Ontario's lagging homebuilding could have 'dire consequences'

Ontario's six-month average for housing starts has fallen to the lowest level in a decade. Photo by Getty Images

Housing starts in Canada are the strongest in four years — with one big exemption.

Homebuilding in Canada averaged 250,000 annualized units in the first half of the year, exceeding the average 201,000 units in the 10 years before the pandemic.

But it’s a different story in Ontario, where housing starts, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area, “seriously” lag the rest of the country — a situation that economists say could have “dire consequences” a few years from now.

The province’s six-month average has fallen to the lowest level in a decade, said Robert Hogue , assistant chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada.

“This divergence is concerning, because it threatens t