Canada housing starts jump in December
OTTAWA — Housing starts were up in most parts of the country outside the Atlantic provinces in December, according to a report released Monday by the Conference Board of Canada.
The report on metropolitan housing starts report showed a year-over-year increase in 17 of the 27 areas studied.
Some of the biggest jumps were in London, Ont., where starts went from 826 in December 2008 to 3,259 in 2009; Saskatoon, which went from 916 to 2,285; Edmonton, where starts took a year-over-year leap from 4,990 to 12,539; and Victoria, where work began on 1,666 houses in December, 2009, compared to 486 in the same month in 2008.
The short-term expectation for Ottawa's housing market changed to positive from a negative ranking in November — joining 11 other cities, from Halifax to Abbotsford, where both short-term and long-term prospects for housing starts look good. Short-term expectations are based on residential permits data, while long-term outlooks are based on demographic requirements.
The board notes that short-term prospects are less positive in Sudbury, Ont., Toronto, Hamilton, Ont., Winnipeg and Vancouver, while Quebec, Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, Que., Sherbrooke, Que., and Ottawa-Gatineau are expected to fare less well in the long term.
There are five cities where housing starts are not expected to grow significantly in either the short or the long term: St. John's, N.L., Saint John, N.B., Saguenay, Que., Kingston, Ont., and Thunder Bay, Ont.
• HOUSING STARTS: December 2008 / December 2009
St. John's, N.L. 2,135 / 2,073
Halifax 1,573 / 1,411
Saint John, N.B. 570 / 450
Quebec 4,864 / 7,807
Montreal 15,337 / 24,703
Trois-Rivieres 904 / 1,312
Saguenay 759 / 720
Sherbrooke 1,178 / 1,267
Ottawa-Gatineau 8,685 / 12,559
Kingston 1,275 / 778
Sudbury 260 / 527
Thunder Bay 110 / 128
Oshawa 1,119 / 2,034
Toronto 36,537 / 22,578
Hamilton 1,647 / 3,121
St. Catharines 615 / 1,088
Kitchener-Waterloo 1,971 / 3,112
London 826 / 3,259
Windsor 531 / 501
Winnipeg 16,614 / 2,171
Regina 857 / 2,036
Saskatoon 916 / 2,285
Calgary 5,838 / 9,282
Edmonton 4,990 / 12,539
Vancouver 11,380 / 11,326
Victoria 486 / 1,666
Abbotsford 606 / 478
Source: Conference Board of Canada