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November 19, 2025HOUSING STARTS, OCTOBER 2025 Monthly (October 2025 vs September 2025, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 8,594 units in October 2025. This reflected 31.4% growth from the previous month's revised value of 6,542 starts. July housing starts were the highest in the monthly records that date back to 1990.
Housing starts in Halifax rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6,774 units in October 2025. This reflected 55.6% growth from a revised 4,354 units in September 2025.
Outside of Halifax, housing starts declined to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,820 units in October 2025, down 16.8% from a revised 2,188 units in September 2025.
Across Canada, housing starts declined to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 232,765 units in October 2025, down 16.6% from a revised 279,174 units reported in September 2025.
Housing starts were down in six provinces led by Ontario and Manitoba in October 2025. Nova Scotia reported the fastest monthly increase in housing starts. Note: monthly changes in seasonally adjusted annualized housing starts are often volatile.
Year-over-year (October 2025 vs October 2024, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia's housing starts were up 88.2%, the fastest year-over-year gain among provinces, compared with the 4,567 unit pace set in October 2024. Halifax housing starts were up 214.3% from their rate in October 2024 (2,155). Housing starts outside the city were down 24.5% year-over-year from their pace in October 2024 (2,412). Across Canada, housing starts were down 5.0% year-over-year in October 2025 with declines in six provinces led by Prince Edward Island.
In unadjusted results for Halifax in October 2025, there were 552 housing starts and 276 completions. The stock of units under construction rose to 13,206 units in Halifax from the previous month, up 27.3% from units under construction in the same month last year (10,372).
Year-to-date (January-October 2024 vs January-October 2025)
Nova Scotia housing starts rose 26.1% in the first ten months of 2025 compared to the same period a year ago. Halifax housing starts have increased 32.1% in January-October 2025 compared to the same period a year ago, while housing starts in the rest of Nova Scotia rose 12.2%. Nationally, housing starts grew 5.0% in the first ten months of 2025, with gains in all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and British Columbia. Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island posted the largest gains while Ontario posted the fastest decline.
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
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