Rental Construction Rises as Canada’s Homeownership Supply Falls Behind
Canada needs between 417,000 and 469,000 housing starts annually over the next decade to restore pre-pandemic affordability, compared with roughly 231,000 under current projections. Purpose-built rentals now represent two-thirds of apartment starts in the markets examined by CMHC, while condominium and ground-oriented construction has weakened sharply. Although new rental supply is improving market balance, insufficient ownership construction could leave too few options when demand strengthens.
Toronto must increase annual housing starts by at least 50%, yet only 156 condominium units began construction in the first half of 2026, compared with a previous-decade annual average of about 7,000. Toronto-area rental apartment starts rose 82% and surpassed condominium starts for the first time since 1994. Montreal has the largest estimated annual supply gap among the major markets studied, while Edmonton has no measurable gap because construction has generally kept pace with population growth.
Read on: Real Estate Magazine
