The Economics and Statistics Division maintains archives of previous publications for accountability purposes, but makes no updates to keep these documents current with the latest data revisions from Statistics Canada. As a result, information in older documents may not be accurate. Please exercise caution when referring to older documents. For the latest information and historical data, please contact the individual listed to the right.
<--- Return to Archive
For additional information relating to this article, please contact:
February 23, 2021HOUSING STARTS, JANUARY 2021 
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 6,169 units in January 2021. This was 3.8% below the 6,413 units started in December 2020.
The monthly decline in January was due to lower starts outside Halifax. Housing starts increased 19.5% month-over-month to 4,724 units in Halifax. Outside of Halifax, housing starts declined 41.2% from the previous month to 1,445 units in January.
Compared to January 2020, housing Starts in Nova Scotia was up 96.2%. Housing starts in Halifax increased 261.2% while outside of Halifax housing starts declined 21.3% compared to last year.
The six-month moving average of housing starts in Nova Scotia and Halifax was relatively flat through 2017. During 2018, the six-month moving average increased due to higher starts for multiples and declined after reaching a peak in September. The six-month moving average rose in the summer of 2019 due to trends in the Halifax market. For Nova Scotia, the trend has been negative in first half of 2020 and rose in the second half of 2020 due to declines in Halifax as well as outside of Halifax in first half, while within Halifax there has been an upward trend in second half of 2020 and within outside of Halifax there has been an upward trend since September 2020. Outside of Halifax, the six-month moving average was elevated through 2018 but has since returned to levels similar to those seen in 2017. Since the spring of 2019, the six-month moving average has been trending downward outside of Halifax with some increase in recent months.
In urban areas, housing starts for multiples are generally higher than for singles with greater variability month-to-month. The six-month moving average for singles was relatively flat through most of 2019 and has been trending downward since May 2020 with some increase since October 2020. The six-month moving average for multiples rose during the summer months of 2018 and declined until the first quarter of 2019. Since then, the six-month moving average for multiples has been fluctuating with an uptick from September to November 2020.
Nationally, housing starts increased 23.1% to 282,428 in January 2021. Canada’s housing starts were up 30.6% compared to last year.
Housing starts increased monthly in six provinces with Prince Edward Island posting the largest gains (+146.7%) followed by Quebec (+75.1%) and Saskatchewan (+44.1%). Compared to the previous month, housing starts declined in four provinces with New Brunswick posting the largest decline (-52.2%).
Nationally, housing starts increased 30.6% year-over-year in January with all provinces posting gains. Prince Edward Island (+98.2%) posted the largest gain followed by Nova Scotia (+96.2%). The lowest gain was recorded in Newfoundland and Labrador (+19.3%).
Note: Urban areas are defined as areas over 10,000 people
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)
<--- Return to Archive
