--- title: Is Construction Slowing Down in Canada and the U.S.? The Latest Numbers Tell a More Useful Story description: Understand the complexities of the construction market in Canada and the U.S., revealing mixed trends and insights for contractors to navigate opportunities effectively. image: https://blog.tradetraks.ca/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(13)-2.png --- [Skip to content](https://blog.tradetraks.ca/blog/is-construction-slowing-down-in-canada-and-the-u.s.-the-latest-numbers-tell-a-more-useful-story#main-content) [![Tradetraks Logo (1)](https://blog.tradetraks.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Tradetraks%20Logo%20(1).png?width=300&height=36&name=Tradetraks%20Logo%20(1).png)](https://tradetraks.ca/) - Traks Show submenu for Traks - [OpsTrak](https://tradetraks.ca/opstrak) - [FinTrak](https://tradetraks.ca/fintrak) - [SafeTrak](https://tradetraks.ca/safetrak) - [ComsTrak](https://tradetraks.ca/comstrak) - [About Us](https://tradetraks.ca/about) - [Pricing](https://tradetraks.ca/pricing) - [Blog](https://blog.tradetraks.ca/blog) Open main navigation Close main navigation - Traks Show submenu for Traks - [OpsTrak](https://tradetraks.ca/opstrak) - [FinTrak](https://tradetraks.ca/fintrak) - [SafeTrak](https://tradetraks.ca/safetrak) - [ComsTrak](https://tradetraks.ca/comstrak) - [About Us](https://tradetraks.ca/about) - [Pricing](https://tradetraks.ca/pricing) - [Blog](https://blog.tradetraks.ca/blog) - [See it in Action](https://meetings.hubspot.com/c-renaud1) [See it in Action](https://meetings.hubspot.com/c-renaud1) [All posts](https://blog.tradetraks.ca/blog/all) October 1, 2026 # Is Construction Slowing Down in Canada and the U.S.? The Latest Numbers Tell a More Useful Story ![Picture of Cameron Renaud](https://blog.tradetraks.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Cam%20Renaud%20Headshot.png?width=50&name=Cam%20Renaud%20Headshot.png) By  Cameron Renaud  ·  4 minute read [![Untitled design (13)-2](https://blog.tradetraks.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(13)-2.png?width=800&height=450&name=Untitled%20design%20(13)-2.png)](http://www.tradetraks.com) The latest numbers from Canada and the United States show exactly why contractors should be careful when someone says "construction is up" or "construction is down."There is no single construction market. There are residential markets, commercial markets, service markets, industrial markets, infrastructure projects and regional economies. One can be growing while another is struggling. The contractors who understand that difference can make much better decisions about where to find their next opportunity. --- ## What Is Happening With Construction in Canada? Canada's latest housing numbers show some moderation. CMHC reported that the six-month trend in housing starts declined 1.3% in August to 244,149 annualized units. Actual starts in centres with populations above 10,000 were down 2% compared with August 2025 while year-to-date starts were down 4%. That sounds negative until you look deeper. Montreal's housing-start trend increased 6% from the previous month. Vancouver also increased 6%. Toronto was essentially flat. Then look at building permits. Statistics Canada reported that the total value of building permits dropped 17.3% in July. Residential permits declined 8.9% and non-residential permits fell 27.1%. But commercial permits actually increased 1.7%. Which number represents the construction industry? All of them. That is exactly the point. --- ## The U.S. Numbers Are Just as Complicated The latest U.S. data tells a similar story. Total housing starts declined 2.6% in August compared with July and were 1.2% below the previous year. But single-family housing starts increased 7.6% during the same month. Building permits declined 2.7% from July but were still 3.5% higher than August 2025. Then another number arrived. New single-family home sales jumped 6.4% in August to an annualized rate of 684,000 units, the highest level since December 2025. At the same time, U.S. homebuilder confidence fell to 32 in September. A reading below 50 means more builders view conditions negatively than positively. Sales are increasing. Confidence is falling. Starts are down overall. Single-family starts are up. This is why a single headline rarely tells contractors enough. --- ## Construction Is Not One Market Imagine two electrical contractors. One generates most of its revenue wiring new subdivisions. The other focuses on service calls, retrofits, maintenance and commercial customers. Both are electrical contractors. But the same housing slowdown could affect them very differently. The residential contractor may feel a slowdown immediately if fewer developments move forward. The service contractor could see very little change because existing buildings still need repairs, maintenance, equipment replacements and upgrades. HVAC contractors face the same issue. A business heavily dependent on new home construction is exposed to housing starts. A business with a large book of maintenance agreements, replacement work and commercial service may have an entirely different revenue profile. That is why contractors should stop asking whether "construction" is doing well. Ask whether **your market** is doing well. --- ## Your Own Data May Be More Useful Than the National Data National construction statistics are useful because they show broad trends. They cannot tell you exactly what is happening inside your company. Your own business can. Look at how many estimates you sent this quarter compared with the same quarter last year. Look at your close rate. Look at average job size. Look at service volume. Look at how long customers are taking to approve quotes. Look at where leads are coming from. Look at which type of work is growing and which is shrinking. Those numbers may tell you something national statistics cannot. You might discover that new construction is slowing but service demand is growing. You might discover that residential work is becoming more competitive while commercial work is improving. You might discover that your biggest problem is not demand at all. Maybe you have plenty of opportunities but your quoting process is too slow. That is actionable information. --- ## Contractors Need to Know Which Work They Actually Want When work is everywhere, contractors can afford to be less selective. When markets become mixed, job selection matters more. Revenue is not the only thing that determines whether a job is worth taking. A $500,000 project that produces almost no margin, consumes management time and creates cash-flow problems may be less valuable than several smaller projects with healthier margins and faster billing. This is where job costing becomes critical. Contractors should understand which customers, job types and markets produce the strongest returns for the business. That information should influence where the sales team spends time, what the company bids and what kind of work the business tries to grow. --- ## Mixed Markets Reward Flexible Contractors There is another important lesson hidden inside the latest construction numbers. Markets move. A contractor built entirely around one type of project is more exposed when that category slows. Businesses with multiple sources of work often have more options. An electrical contractor might perform new construction, service calls, maintenance, lighting upgrades and recurring inspections. An HVAC contractor might combine new installations with service, replacement work and maintenance agreements. A plumbing contractor might work on construction projects while maintaining a steady service division. Diversification does not mean doing everything. It means understanding which adjacent revenue streams make sense for your business. --- ## Better Visibility Helps Contractors Adjust Faster The faster conditions change, the more valuable information becomes. If your estimating data is in one system, service work is somewhere else, employee hours are on paper and financial information only gets reviewed at month-end, spotting a change in the business can take a long time. By the time the numbers become obvious, the trend may have been developing for months. Tradetraks helps trade contractors manage projects, service work, employees, time, scheduling, materials, financial information and other operations from one platform. That gives contractors a clearer view of what the business is doing instead of relying entirely on what the broader construction headlines say it should be doing. --- ## So, Is Construction Slowing Down? Some parts are. Some parts are growing. Some markets are flat. Others are moving in completely different directions. That may not make a great headline, but it is a much more useful answer for a contractor. The opportunity is not necessarily in guessing what the entire construction industry will do next. It is in knowing what is happening in your market before your competitors do. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is construction slowing down in Canada in 2026? Some indicators have softened. Canada's six-month housing-start trend declined 1.3% in August and year-to-date starts were 4% lower than the same period in 2025. Conditions vary significantly by region and construction segment. ### Is construction slowing down in the United States? Overall U.S. housing starts declined in August, but single-family starts increased 7.6% and new single-family home sales increased 6.4%. Different construction segments are moving in different directions. ### What construction sectors should contractors watch? That depends on the contractor's trade and location. Residential new construction, commercial work, infrastructure, service, maintenance and industrial projects can behave very differently. ### How should contractors prepare for a slower market? Track close rates, margins, backlog, job costs, quote volume and customer demand by type of work. Knowing which parts of the company are performing well makes it easier to adjust before revenue declines. --- Tradetraks helps contractors bring operations, finance, scheduling, time tracking, projects, safety, equipment and communication into one connected system. 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