Construction activity saw a surge recently
The number of new apartments being built across Canada is markedly outstripping that of single detached homes, according to new census data from Statistics Canada.
While detached homes still represented the majority of homes built (52.6%, versus the 34.4% share of apartments), the pace of detached construction dropped by 1% from 2011 census numbers. Meanwhile, apartment building activity grew by 0.9% during the same period.
Apartments are seeing an increased presence in the nation’s largest urban markets, StatCan said. Toronto saw its share of single detached homes fall by 3.2% between 2011 and 2021, which accompanied an increase of 2.4% in the share of apartments.
In Vancouver, the number of detached homes dropped 3% while apartments shot up by 3.4%, StatCan said.
Read more: Apartments remain a top residential choice in Toronto
As of 2021, Canada had a total of 14,978,940 homes. Of this sum, 7.872 million are single detached homes, and 2.738 million were apartments in buildings with fewer than five storeys (18.3% of the total).
Another 1.596 million homes (10.7%) were apartments in buildings that are five storeys and taller, StatCan said. Duplex apartments accounted for 821,490 homes across Canada last year.
