Ontario posted a double-digit decrease in housing construction starts in 2025 compared to the previous year, earning the province the worst housing construction rate in the country.

The province has been experiencing a significant downturn in home building as a number of factors, from high taxes and fees to low interest in condo purchases, led to projects being stalled or cancelled altogether.

The result, according to data compiled by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, was a 13 per cent drop in the number of new homes under construction in 2025 compared to the previous year.

The slump in housing starts – 62,561 in 2025 – is also an all-time low since the Ford government promised to build 1.5 million homes during the 2022 provincial election – a key pledge that helped the party keep its majority government and increase its seat count.

Ontario Housing starts:
2022: 91,885
2023: 85,770
2024: 72,118
2025: 62,561

While the CMHC says other provinces also saw a “consistently decreased” trend in housing starts in 2025, Canada posted an overall five per cent increase compared to 2024.

British Columbia, PEI and Ontario were the only provinces to experience a decrease, while neighbouring province Quebec managed to increase housing starts by 32 per cent, compared to the prior year.

CMHC Chief Economist Mathieu Laberge said the current economic climate and trade war with the United States could add to the pressure Ontario is facing.

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“Housing starts are beginning this year from a weaker position and market intelligence suggests slowing momentum for residential construction,” Leberge said in a statement. “These trends, along with geopolitical and trade uncertainty, remain top of mind as we expect to release an updated Housing Market Outlook in February.”

To account for the dropping numbers, the Ford government has been introducing, implementing, and reversing a number of housing policy initiatives over the past year – with questionable effect.

In November, the government enacted policies forcing municipalities to defer the payment of development charges from when the building permit is issued to when the occupancy permit is handed over to the new buyer.

The measure, the province said, would help free up much-needed cash flow for developers in order to push their construction projects forward.

In the fall economic statement, tabled by Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, Ontario introduced a new first-time homebuyers discount, waiving the provincial portion of the HST for newly built homes.

Recently, the province also paused a regulation that would have compelled developers to dedicate 5% of new construction projects near transit stations to affordable housing.

The government, once again, claimed policy served as red tape for the housing construction sector, and hoped the one year pause would seed new construction.

Housing minister Rob Flack told Global News he was hoping the combined measures would lead to a revival in the spring housing market.

But those measures, the minister recently conceded, haven’t sparked the desired outcome.

“It still takes too long, it still costs too much to build homes in Ontario,” The minister recently declared. “We are changing this.”

In a speech to the Rural Ontario Municipalities Association conference in Toronto, Flack said the province would be working on yet another suite of measures to boost housing in the province.

“At a time when supply and demand are so misaligned, it is important now more than ever to create the conditions to get shovels in the ground faster,” Flack said.

Flack said the government would introduce new policies and legislation to “further reduce development charges” using what he called innovative, infrastructure funding models “such as publicly owned municipal service providers.”

The minister also said the government will support modular, factory-built homes and “other innovative forms of housing construction” to boost home building numbers.

Flack said, this time, he is “confident” that the new measures would get shovels in the ground.