There’s some promising news for those who are looking for signs of renewed life in Canada’s real estate market

According to new figures released today from national housing agency Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the annual pace of housing starts climbed 13% in February. This is largely attributed to breaking ground on urban multi-unit and single-family detached homes.

A housing start is defined as the beginning of construction work on the building where the dwelling unit will be located, either at the stage when concrete has been poured for the whole of the footing of the structure or an equivalent stage where a basement will not be part of the structure.

According to CMHC, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts for February was 243, 959 units, compared to 216, 514 in January. Meanwhile, the annual rate of urban starts bumped up 16% to 222,663 units in February.

According to CMHC, declines in Montreal and Vancouver were offset by Toronto, which recorded a 55% increase in total SAAR housing starts in February.