Released: 2026-08-14
Today, Statistics Canada is publishing new tables providing information on the counts of housing development (starts, under construction and completions) recorded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) located within different distances to public transport.
Tables 34-10-0298-01 and 34-10-0299-01, “Residential housing development by distance to public transport, geography, construction status, dwelling and market type,” with annual and quarterly estimates, respectively, contain more comprehensive data and replace tables 34-10-0296-01 and 34-10-0297-01.
To learn more about the CMHC data, please refer to the “Starts and Completions Survey and Market Absorption Survey Methodology” page. Combinations of distance and public transport carrying capacity define the spatial extent of public transport service areas. More information about the methodology of calculating public transport service areas can be found in the release, “Access to public transport by distance in Canada.”
The estimates are further disaggregated by construction status, location (total, urban and rural), dwelling and market type. Two data tables accompany this release: annual estimates and quarterly estimates. The estimates are provided as counts and percentages (proportions) at the census subdivision, census metropolitan area and census agglomeration, census metropolitan area part and census agglomeration part, provincial and territorial, and national levels.
Note to readers
The scope of analysis included municipalities where housing development location data were recorded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). For the public transit service area boundaries, the analysis included municipalities where a regularly scheduled public transit service was identified and for which geospatial data were available in a reference year.
Data sources, methodology and limitations
The summary data presented in this release rely on the census metropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomeration (CA) concepts (see 2021 Census of Population Dictionary for the full definitions).
The method used to estimate public transit service area boundaries and the housing development counts was as follows:
1) Locations of public transit stops of all kinds (bus, trolley, surface and underground rail, ferry) were obtained from the municipalities’ or the local transit authorities’ websites or were directly provided by them to Statistics Canada. Complete data coverage was achieved for the municipalities constituting the 41 CMAs. Other municipalities inside CAs and outside of CMAs and CAs were included when a regularly scheduled public transit service was identified and geospatial data were available.
2) Public transit stop locations and the Road Network File data were used to create service areas based on distance and public transit carrying capacity.
3) CMHC data were geoenabled when latitude and longitude coordinates were available.
4) Housing development records without coordinates were geocoded using two geocoders: based on the standard street address or the Legal Land Subdivision Description (LLSD). Any housing development records that were missing street address or LLSD information could not be geocoded and were omitted from the scope of the project.
5) CMHC housing development records from small population/rural areas were excluded from the analysis based on the recommendations from the CMHC, where data collection takes place on a sample basis. More specifically, the CMHC webpage “Starts and Completions and Market Absorption Survey Methodology” indicates that “Centres with populations below 10,000 are enumerated on a sample basis, also in the last month of each quarter.” Due to data filtering, the published denominator estimates might not correspond to the estimates published by the CMHC.
6) Service area boundaries were used to estimate the housing developments counts using the “point-in-polygon” approach.
7) The proportion of the housing developments (starts, under construction and completions) within a service area for each geographic unit in scope was calculated by dividing the estimated counts within a service area by the geographic unit’s total number of housing developments for the reference period.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
