StatCan report shows regional split in 2025 new home construction
Statistics Canada's New Housing Market Report for 2025 shows pronounced regional differences in new home construction activity across the country, with the Prairies and Atlantic Canada posting gains while British Columbia recorded declines.
Construction activity rose in Alberta in 2025, with the province reporting a 4% year-over-year increase in for-sale new housing starts and 36% more starts than British Columbia. The growth was driven by a 15% increase in Edmonton, while Calgary recorded a 4% yearly decline but still had more starts than either Edmonton or Vancouver.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba posted even larger gains, with starts up 41% and 24% respectively, with growth recorded in every census metropolitan area in both provinces. Single-detached homes were the predominant dwelling type across the Prairie region, accounting for 46% of all for-sale housing starts, a pattern consistent across every CMA covered in the region.
In British Columbia, builders reported a decline in sales in 2025 compared with the prior year and responded by offering higher incentives to encourage buyers. The province recorded a 5% year-over-year decrease in for-sale housing starts, with declines reported in Kelowna, Vancouver, and Victoria, while Kamloops and Abbotsford–Mission posted increases.
The slowdown was also reflected in rising inventories of completed and unabsorbed units across all British Columbia CMAs covered by the report. Unlike the rest of the country, condominium apartments were the most popular new dwelling type in British Columbia's CMAs, with units in the 500-to-1,000-square-foot range most common.
The Atlantic region — comprising Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick — saw construction activity increase in 2025, with for-sale housing starts up 10% year over year. All CMAs in the region reported gains except Moncton, which posted an 8% decline. Single-detached homes were the predominant dwelling type in the region, accounting for 66% of all for-sale housing starts.
In the Edmonton CMA, the southwestern area emerged as the predominant location for new condominium apartments and recorded the largest average living area in 2025, with an average price of $352,100 in the fourth quarter. By contrast, the western area of the Edmonton CMA reported both the lowest average price, at $216,200, and the smallest average living area for new condominium units.
