CMHC data for September 2026 shows 143,929 homes across Canada have an approved building permit with no construction started, up 1.1% month-to-month. The total annual pace of housing starts for September was 248,896 units seasonally adjusted, up 3% from August, but actual starts in centres of 10,000 or more were down 11% year-over-year at 19,984 units compared with 22,375 in September 2025. Statistics Canada reported that Canada issued $13.6 billion in building permits in August 2026, up 8.8% from July. The gap between permits issued and homes started reflects the time required to convert an approved permit into a shovel-ready project: complete financing, contractor procurement, site preparation, and pre-construction work. In Ontario, where the GTA approval window runs 18 to 24 months from first submission to building permit, a project that cleared that entitlement process can still sit for months before breaking ground. The policy response in 2026, which has focused heavily on development charge reductions, addresses cost. It does not address the entitlement-to-shovel delay, which is the dominant reason the backlog exists.
Canada issued $13.6 billion in building permits in August 2026. In September, 143,929 of those permitted homes had no shovel in the ground. The number grew 1.1% month-to-month, and actual housing starts, the count of homes where construction has physically begun, fell 11% year-over-year in September, at 19,984 units versus 22,375 in September 2025.
Two statistics in the same month: more permits, fewer starts. The gap between them is the story of Canadian housing supply in 2026, and it is not a demand story or a fee story. It is an entitlement-to-shovel story.
| Metric | September 2026 figure |
|---|---|
| Approved-but-unstarted homes (Canada) | 143,929 units |
| Month-to-month change | +1.1% |
| Annual pace of housing starts (SAAR) | 248,896 units (+3% from August) |
| Actual starts, centres 10,000+ | 19,984 units |
| Year-over-year change in actual starts | -11% |
| August 2026 building permits (value) | $13.6 billion (+8.8%) |
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) figure is designed to smooth out weather and seasonal variation. The actual count is the raw one. Both matter, but the 11% year-over-year decline in actual starts is the harder number to dismiss: it means that even though the approval pipeline is growing, the conversion from permit to pouring concrete is getting slower, not faster.
Know what approvals your site still needs before you can pull a permit? PreBuildIQ maps any Ontario address to every approval body, required study, and terms of reference in 60 seconds.
Check my site →An approved building permit is a legal authorization to build. It is not a funding commitment, a construction contract, or a site ready for a crane. Between permit and shovel, a project typically needs:
Toronto and Mississauga have cut development charges materially in 2026. A developer who captures that saving still faces the same entitlement and preconstruction timeline before breaking ground. Fee relief and approval speed are different levers.
For a developer running a pro forma in 2026, the backlog data has two practical implications:
The CMHC data also signals something about lender sentiment: the projects not starting are not doing so because there is no demand or no permission. They are not starting because the numbers do not yet work, or the money is not yet closed. In 2026, the dominant constraint on Ontario housing supply is not the permit. It is everything that happens between permit and pour.
CMHC data for September 2026 shows 143,929 homes in Canada have an approved building permit with no construction started, up 1.1% month-to-month from August 2026.
Building permits and housing starts measure different things. A permit authorizes construction; a start is counted when construction physically begins. The gap between them reflects the time needed to close construction financing, procure contractors, complete preconstruction site work, and stage phased developments. In September 2026, actual housing starts in centres of 10,000 or more were down 11% year-over-year while permit value rose, showing the conversion from permit to start is taking longer than in prior years.
The approved-but-unstarted count is the number of housing units that have received a building permit from a Canadian municipality but have not yet had construction begin. CMHC tracks this as a leading indicator of future supply. As of September 2026 the count was 143,929 units and growing, indicating a large pipeline of authorized supply that has not yet converted to physical homes.
No. Development charge reductions in 2026, including Toronto's 40 to 60 percent cut and Mississauga's 50 percent cut, address project cost. The approved-but-unstarted backlog is driven by financing timelines, contractor availability, and preconstruction work, not by the cost of the permit itself. Fee relief and approval speed are different levers that address different parts of the supply problem.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts for Canada in September 2026 was 248,896 units, up 3% from 242,223 in August 2026. The six-month trend was 250,411 units. Actual starts in centres of 10,000 or more were 19,984 units, down 11% from 22,375 in September 2025.
Every week saved on approvals is a week sooner to the shovel. PreBuildIQ maps any Ontario address to its approval path, required studies, and terms of reference in 60 seconds.
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