Canadian housing starts increased 4 per cent from the previous month, totalling 250,900 units in February at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). Starts were up 13 per cent from the same month last year (SAAR). In areas with 10,000 or more residents, single-detached housing starts decreased by 12 per cent year-over-year, while multi-family and other starts increased by 15 per cent compared to February 2025

In British Columbia, starts fell by 16 per cent from last month to 45,709 units (SAAR) in all areas of the province. In areas of the province with 10,000 or more residents, single-detached starts increased by 13 per cent to 4,148 units, while multi-family starts fell by 17 per cent to 38,554 units month-over-month (SAAR). Starts in the province were 53 per cent above the levels from February 2025 (SAAR). Year-to-date starts are up 127 per cent in Victoria, 46 per cent in Vancouver, and 15 per cent in Kelowna, but down 90 per cent in Abbotsford and 85 per cent in Nanaimo.

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.

Canadian employment fell by 0.4 per cent from the previous month, with the economy losing 84,000 jobs to 21.037 million in February. The employment rate also edged down 0.2 per cent to 60.6 per cent, while the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 points to 6.7 per cent. Average hourly wages rose 3.9 per cent year-over-year to $37.56 in February.
           
Employment in B.C. decreased by 0.7 per cent to about 2.927 million, with the provincial economy losing 20,200 jobs in February. Employment in Metro Vancouver fell by 0.6 per cent to 1.681 million. The unemployment rate in B.C. remained unchanged at 6.1 per cent in February. Meanwhile, Vancouver's unemployment rate fell by 0.4 points to 5.8 per cent in February.

The Canadian labor market posted its worst monthly job losses in several years, with declines concentrated in full-time work and the private sector. Combined with January, Canada has cumulatively lost over 100,000 jobs to begin 2026, significantly offsetting the momentum found during the final quarter of last year. While economic growth, employment, and core inflation are currently below the Bank of Canada’s projection, we still expect a rate hold at next week’s meeting. Looking ahead, the Bank will be assessing the length and depth of the oil-price shock from the US-Iran conflict on domestic inflation, while assessing how economic growth evolves this year relative to their forecast.

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver* is $1,100,300. This represents a 6.8 per cent decrease over February 2025 and a 0.1 per cent decrease compared to January 2026.

Specifically:

- The benchmark price for detached homes decreased 8.8% from Feb 2025 and decreased 0.8% from Jan 2026.

- The benchmark price for attached/townhouses decreased 5.6% from Feb 2025 and increased 0.3% from Jan 2026.

- The benchmark price for apartment/condos decreased 6.8% from Feb 2025 and increased 0.5% from Jan 2026.

*Areas covered by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver include: Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, South Delta, Squamish, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Whistler.

Canadian real GDP rose by 0.2 per cent in December, after remaining mostly flat in November. Both goods-producing and service-producing sectors grew by 0.2 per cent, respectively. Sectoral growth was led by manufacturing (1.2 per cent), wholesale trade (1.7 per cent), and transportation/warehousing (0.7 per cent). The biggest detractor to growth came from mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (-0.9 per cent). Output for the offices of real-estate agents and brokers fell by 3.6 per cent month-over-month. Preliminary estimates suggest that real GDP by industry was essentially unchanged in January.
     
Real GDP decreased by 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025, registering an annualized growth rate of -0.6 per cent. Contraction was driven by declines in non-farm business inventories, led by the manufacturing and wholesale trade sectors. Overall trade picked up in the final quarter, with exports and imports increasing by 1.5 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively. Nonetheless, trade declined in 2025, with exports falling by 1.7 per cent and imports dropping by 0.4 per cent. Household spending rose 0.4 per cent in Q4, driven by higher expenditures on rent and financial services which offset an overall decline in goods-expenditures. Total capital investment increased 0.8 per cent, largely driven by government investments in weapons systems. Meanwhile, business investment declined by 0.1 per cent, as both residential and non-residential investment fell. However, business investment increased by 0.3 per cent overall in 2025. The household savings rate fell 0.8 points to 4.4 per cent, as disposable income growth was outpaced by nominal spending. Overall, the Canadian economy grew by 1.7 per cent in 2025.

Canada’s economic performance comes as an unwelcomed surprise, with annualized growth in the fourth quarter underperforming the Bank’s updated projection of flat (0 per cent) growth. Behind the headline number, increases in exports, household spending and government investment contributed to growth in the final quarter. However, 2025 marks the third consecutive year of government capital investment outpacing business capital expenditures with respect to GDP growth, suggesting ongoing weakness in private sector investment. A broad-based drawdown in trade for the year was the biggest detractor to growth in spite of further recovery during the final quarter, with export volumes to the US failing to recover from the sharp declines seen in the second quarter as tariffs began permeating into the economy. Taken together, while the headline number may spook readers, we expect the underlying resilience in the Canadian economy found in this report to keep the Bank of Canada on course for another rate hold in March.

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.