CMHC says regulations, 'fragmented' construction sector weigh on housing starts
BNN Bloomberg
A study by Canada's national housing agency says housing starts aren’t keeping pace with available residential construction resources due to restrictive regulations and a "highly fragmented" industry.
In an analysis published Thursday, Mathieu Laberge, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. senior vice-president of housing economics and insights, said Canada has the potential to build more than 400,000 homes per year — around two-thirds higher than the 240,267 housing starts last year.
That's based on a calculation of housing start potential for 2023 had it reflected the level of construction labour productivity of the early 2000s. It also reflects a scenario where the national rate of housing starts equalled that of the most productive major cities — Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
"We could build, actually, a lot more based on what we used to do before, or based on what is being done right now in the best performing cities across the country in terms of housing starts," Laberge said in an interview.
