According to today’s press release from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), residential starts across the nation rose for the second month in a row in June, to 141,000 units, seasonally adjusted and annualized. This compares with 130,000 units in May and the low point so far in this cycle of 121,000 units in April. To date this year, Canada’s housing starts have averaged 135,000 units. That is -40% versus the first half of last year when annualized housing starts averaged an exceptionally strong 227,000 units

The attached table records the 10 largest construction project starts in Canada in January 2009, according to dollar volume. In the latest month, there were five projects in Ontario and one each in Nova Scotia, Québec, Manitoba, British Columbia and Northwest Territories. Also included is the latest trend graph on starts. This looks at 12-month moving totals (again based on dollar volume) of the two major non-residential building categories in Canada − total ICI starts and engineering work. ICI stands for industrial, commercial and institutional.