Toronto sees jump in multi-unit building starts in December, leading Canada’s largest cities

FILE: A new condo construction site is reflected in the window on an ongoing condo construction site in downtown Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Housing starts rose in Canada last year, and among the big three cities, Toronto logged a significant year-over-year jump in December in a trend driven largely by multi-unit buildings.

The Ontario capital recorded a 151 per cent increase year-over-year in December. Montreal was next, with a 123 per cent jump. Unlike Toronto, Montreal’s starts were distributed across dwelling types. Vancouver came third with a more modest 17 per cent rise, mostly in multi-unit dwellings.

Rental housing starts made up just over half of all housing starts in Canada’s urban centres in 2025 overall.

The national picture

The numbers are part of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s survey of housing starts, released Friday morning.

Nationally, total housing starts for all areas in Canada in 2025 amounted to 259,028 – the fifth highest annual total on record – up 5.6 per cent compared to 2024 (245,367).

Actual 2025 housing starts in centres with a population of 10,000 people or more were up six per cent, with 241,171 units recorded.

The six largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs) saw a combined 3.9 per cent increase from 2024, driven primarily by Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa-Gatineau.

Those bumps smoothed over the decreases in annual starts in Toronto (-31 per cent) and Vancouver (-3 per cent) in 2025 compared to 2024.