Canada remains well short of the federal government's housing construction target as new starts fell sharply in some of the country's largest markets, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation figures.The federal housing agency said the trend puts housing starts at 247,377 this year, less than half the 500,000 homes targeted by cabinet in its push to restore affordability.“July’s results show housing starts are continuing to moderate,” CMHC wrote in its Housing Market Outlook Summer Update.Blacklock's Reporter says the decline was particularly pronounced in larger urban centres.“Actual monthly housing starts were down 19% year over year in centres with a population of 10,000 or more,” said CMHC.Vancouver recorded a 42% year-over-year decline in housing starts.“CMHC is currently tracking 186 building permits in Vancouver for a total 21,907 condominium apartment units for which construction has not yet started,” said the Summer Update.Toronto starts declined 10% compared with the previous year.“In Toronto we are currently tracking 37 permits for a total 6,648 condominium apartment units for which construction has not yet begun,” wrote CMHC.The agency cautioned some of those projects could still proceed despite weaker market conditions.“These permits are likely associated with pre-sales that happened much earlier than the current reduction in sales activity,” said the report. “These ‘pending’ starts may still happen.”CMHC said housing start figures can lag behind current conditions because large projects must pass through several stages before construction begins.“Current trends in housing starts may not always capture real-time market conditions,” wrote CMHC.“This is due to the time it takes to move across the following three important steps for large scale projects such as high-rise condominiums and rental structures: the planning and pre-sale phases of high-rise condos and rental projects, the issuance of building permits and the actual start of construction.”The figures come after Housing Minister Gregor Robertson repeatedly pointed to housing starts as evidence of progress.“We are seeing good housing starts in many cities across the country,” Robertson told the House of Commons on February 5.“Our plan is working,” he said. “We saw solid housing starts.”.Conservative MP Scott Aitchison (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.), the Opposition housing critic, said the latest numbers show the government is failing to meet its commitments.“Prime Minister Carney promised to unleash the most ambitious housing plan since the Second World War,” Aitchison said in a statement. “Canada is building fewer homes than when he took office, and less than half what he promised to get built.”“Canadians should not have to accept a worse quality of life and the deliberate hopelessness that masks Liberal failures,” he added. “They need homes.”Federal research has also found limited public confidence in Ottawa's ability to address housing affordability.A Department of Housing report titled Canada 2024-25 Housing Advertising Campaign found only 14% of respondents expressed confidence when asked whether the federal government was working to make housing more affordable and accessible.Asked whether they believed the government's housing plan would benefit people like them, 51% said no.
