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Construction Market Intelligence
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Calgary vs. Toronto: construction market comparison

How residential construction in Calgary and Toronto differs on activity, growth, mix and cost, using population-normalized official data.

Trailing 12 months ending June 2026

What separates these markets

  • Calgary currently starts more than twice as many homes per resident as Toronto (13.25 vs. 3.76 per 1,000 residents).
  • Toronto is far more renovation-oriented than Calgary (50.8% vs. 18.6% of residential investment).
  • Apartments make up 75.6% of starts in Toronto against 55.2% in Calgary.

Generated from the values in the tables below using fixed, symmetric rules. Descriptive only — not a forecast.

Activity and intensity

Activity and intensity: Calgary and Toronto
MetricCalgaryToronto
Housing starts per 1,000 residents Higher value is 3.52× the lower13.253.76
Housing starts, trailing 12 months 24,32326,737
Housing completions per 1,000 residents Higher value is 3.53× the lower14.103.99
Units under construction per 1,000 residents 13.5812.97
Pending starts per 1,000 residents Higher value is 3.69× the lower8.812.39
Dwelling units authorized per 1,000 residents Higher value is 2.69× the lower13.505.02

Growth (latest 12 months vs. prior 12 months)

Growth (latest 12 months vs. prior 12 months): Calgary and Toronto
MetricCalgaryToronto
Housing starts, change vs prior 12 months −12.8%−3.7%
Completions, change vs prior 12 months +4.7%−20.4%
Residential permit value growth (nominal) −8.1%−11.7%
Residential permit value growth (constant dollars) −9.8%−12.6%
Single-dwelling permit value growth (constant dollars) −22.6%−25.8%
Multiple-dwelling permit value growth (constant dollars) +2.0%−8.0%
Residential investment growth (nominal) −16.2%−9.0%
Residential investment growth (constant dollars) −17.7%−10.0%

Market mix

Market mix: Calgary and Toronto
MetricCalgaryToronto
Renovation share of residential investment 18.6%50.8%
Alterations share of residential permit value 4.0%10.0%
Single-detached share of housing starts 24.3%10.7%
Apartment share of housing starts 55.2%75.6%
Rental share of housing starts 33.3%45.1%

Construction cost

Construction cost: Calgary and Toronto
MetricCalgaryToronto
Residential construction price growth +1.3%+0.9%

Size

Size: Calgary and Toronto
MetricCalgaryToronto
Population 1,836,0127,108,874

Nominal growth includes construction-price change; constant-dollar growth is Statistics Canada’s price-adjusted series. Values not published for a market read “Not published”.

Rankings where they differ most

More comparisons

Sources and data period

Figures cover the trailing 12 months ending June 2026, the latest period published for all 16 markets. Source data retrieved through September 12, 2026. This page was built on November 8, 2026; the build date is not the data period. Values not published by the source are shown as “Not published”, never estimated.

Methodology, definitions and limitations

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    Construction Market Intelligence

    An independent publication built from official Statistics Canada and CMHC data. Current data: trailing 12 months ending June 2026.

    Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Statistics Canada or CMHC.