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May 15, 2025HOUSING STARTS, APRIL 2025 Monthly (April 2025 vs March 2025, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 12,773 units in April 2025. This was a 65.6% increase from the previous month's revised value of 7,715 starts, and was the highest rate of Nova Scotia housing starts since February 2024.
Housing starts in Halifax increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 11,025 units in April 2025, up 111.2% from 5,221 units in March 2025. This was the highest rate of Halifax housing starts since June 2023.
Outside of Halifax, housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,748 units in April 2025, down 29.9% from 2,494 units in March 2025.
Across Canada, housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 278,606 units in April 2025, up 30.1% from 214,205 units reported in March 2025.
Housing starts were up in seven provinces in April 2025, with the fastest percentage gain in Prince Edward Island. New Brunswick reported the sharpest monthly decline in housing starts. (Note: monthly changes in seasonally adjusted annualized housing starts are often volatile).
Year-over-year (April 2025 vs April 2024, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia's housing starts were up 60.3% compared with the 7,970 unit pace set in April 2024. Halifax housing starts were up 86.5% from their rate in April 2024 (5,912). Housing starts outside the city were down 15.1% year-over-year from their pace in April 2024 (2,058). Across Canada, housing starts were up 15.3% year-over-year in April 2025 with gains in six provinces. Prince Edward Island reported the largest year-over-year gain in housing starts in April. Manitoba reported the steepest decline in housing starts year-over-year.
In unadjusted results for Halifax in April 2025, there were 916 housing starts and 500 completions. The stock of units under construction rose to 11,582 units in Halifax, up 12.2% from units under construction in the same month last year (10,327). This was the highest number of homes under construction in Halifax on record, and the third-highest rate of unadjusted starts (behind June 2023 with 985 and December 1977 with 1,319 unadjusted starts).
Year-to-date (January-April 2024 vs January-April 2025)
Nova Scotia housing starts have increased 0.3% in the first four months of 2025 compared to the same period a year ago. Halifax housing starts have increased 3.2% in January-April 2025 compared to the same period a year ago, while housing starts in the rest of Nova Scotia declined 8.6%. Nationally, housing starts have declined 2.9% in the first four months of 2025, despite seven provinces posting an increase in housing starts. Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan posted the largest gains while Ontario posted the largest decline in housing starts.
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)
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