Housing starts advanced 5.4% last month as builders broke ground on more condos and apartments.
Starts rose to 157,300 units in October, in line with economists' expectations, from 149,300 units on a seasonally-adjusted annual rate in the prior month, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported.
Starts at current monthly levels suggest "a still-depressed market, operating at levels below the 175,000 units necessary to keep pace with population growth and attrition," according to one expert from the private sector.
The agency pegged the gains to heightened activity in multiple starts. As for single home construction, despite a dip in October, the level remains at its second highest level since October 2008, said Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist.
Urban multiple starts, which tend to be volatile, climbed 13.8%, while urban single starts fell 2.7%.
Among provinces, activity increased the most in British Columbia and Ontario. Starts fell in Quebec.
