Quebec Housing Starts in September 2026: The Only Province Up This Year, but the Month Fell 15%

In brief: According to CMHC, Quebec housing starts in September 2026 reached 3,893, 15% fewer than in September 2025. Since January, though, it has recorded 39,071, up 3%, making it the only one of the four most populous provinces to gain. For a municipality, two figures matter more than the month: 36,156 approved units are still waiting for their first shovel in centres of 50,000 and up, and CMHC does not measure small municipalities one by one.

Quebec's housing starts fell in September, but they remain above last year since January. Both sentences are true at once, which is why the October 16 release from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is hard to summarize in a headline. Here is what it says, region by region, and what you can draw from it when you are preparing a project of six, twelve or twenty-four units.

Quebec housing starts in September 2026

The CMHC release gives three different measures, and they should not be mixed.

• The actual month. In centres of 10,000 and up, Quebec recorded 3,893 starts in September, against 4,601 a year earlier, a drop of 15%.
• The year to date. From January to September the total reaches 39,071, against 37,782 in 2025, an increase of 3%. CMHC writes that only Quebec posted a modest increase among the four most populous provinces.
• The trend. The seasonally adjusted annual rate went from 60,958 in August to 54,138 in September, down 11%. Single-detached homes held steady, and other dwelling types (mostly apartment buildings) fell 12%.

Nationally, the six-month trend rose 0.6% to 250,411 units, and CMHC calls it stable. Actual starts in centres of 10,000 and up fell 11% in September and 4% since January. Quebec is therefore doing better than the Canadian average over nine months and worse over one. The next release, for October, is scheduled for November 17.

What is waiting: 36,156 approved units not yet started

For a reader who builds, the most useful line in the release is not the starts. It is what comes before and after. In Quebec's centres of 50,000 and up, between August and September:

Thirty-six thousand units have their permit or their financing and are waiting. That is not a shortage of projects, it is a shortage of starts. The release gives no reasons. For a nonprofit or a municipality, though, the practical conclusion is plain: the obstacle is usually not approval. It is the gap between approval and the site. Our article on the timeline of a modular project explains where that gap is decided: part of the construction happens in a factory while the site is being prepared, which is what can shorten the period between funding approval and move-in.

The regions: Quebec City and Saguenay up, Montreal and Trois-Rivières down

CMHC tracks six Quebec metropolitan regions. Monthly figures are unstable, because a single large project can tip a small region. The year-to-date is more reliable.

Montreal: apartments pull the trend down

Montreal's trend went from 30,447 to 28,015 (-8%). CMHC attributes the drop to reduced activity in the apartment segment. The year to date stays close to last year (-2%). For the detail of the metropolitan market, our article on Montreal housing starts and our Montreal overview pick up from here.

Quebec City: a September nearly doubled, a shrinking pipeline

In the Quebec City region, September starts nearly doubled (706 to 1,385) and the year to date is up 11%. Units approved but not started fell 15.6%, from 8,267 to 6,974, while units under construction rose 12.1%. In other words, the stock of approvals is being turned into sites. Our Capitale-Nationale overview places these figures in the context of the region's modular projects.

Saguenay: the strongest year to date

With 965 starts since January against 509 last year, Saguenay posts the biggest gain of the six regions (+90%). In September alone, 128 against 72. Units under construction there rose 8.4%. See our Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean overview.

Sherbrooke and Gatineau: year to date up, month down or flat

Sherbrooke has logged 1,541 starts since January (+30%) despite a September cut in half (240 to 117), and its approved-not-started units rose 20.7%. Gatineau, on its Quebec side, is up 14% over nine months, and its approved-not-started units rose 13.4%. Our overviews of Estrie and Outaouais list the modular projects in both regions.

Trois-Rivières: the biggest decline of the year

Trois-Rivières is down 22% since January (1,028 to 797) and 56% in September (110 to 48). Only Trois-Rivières and Montreal (-2%) are down over nine months. Units under construction there fell 1.9%. Mauricie is covered in our regional overview.

What these figures do not say

They say nothing about small municipalities. CMHC publishes actual starts for centres of 10,000 and up, and its stocks under construction for those of 50,000 and up. A town of 2,000 or 5,000 does not appear in these tables. The release gives a figure for rural Canada (a seasonally adjusted monthly rate of 18,094), but not for rural Quebec.

For an MRC reader, the consequence is simple: these statistics describe the market of the large centres, not yours. Your indicator is local: permits issued by your planning department, the vacancy rate in your area, your housing office's waiting list. Our small-municipality housing guide explains how to compile them.

The release also does not split rental from condominium for Quebec: it distinguishes only single-detached homes from other types. Nothing can be concluded about rentals from these figures. CMHC does not track construction method either, so any "modular" reading of this data is interpretation.

Why it matters to a municipality and a nonprofit

A moving volume can shift your schedule

When a region's starts climb 90%, as in Saguenay, local site crews are in higher demand. In a modular project, part of the work happens in a factory outside the region, but foundations, transport and assembly remain local. Our pages on Quebec factories that build in winter and on the modular multiplex detail that split.

Cost depends on timing

CMHC publishes no construction prices in this release, and nothing here lets you infer how bids are moving. For an order of magnitude of what a six to twenty-four unit building costs, see our cost guide for a 6, 12 or 24 unit building.

Approval is not enough

If 36,156 approved units are waiting, approval does not guarantee a start. Financing and water and sewer infrastructure also feed into the schedule: see where the FIERH call for projects stands and the 2026-2028 affordable housing pipeline.

What to take to your next council meeting

1. Read the year to date, not the month. September is at -15%, the nine months are at +3%.
2. Look at the stock of approved-not-started units: it tells you whether your region lacks projects or lacks starts.
3. Do not compare your town of 3,000 to a metropolitan region. Use your own permits.
4. A project that already has a site, zoning, financing and a sponsor is the one that starts when the market clears.

If your municipality, MRC or nonprofit wants to price a project while the market slows in some places, we can prepare a quote together.