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February 17, 2026HOUSING STARTS, JANUARY 2026 Monthly (January 2026 vs December 2025, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 5,551 units in January 2026. This was a 51.5% decrease from the previous month's revised value of 11,456 starts.
Housing starts in Halifax fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3,529 units in January 2026. This was a 58.0% decrease from 8,411 units in December 2025.
Outside of Halifax, housing starts declined to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2,022 units in January 2026, down 33.6% from 3,045 units in December 2025.
Across Canada, housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 238,049 units in January 2026, down 15.2% from 280,668 units reported in December 2025.
Housing starts were down in five provinces, led by Nova Scotia. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the fastest monthly increase in housing starts.
Note: monthly changes in seasonally adjusted annualized housing starts are often volatile.
Year-over-year (January 2026 vs December 2024, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia's housing starts were down 34.6% compared with the 8,493 unit pace set in January 2025. Halifax housing starts were down 44.8% from their rate in January 2025 (6,392). Housing starts outside the city were down 3.8% year-over-year from their pace in January 2025 (2,101). Across Canada, housing starts were up 1.8% year-over-year in January 2026 with gains in five provinces, led by New Brunswick. Prince Edward Island reported the steepest year-over-year decline in housing starts (followed by Nova Scotia).
In unadjusted results for Halifax in January 2026, there were 278 housing starts and 517 completions. With completions outpacing starts, the stock of units under construction fell to 13,949 units in Halifax, though this was still up 29.6% from units under construction in the same month last year (10,759).
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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