# Housing starts in Canadian centres of 10,000 people or more fall 11% on the year in September

> CMHC recorded 19,984 starts in September against 22,375 a year earlier. Starts for January to September total 170,964, which is 4% lower than a year earlier.

- Canonical URL: https://forextradingcommunity.com/news/canada-big-centre-housing-starts-september-2026/
- Type: Data
- Published: 2026-10-19
- Updated: 2026-10-19
- Publisher: Forex Trading Community (https://forextradingcommunity.com), FTC Editorial Team
- Currencies: CAD

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) published its housing starts figures for September 2026. In centres with a population of 10,000 or more, actual monthly housing starts were 19,984 in September, against 22,375 in September 2025, a fall of 11% on the year.

## The year so far

From January to September, actual housing starts in centres of 10,000 or more totalled 170,964, down 4% from the same period in 2025. The fall is larger in the single month than in the year to date, so the decline has been building through the summer.

## Reading it

CMHC's figures for the larger centres measure work started on new homes in the cities where most of the population lives. A monthly fall of 11% can reflect timing, but the year-to-date decline suggests that construction is slowing more generally. The Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 2.25% in September ([report](/news/bank-of-canada-holds-2-25-september-2026/)).

For the consumer price side of the same picture, see [Canada's August inflation report](/news/canada-cpi-august-2026/). Live prices: [USD/CAD](/markets/usd-cad/).

## Sources

- [Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Housing starts and construction data for September 2026](https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/media-newsroom/news-releases/2026/housing-starts-construction-data-september-2026)

## Common questions

### How many housing starts were there in Canada in September 2026?

CMHC recorded 19,984 actual housing starts in centres of 10,000 or more people, against 22,375 a year earlier, a fall of 11%.

### What were Canada's housing starts for the year to September 2026?

Starts from January to September totalled 170,964 in centres of 10,000 or more, down 4% on the same period of 2025.

### What does CMHC's housing starts data measure?

It counts the start of construction on new dwellings, in urban centres of 10,000 or more people for the actual monthly series.

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