Construction Statistics: Highlights from “Housing Starts” (May 2022)”

Nova Scotia’s Finance and Treasury Board released the following statistics on June 15, 2022. Please click here to see the full dataset provided.

Highlights:
  • Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 12,300 units in May 2022, the highest monthly housing starts units on record since January 1990. This was up 280.2% from the revised estimate of 3,235 units in April 2022.
    • Housing starts in Halifax increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 9,708 units in May 2022, the highest monthly housing starts units on record since January 1990.
    • Outside of Halifax, housing starts were up to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2,592 units.
  • The recent increase in starts is concentrated among multiple dwelling units. The growth in single dwelling unit starts was more moderate.
  • During the first five months of 2022, Nova Scotia’s housing starts were up 1.4% compared to the same period in 2021.
    • Halifax housing starts increased 8.2% and starts outside the city were down 10.2%.
    • Canada’s housing starts decreased 12.4%.
    • Starts were up in five provinces led by Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick.