The annual pace of housing starts, also known as new home construction, fell 17 per cent in October compared with September, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Tuesday.

The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 232,765 units in October, down from 279,174 in September.

Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, CMHC's deputy chief economist, says the drop came as the number of starts in Ontario and British Columbia fell in October.

However, she noted that higher starts in markets like Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton helped keep the national year-to-date total elevated compared with the same period last year. WATCH | Why experts say Canada needs to build the 'missing middle':

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