Apartment construction surged last year but demand still outpacing supply, says CMHC

Jenna Benchetrit · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2024 10:40 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

A surge in new apartment construction drove housing start increases in several major Canadian cities last year, but demand continues to outweigh supply, according to a report released Wednesday by the federal housing agency.

The report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation focuses on six major cities: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. Their combined housing starts dipped 0.5 per cent compared with 2022, totalling 137,915 units, as apartment starts grew seven per cent, to reach a record 98,774 units.

That number was offset by declines in the number of new single-detached homes, which fell 20 per cent year over year, due to weaker demand for higher-priced homes in an elevated mortgage rate environment.

Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary all saw an increase in total housing starts boosted by record-high levels of