Canada needs 400,0000 home starts a year

June 24, 2022



Canada needs to double its home building activity to 400,000 starts annually—up from the traditional level of 200,000—according to Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA).
“There was a total of 1.44 million on-site and off-site jobs created in new home construction, renovation and repair, which makes the sector one of Canada’s largest employers,” CHBA’s annual report notes. “This work resulted in $95.6 billion in wages and $182.7 billion in economic investment across the country.”
But the report adds that an insufficient housing supply in Canada should be a national priority.
The federal government stated Canada needs to build some 3.5 million housing units over the next decade to make up the housing deficit and address a huge increase in immigration. Closing this deficit would require a doubling of the typical 200,000 starts per year.
However, with a slowdown in housing sales and higher costs for material and labour, the latest housing data shows a decline in residential construction.
The trend in housing starts was 254,727 units in May 2022, down from 257,833 units in April, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The trend measures a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts.
CHBA welcomed the announcement of the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF)—a $4 billion fund aimed at growing the housing supply by 100,000 additional units over and above normal activity by 2025. HAF provides incentives to municipalities to fast-track housing approval.