Saskatchewan Records Major Increase In Housing Starts

Released on May 17, 2021

Number Of Urban Housing Starts More Than Doubles Year-Over-Year

Today, a Statistics Canada release on housing starts for April 2021 shows positive signs of strong economic recovery in Saskatchewan.  Urban housing starts in the province increased 113.3 per cent year-over-year, the second highest percentage growth increase among the provinces.  Nationally, housing starts increased by 63.2 per cent.

In the first four months of 2021, urban housing starts in Saskatchewan increased by 101.4 per cent, compared to the same period in 2020.  Saskatchewan ranked second among the provinces in percentage change.             

"Strong growth in leading economic indicators like housing starts, manufacturing sales, and job growth show our economy is resilient and that Saskatchewan continues to lead the nation in economic recovery coming out of the global COVID-19 pandemic," Trade and Export Development Minister Jeremy Harrison said.  "Saskatchewan has one of the most competitive business environments in all of Canada, and as we've seen with the recent large private sector investments worth billions of dollars, our province is in an enviable position." 

Housing starts more than doubled for single-family dwellings with an increase of 160.3 per cent and by 86.4 per cent for multiple units.

The strong growth in housing starts contributed significantly to the large increase of 8,700 new construction jobs in April 2021 compared to April 2020, according to the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey for April 2021.

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