Canadian housing starts, also known as new home construction, rose 14 per cent in September compared with the previous month — a sharper increase than expected, data from the national housing agency showed on Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts was 279,234 units, up from a revised 244,543 units in August, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said.

Economists had expected new builds to rise to 255,000 units.

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