As part of Ontario’s goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031, the provincial government has assigned housing targets to 29 of the largest and fastest-growing municipalities.

Every month, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation releases municipal-level data on housing starts, completions, and units under construction. Dr. Mike Moffatt, an economist and Assistant Professor at Ivey Business School, compiled CMHC’s most recent data, for May 2023, and compared it to Ontario’s targets.

Moffatt’s data presents each city’s monthly goal, the number of housing starts it accomplished, and the number of completions it recorded. Both figures are also shown as a percentage of the monthly target.

While some municipalities exceeded expectations, the majority received a failing grade.

Of the 29 cities with provincially imposed targets, only two actually met their monthly goal in terms of housing starts, and another two met their monthly goal in terms of completions.

At 132%, Brantford had the highest percentage of housing starts in May. The city’s monthly target was 83 units, but it got shovels in the ground on 110. It only recorded 62 completions, though, accounting for 74% of its monthly target.