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January 21, 2026HOUSING STARTS, DECEMBER AND ANNUAL 2025 Monthly (December 2025 vs November 2025, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 11,446 units in December 2025. This was a 38.1% increase from the previous month's revised value of 8,291 starts.
Housing starts in Halifax rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 8,409 units in December 2025. This was a 75.5% increase from 4,791 units in November 2025.
Outside of Halifax, housing starts declined to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3,037 units in December 2025, down 13.2% from 3,500 units in November 2025.
Across Canada, housing starts grew to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 282,439 units in December 2025, up 10.9% from 254,625 units reported in November 2025.
Housing starts were up in six provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Manitoba and New Brunswick reported the steepest monthly declines in housing starts.
Note: monthly changes in seasonally adjusted annualized housing starts are often volatile.
Year-over-year (December 2025 vs December 2024, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia's housing starts were up 90.7% compared with the 6,001 unit pace set in December 2024 - this was the fastest year-over-year growth among provinces. Halifax housing starts were up 121.5% from their rate in December 2024 (3,796). Housing starts outside the city were up 37.7% year-over-year from their pace in December 2024 (2,205). Across Canada, housing starts were up 21.4% year-over-year in December 2025 with gains in five provinces. Manitoba reported the steepest year-over-year decline in housing starts.
In unadjusted results for Halifax in December 2025, there were 709 housing starts and 138 completions. The stock of units under construction rose to 13,997 units in Halifax, up 35.9% from units under construction in the same month last year (10,300).
Quarterly (Q4 2025 vs Q4 2024)
There were a total 2,432 housing starts in Nova Scotia in Q4 2025. This was up 69.2% from 1,437 units started in Q4 of 2024.
Starts for single detached dwellings were little changed from 534 units in Q4 2024 to 538 units in Q4 2025.
Starts for multiple dwelling units more than doubled (+109.7%) from 903 in Q4 2024 to 1,894 starts in Q4 2025.
Annual (January-December 2024 vs January-December 2025)
Nova Scotia housing starts rose 32.2% 2025 compared to 2024. Halifax housing starts have increased 37.7%, while housing starts in the rest of Nova Scotia rose 20.0%. Nationally, housing starts grew 5.6% in 2025, with gains in all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and British Columbia. Saskatchewan posted the largest percentage gain (followed by Nova Scotia) while Ontario posted the fastest decline.
Note: growth in Halifax housing starts was calculated as the change in the average of seasonally adjusted annualized pace of starts due to suppression of 2024 annual housing starts for the Halifax CMA.
The 9,760 housing starts in Nova Scotia for 2025 were by far the largest annual starts for a year in data that extend back to 1948, exceeding the second highest year (7,734 units in 1973) by over 2,000.
The bulk of housing starts for 2025 were among multiple unit dwellings (7,579), an increase of 42.9% from 2024. Single dwelling unit starts (2,181) were up just 4.9% compared to 2024.
Source: Statistics Canada, Table 34-10-0158-01 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts, all areas, Canada and provinces, seasonally adjusted at annual rates, monthly (x 1,000) ; Table 34-10-0156-01 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts in all centres 10,000 and over, Canada, provinces, and census metropolitan areas, seasonally adjusted at annual rates, monthly (x 1,000); Table 34-10-0135-01 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts, under construction and completions, all areas, quarterly; Table 34-10-0126-01 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts, under construction and completions, all areas, annual
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