Key Insights from April’s Canadian Housing Data

1.     Housing starts declined year-over-year for the first time in 13 months, despite strong Toronto and Montréal activity: Actual housing starts in centres with populations above 10,000 declined 0.6% year-over-year in April 2026, with 21,805 units recorded compared to 21,938 units in April 2025. This marks the first year-over-year decline in monthly housing starts over the past 13 months, suggesting broader construction momentum may be moderating after an extended recovery period. Regional performance remained highly divergent: Toronto housing starts increased 34% year-over-year and Montréal rose 21%, driven primarily by multi-unit starts. In contrast, Vancouver experienced a sharp 30% decline as both multi-unit and single-detached starts weakened materially.

2.     Housing completions rise in April, driven almost entirely by apartment deliveries: Housing completions across Canadian Census Metropolitan Areas increased 3.2% year-over-year in April 2026. The growth was overwhelmingly supported by higher apartment completions, while completions across all other housing formats, including single-detached, semi-detached, and row housing, declined both month-over-month and year-over-year. This trend further reinforces the ongoing shift in Canadian housing supply toward higher-density rental and multi-family product, while ground-oriented housing construction and delivery continue to remain constrained.

3.     Canadian housing market showed tentative signs of stabilization, but recovery remains muted: National home sales rose 0.7% month-over-month in April 2026, marking a second consecutive month of modest improvement after a weak start to the year. However, sales activity remained meaningfully below historical averages, and CREA noted that elevated borrowing costs and broader economic uncertainty continue to weigh on buyer confidence. While pricing declines moderated in several markets, the recovery trajectory remains gradual rather than robust.

4.     New listings increased materially, further improving supply conditions: New residential listings rose 4.1% month-over-month in April 2026, contributing to continued inventory normalization across many Canadian markets. The increase in listings pushed the national sales-to-new-listings ratio lower, reinforcing a more balanced negotiating environment compared to the tight seller conditions seen during 2021-2022. This improving supply backdrop may place additional pressure on pricing in slower-growth markets if absorption does not accelerate meaningfully through the summer seasons.

We’ll continue to monitor the data and will share another update as soon as May numbers are released. Stay tuned.