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:
July 18, 2023HOUSING STARTS, JUNE 2023 Monthly (June 2023, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 13,900 units in June 2023, the highest monthly housing starts units on record since January 1990. This was up 145.5% from the revised estimate of 5,662 units in May 2023.
Housing starts in Halifax accelerated to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 11,319 units in June 2023, up 446.5% from 2,071 in May 2023.
Outside of Halifax, housing starts slowed to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2,581 units, down 28.1% from 3,591 units in May 2023.
Across Canada, housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 281,373 units in June 2023, up 40.7% from 200,081 units in May 2023.
Housing starts were up in 9 of 10 provinces last month, with the largest percentage increase in Saskatchewan and the only percentage decrease in Alberta.
Year-over-year (June 2023 vs June 2022)
Nova Scotia's housing starts were up 136.2% compared with June 2022. Halifax starts were 166.6% up their level from June 2022 and starts outside the city were up 57.3% compared to the same month last year. Across Canada, housing starts were up 3.5% year-over-year in June with increases in four provinces with the largest increase in Nova Scotia. The largest decline was observed in Prince Edward Island.
In unadjusted, non-annualized monthly data, there were 985 housing starts in Halifax - the highest housing starts for June in the Halifax market since 1977.
Halifax monthly housing completions (unadjusted, non-annualized) in June were 305 - the most completions for this month since June 2020.
The number of units under construction in the Halifax market has fallen over the last year to 7,401 as of June 2023.
Year-to-date (January-June 2023 vs January-June 2022)
Monthly and year-over-year changes in housing starts exhibit considerable volatility. Longer year-to-date averages offer a more stable picture of how Nova Scotia's housing market is evolving.
During the first six months of 2023, Nova Scotia’s housing starts were up 4.0% compared to the same period in 2022. Halifax housing starts decreased 9.3% and starts outside the city were up 34.3%. Across Canada, housing starts were down 8.4% in January-June 2023 with declines in 7 of 10 provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest percentage drop in housing starts while British Columbia reported the largest percentage gain.
Quarterly (Q2 2023, unadjusted)
Nova Scotia's unadjusted housing starts amounted to 1,991 in Q2 2023, up from 1,609 in Q2 of 2022.
There were 549 single-detached unit starts in Nova Scotia in Q2 2023, up from 516 in Q2 2022.
Nova Scotia's multiple unit starts were up from 1,093 in Q2 2022 to 1,442 in Q3 2023.
Note: Completions and units under construction data for Q2 2023 are not published by Statistics Canada.
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
