Ottawa housing starts up 38% in 2025

New homes are constructed in Ottawa on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. \THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

It was a busy year for Ottawa’s housing construction industry, with housing starts up 38 per cent in the capital last year.

New statistics from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation show construction started on 10,864 homes, condominiums and apartments in 2025, up from 7,849 housing starts in 2024.

While construction on single-family homes dropped eight per cent in Ottawa to 1,397 starts in 2024, construction on all other units increased 48 per cent to 9,467 units.

In December, construction started on 139 new single-family homes and 1,728 townhomes, condos and apartments.

In September, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe unveiled Ottawa’s new Housing Action Plan, looking to boost development. The 53 actions include speeding up the approval process, lowering fees and unlocking urban intensification and transit-oriented development.

In Gatineau, housing starts were down 42 per cent in 2025, with construction beginning on 2,120 homes and condominiums.

Across Canada, housing starts were up 6 per cent over 2024, with 241,171 new units under construction last year.