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Construction Market Intelligence
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Vancouver vs. Calgary: construction market comparison

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

Trailing 12 months ending June 2026

What separates these markets

  • Calgary has substantially higher housing-start intensity than Vancouver (13.25 vs. 8.72 starts per 1,000 residents, 1.52 times).
  • Starts are moving in opposite directions: Vancouver +1.2% and Calgary −12.8% versus the prior 12 months.
  • Apartments make up 78.6% of starts in Vancouver 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: Vancouver and Calgary
MetricVancouverCalgary
Housing starts per 1,000 residents Higher value is 1.52× the lower8.7213.25
Housing starts, trailing 12 months 26,93524,323
Housing completions per 1,000 residents Higher value is 1.48× the lower9.5414.10
Units under construction per 1,000 residents Higher value is 1.43× the lower19.4013.58
Pending starts per 1,000 residents Higher value is 1.29× the lower11.368.81
Dwelling units authorized per 1,000 residents Higher value is 1.54× the lower8.7813.50

Growth (latest 12 months vs. prior 12 months)

Growth (latest 12 months vs. prior 12 months): Vancouver and Calgary
MetricVancouverCalgary
Housing starts, change vs prior 12 months +1.2%−12.8%
Completions, change vs prior 12 months +2.3%+4.7%
Residential permit value growth (nominal) −5.8%−8.1%
Residential permit value growth (constant dollars) −7.5%−9.8%
Single-dwelling permit value growth (constant dollars) −12.3%−22.6%
Multiple-dwelling permit value growth (constant dollars) −7.1%+2.0%
Residential investment growth (nominal) +10.6%−16.2%
Residential investment growth (constant dollars) +8.6%−17.7%

Market mix

Market mix: Vancouver and Calgary
MetricVancouverCalgary
Renovation share of residential investment 28.5%18.6%
Alterations share of residential permit value 4.9%4.0%
Single-detached share of housing starts 7.9%24.3%
Apartment share of housing starts 78.6%55.2%
Rental share of housing starts 42.4%33.3%

Construction cost

Construction cost: Vancouver and Calgary
MetricVancouverCalgary
Residential construction price growth +1.7%+1.3%

Size

Size: Vancouver and Calgary
MetricVancouverCalgary
Population 3,088,0361,836,012

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.