared with AI assistance from the primary sources linked above. REAL Newsroom is our institutional byline. Historical data is identified by its reference period. Read our editorial standards.