Canadian Housing Starts (May 2023) - June 19th, 2023

Canadian housing starts fell 23 per cent to 202,494 units in May at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). Starts were down 28 per cent from the same month last year. Single-detached housing starts rose 3 per cent to 55,967 units, while multi-family and others fell 29 per cent to 146,528 (SAAR).

In British Columbia, starts fell by 33 per cent in May to 40,536 units SAAR in all areas of the province. In areas in the province with 10,000 or more residents, single-detached starts rose 7 per cent m/m to 6,207 units while multi-family starts fell 39 per cent to 32,010 units. Starts in the province were 3 per cent below the levels from May 2022. Starts were down by 22k in Vancouver, while rising by 0.6k in Victoria, 0.6k in Kelowna, and 1.7k in Abbotsford. The 6-month moving average trend fell 2.6 per cent to 49.9k in BC in November.