Ottawa housing starts down so far this year, CMHC says

Housing starts in Ottawa are down 10 per cent so far this year compared to the same period last year. 

Between January and May 2026, construction began on 3,728 housing projects in Ottawa, compared to 4,127 the previous year, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. found in its most recent report. 

Of those units, 587 were single-detached homes, while the remaining 3,141 were apartments, condos and other types of housing projects. 

In May, 764 units were completed across the city, with 17,212 in progress and 4,453 approved and awaiting construction. 

By contrast, housing starts in Gatineau are up 41 per cent so far this year. In the first five months of 2026, work began on 1,573 units in the city, compared to 1,112 during the same period in 2025. 

National pace of starts down in May compared with April

CMHC says the annual pace of housing starts in May fell six per cent compared with April.

The agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 261,377 units for May, down from 278,380 in April.

The six-month moving average for May edged up 0.5 per cent to 258,010 units compared with 256,646 in April.

The results came as CMHC says the number of units under construction in centres with a population of 50,000 or more rose 0.9 per cent month-over-month to 374,662 in May, while completions rose 10.6 per cent compared with April to 16,880 units.

The number of units with approved building permits but not yet started was down 2.4 per cent month-over-month to 138,842 units in May.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of rural starts was estimated at 14,357 units for May.

With files from The Canadian Press