The City of Hamilton received a D grade in a recent housing report released by the Residential Construction Council of Ontario and the University of Ottawa’s Missing Middle Initiative.
The report examines housing start data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and new home sales from Altus Group to conduct an analysis of the state of new housing in Ontario.
The report examines 34 municipalities across nine metro areas in the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Golden Horseshoe region and assesses the state of housing sales and construction over the first nine months of 2025 relative to the first nine months of the previous four years (2021-2024)
The report’s writers explain that housing starts are a “lagging indicator” since the CMHC only considers a unit started when a building’s foundation is 100 per cent complete.
The report says that housing starts thus “often reflect market decisions several years prior, when the decision to build was made.”
“Pre-construction housing sales are a better indicator of the market’s current health and are indicative of future housing starts,” researchers conclude.
Of the 34 municipalities examined, 17 received an F, nine received a D, and only eight received a C or higher.
The City of Hamilton received a D with a 50 per cent final grade, among some of the lowest scores.
Five categories were examined: ground-oriented housing starts, condo apartment starts, rental apartment starts, pre-construction ground-oriented housing sales, and pre-construction condo apartment sales.
The City of Hamilton received an F (45 per cent grade) for ground-oriented housing starts, with only 331 starts through the first nine months of 2025.
That number is 504 below the 2021-2024 average of 834 starts.
Next, the city’s best category, earning an A+ (100 per cent grade), was condo apartment starts.
There were 917 starts through the first nine months of 2025, up 55% per cent from the four-year average.
Hamilton’s next best category was rental apartment starts, where the city earned a C (67 per cent), with 284 starts (down 17 per cent from the four-year average).
When it comes to sales, the City of Hamilton received an F grade for both ground-oriented sales (34 per cent) and condo apartment sales (32 per cent).
Ground-oriented pre-construction sales were at 76, down 81 per cent, while pre-construction condo apartment sales were at 102, down 87 per cent.
The report also showed that Hamilton’s housing starts through the first nine months of 2025 were 57 per cent below the target, with only 1,532 starts.
Researchers estimate that the decline in housing starts has reduced the number of jobs in Hamilton by 1,512.
The full report can be found here.
HOUSING REPORT CARD (ALL 34 MUNICIPALITIES RANKED)
Newmarket – 100% – A+
Brantford – 89% – A
Waterloo – 73% – B
Kitchener – 68% – C
Milton – 67% – C
Richmond Hill – 66% – C
Burlington – 62% – C
Welland – 61% – C
Markham – 59% – D
Pickering – 57% – D
St. Catharines – 57% – D
Halton Hills – 54% – D
New Tecumseth – 53% – D
Oakville – 52% – D
Ajax – 51% – D
Georgina – 50% – D
Hamilton – 50% – D
Brampton – 49% – F
Mississauga – 49% – F
Barrie – 47% – F
Cambridge – 47% – F
Niagara Falls – 47% – F
Clarington – 46% – F
Caledon – 43% – F
Whitby – 43% – F
Aurora – 41% – F
Whitchurch-Stouffville – 40% – F
East Gwillimbury – 39% – F
Toronto – 39% – F
Oshawa – 37% – F
Guelph – 36% – F
Vaughan – 33% – F
Peterborough – 32% – F
Innisfil – 30% – F
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
