Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in January slowed compared with December.
The housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate came in at 207,968 units for the first month of the year compared with 213,630 in December.
Economists had expected an annualized pace of 205,000 for January, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.
The annual pace of urban starts slowed 2.1 per cent in January to 190,912 units as single-detached urban starts fell 10.4 per cent to 44,559 units. The annual pace of multiple-unit projects such as condominiums, apartments and townhouses increased 0.7 per cent to 146,353 units.
Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,056 units.
CMHC says the six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts was 208,131 for January compared with 207,171 in December.