Canada’s annual pace of housing starts fell one per cent in April.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 240,229 units.

That was compared to 242,267 units in March, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Figures provided by the corporation show the annual rate of urban starts was flat at 220,123.

Multi-unit urban starts decreased one per cent to 178,462 units, while single-detached urban starts were up two per cent to 41,661 units.

The annual rate of rural starts was estimated to be around 20,106 units, according to the corporation.

Meanwhile, the six-month trend in housing starts saw a 2.2 per cent decrease, from 243,907 units in March to 238,585 units in April.

April’s actual number of housing starts in urban centres was down nine per cent to 18,486 units.

Officials said the year-over-year drop was driven by fewer multi-unit starts, particularly in Ontario.