Canada: Stunning Housing Starts Print Masks Some Geographic Weakness

Housing starts jumped to an annualized pace of 299,589 units in September 2022, a 10.8% surge versus August. It was the fourth-best monthly result ever recorded, and Ontario starts rose by 35% to reach a record high 135,940 units. However, declines across Quebec, Atlantic Canada, and the Prairies—following reasonably widespread losses in the prior month—suggest that we are increasingly seeing softness in the existing home market weighing on new construction.