Outpacing the rest of Canada, Alberta is building new homes at a rapid rate.
Housing starts in the first two quarters of 2025 are 30 per cent higher than in 2024, which was already a record-setting year.
This translates to nearly 28,000 homes that began construction in the first half of the year in Alberta.
“This sustained momentum highlights the continued collaboration between industry, the provincial government, and municipalities in reducing barriers and supporting housing affordability,” said Scott Fash, CEO of BILD Alberta.
In Lethbridge, housing starts are 26 per cent higher this year than last, with 363 new homes currently under construction.
“We’re excited by that, it’s great to see. It means we have a healthy economy. We expect that trend to continue,” said Bridget Mearns, executive officer of BILD Lethbridge.
However, there is still a problem facing the housing market in southern Alberta – home inventory. While starts are rapidly rising, market availability hasn’t moved a lot.
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“We would expect that, even with increased housing starts, the inventory is staying rather low. We’re going to have to continue to see those starts remain high,” said Mearns.
It’s a story of supply and demand, and currently, Lethbridge is demanding more homes. This is good for the construction industry, according to Mearns.
“Any time you see a healthy housing start market, you know that employment is doing well and people are doing well, so it’s a great thing to see.”
Unfortunately, you can’t build a home without workers and workers need a place to stay.
“Ironically, we found ourselves in a spot where we’re trying to attract more trades to come to Alberta so we can build the homes, but we also need homes for them to live in, so you end up in this kind of conundrum,” said Jason Nixon, Alberta’s minister of assisted living and social services.
Beyond the influx of tradespeople, Nixon says Alberta is simply a good and affordable place to live, which means the housing market has remained turbulent despite high starts and a lot of effort by contractors.
“Even during that demand, as we saw rent go up and the cost of homes go up, we were still more affordable than places like Toronto or Vancouver, so people were still flooding here to be able to buy a home, which meant that the market wasn’t necessarily stabilizing because of that unique circumstance here in Alberta.”
However, home prices have started to level-off for the first time in years and Nixon says the trajectory of the province is looking bright.
“We’re starting to see the results. Rent’s going down, cost of housing is stabilizing and that’s just very good news for Albertans.”
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