As we figure out how to post tables into Substack directly, here are the latest housing figures for our Prairie Cities, courtesy of Statistics Canada—
Residential Building Permits jumped significantly in Winnipeg this July, with a 111.5 % month-to-month change, bringing us to 83% over July of last year. Regina and Saskatoon saw modest increases while permits in Calgary and Edmonton decreased.
New housing price index declined slightly in Regina, while Winnipeg stayed the same and Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton saw slight increases. Year over year, all cities are down except Calgary.
Housing Starts declined in Saskatchewan’s cities, but jumped 29.1% in Winnipeg, 30.8% in Calgary, and 53.3% in Edmonton in July.
Regina saw the biggest jump in Housing Completions, with a 424.4% increase month-over-month. Still this represented only 116 units, putting it behind all other cities in raw numbers. Figures for Calgary apparently weren’t available.
Province-wide shelter price indices continue to increase everywhere, with slight increases in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but the biggest month-over-month bump in Alberta (2.3%).
Population growth in Regina and Saskatoon slightly exceeded the nationwide pace (0.3% increase) in August with a 0.4% increase each. Calgary and Edmonton slightly exceeded that (0.5%).
Year-over-year figures show that Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton are outpacing Canada as a whole.
With all these new people, you’d think there would be jobs. There is a bit more of a mixed picture. Winnipeg was apparently flat for jobs, while Regina and Edmonton both lost employment, and Saskatoon and Calgary gained employment. With a 6.4% increase, Regina has the highest year-over-year change in employment.