Pending housing starts per capita in Canadian cities
Trailing 12 months ending June 2026 16 of 16 markets published
What this measures
Units with a building permit issued but not yet started, at the end of the reference period, per 1,000 residents. A secondary indicator of the current pipeline, not a forecast of starts.
Pending starts are a useful secondary view of the current permit backlog. Available history is short and the measured relationship with later starts is weak, so this ranking describes current conditions only — it is not a forecast.
Ranked on this single metric only — no composite score.
Observations
- Vancouver ranks first at 11.36, ahead of Calgary at 8.81.
- The highest value is 16.0 times the lowest (Hamilton, 0.71).
- The median is 3.72. The three most populous markets — Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver — rank 13th, 5th and 1st, so this ranking does not simply follow market size.
- Pending starts per 1,000 exceed 12-month starts per 1,000 in 1 of 16 markets (Vancouver).
Pending starts per 1,000 residents
Full table
| Rank | Market | Pending /1,000 | Pending | Starts /1,000 | Pending change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vancouver | 11.36 | 35,069 | 8.72 | −5.5% |
| 2 | Calgary | 8.81 | 16,177 | 13.25 | −12.8% |
| 3 | Québec City | 8.38 | 7,569 | 8.87 | +57.4% |
| 4 | Halifax | 5.88 | 3,206 | 10.78 | −21.4% |
| 5 | Montréal | 4.15 | 19,094 | 6.20 | −20.9% |
| 6 | Victoria | 3.91 | 1,742 | 9.87 | −24.6% |
| 7 | Saskatoon | 3.78 | 1,431 | 10.39 | +76.7% |
| 8 | Ottawa–Gatineau | 3.76 | 6,393 | 7.79 | +20.9% |
| 9 | Winnipeg | 3.69 | 3,513 | 7.48 | +7.6% |
| 10 | Moncton | 3.33 | 654 | 13.47 | −25.3% |
| 11 | Edmonton | 3.25 | 5,503 | 11.32 | +20.5% |
| 12 | London | 2.56 | 1,619 | 7.57 | −19.6% |
| 13 | Toronto | 2.39 | 16,992 | 3.76 | +13.4% |
| 14 | Regina | 1.12 | 325 | 5.81 | +45.7% |
| 15 | Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo | 0.94 | 656 | 7.94 | −44.9% |
| 16 | Hamilton | 0.71 | 615 | 3.66 | −65.9% |
- Pending:
- Units with a building permit issued but not yet started, at the end of the reference period.
- Starts /1,000:
- Housing starts (all dwelling types) over the trailing 12 months divided by the CMA population estimate, per 1,000 residents.
- Pending change:
- Change in pending starts compared with the same month a year earlier.
Related rankings
Analysis behind the numbers
These articles retain their original data periods; the tables on this page show current figures.
Halifax has the largest housing construction pipeline per capita among 16 major Canadian markets
Halifax leads the 16 markets tracked here in homes under construction per capita, while starts, completions and permit values point in different directions.
Published
Data period: Trailing 12 months ending June 2026
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.
- Statistics Canada (CMHC Starts and Completions Survey) — CMHC housing starts, under construction and completions in selected CMAs, monthly
Table 34-10-0154-01 · monthly · dwelling units · latest period July 2026
- Statistics Canada — Population estimates, July 1, by census metropolitan area and census agglomeration
Table 17-10-0148-01 · annual · persons · latest period 2025
- CMHC — Residential building permits issued, not started (pending starts)
Table CMHC housing market data table · monthly · dwelling units · latest period July 2026