Housing starts across the country dipped in October, but numbers are still up for the year compared to 2024.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released new data this week that showed the six-month trend in housing starts decreased three per cent in October.

The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the seasonally adjust annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

“Both the six-month trend in housing starts and the SAAR were pushed lower in October by significantly lower monthly starts in Ontario and British Columbia,” CMHC deputy chief economist Tania Bourassa-Ochoa said in a press release.

“However, higher starts in markets like Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton continue to keep national year-to-date elevated compared to the same period last year.”

Bourassa-Ochoa said the data generally reflects investment decisions made months or years ago, it also highlights regional contrasts in housing construction trends across Canada.

Actual housing starts were down three per cent year-over-year in centres with a population over 10,000.

The year-to-date total at the end of October was 197,207, up five per cent from the same period in 2024.