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Montréal vs. Toronto: construction market comparison

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

Trailing 12 months ending June 2026

What separates these markets

  • Montréal has substantially higher housing-start intensity than Toronto (6.20 vs. 3.76 starts per 1,000 residents, 1.65 times).
  • Starts are moving in opposite directions: Montréal +36.4% and Toronto −3.7% versus the prior 12 months.
  • Apartments make up 91.2% of starts in Montréal against 75.6% in Toronto.
  • Montréal's residential permit value rose 10.0% nominally and approximately 2.3% after adjusting for construction prices.
  • Residential construction prices rose faster in Montréal (+7.4%) than in Toronto (+0.9%).

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

Activity and intensity

Activity and intensity: Montréal and Toronto
MetricMontréalToronto
Housing starts per 1,000 residents Higher value is 1.65× the lower6.203.76
Housing starts, trailing 12 months 28,49226,737
Housing completions per 1,000 residents Higher value is 1.31× the lower5.233.99
Units under construction per 1,000 residents Higher value is 1.67× the lower7.7612.97
Pending starts per 1,000 residents Higher value is 1.74× the lower4.152.39
Dwelling units authorized per 1,000 residents Higher value is 1.31× the lower6.565.02

Growth (latest 12 months vs. prior 12 months)

Growth (latest 12 months vs. prior 12 months): Montréal and Toronto
MetricMontréalToronto
Housing starts, change vs prior 12 months +36.4%−3.7%
Completions, change vs prior 12 months +11.4%−20.4%
Residential permit value growth (nominal) +10.0%−11.7%
Residential permit value growth (constant dollars) +2.3%−12.6%
Single-dwelling permit value growth (constant dollars) +1.4%−25.8%
Multiple-dwelling permit value growth (constant dollars) +2.5%−8.0%
Residential investment growth (nominal) +19.7%−9.0%
Residential investment growth (constant dollars) +11.6%−10.0%

Market mix

Market mix: Montréal and Toronto
MetricMontréalToronto
Renovation share of residential investment 58.3%50.8%
Alterations share of residential permit value 18.3%10.0%
Single-detached share of housing starts 4.7%10.7%
Apartment share of housing starts 91.2%75.6%
Rental share of housing starts 84.6%45.1%

Construction cost

Construction cost: Montréal and Toronto
MetricMontréalToronto
Residential construction price growth +7.4%+0.9%

Size

Size: Montréal and Toronto
MetricMontréalToronto
Population 4,597,8377,108,874

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.