Canada’s housing construction activity eased slightly in August, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), with the national annualized pace of housing starts edging below the level recorded in July.
The national housing agency reported a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 229,046 housing starts in August, compared with 229,360 units in July.
The August figure reflected a total of 17,691 actual monthly housing starts in centres across Canada with populations of 10,000 or more. That was down from 18,112 units recorded in August 2025.
CMHC estimated the annualized pace of rural housing starts at 11,224 units for August.
Looking at the broader trend, the six-month moving average of the seasonally adjusted annual rate of total housing starts across all Canadian areas reached 244,149 units in August. That represented a 1.3 per cent decline from July.
According to CMHC deputy chief economist Kevin Hughes, housing starts continued to follow a slightly downward trend during the month.
Hughes said modest increases in Quebec and Alberta were not enough to offset declines elsewhere across the country. Ontario recorded the most notable drop, making it the main contributor to the broader decrease in housing starts in August.
