Ottawa new home construction sets new record in 2021

New home construction hit a record high in the city of Ottawa in 2021, with nearly 30 per cent of the new dwellings built in Ottawa's intensification target areas.

The 2021 Annual Development Report shows construction began on 9,402 new homes last year, up 1.8 per cent from 2020 and the most housing starts in a single year since amalgamation in 2000.

Single-detached homes accounted for 29.5 per cent of all new housing starts in Ottawa, up from 26.4 per cent of all starts in 2020. 

Semi-detached homes accounted for 2.3 per cent of all home starts last year, while apartments accounted for 40.3 per cent of all home starts. The report says the proportion of semi-detached and row house starts decreased in 2021 from 2020.

Staff say the larger Ottawa-Gatineau area ranked fifth in "absolute housing starts" among Canada's six largest metropolitan areas in 2021, with 13,280 units built. While Ottawa-Gatineau saw a 1.9 per cent increase in housing starts last year, Calgary saw a 62 per cent increase in housing starts, followed by Montreal at 18.6 per cent.

Ottawa's existing Official Plan directs intensification to areas with high levels of transit service or where dwellings may be located close to employment areas. The report says 3,192 residential units were issued building permits in intensification targets areas, accounting for 28 per cent of net new units issued permits in Ottawa.

A total for 1,401 permits were issued around existing Rapid Transit Stations, while 1,181 units will be built around future LRT stations.

Council approved a new Official Plan in October 2021, establishing an increasing residential intensification target to 2035. The Official Plan is still under review by the Ontario government.  

Ottawa's Development Report shows the average resale price of a new home was $645,976 in 2021, up 22 per cent from the year before. Ottawa's rental vacancy rate was 3.4 per cent.

The city of Ottawa's population increased 0.8 per cent in 2021 to 1,054,800.  The downtown area saw the greatest population growth in 2021, up 11.7 per cent last year compared to a 2.9 per cent decrease the year before.

According to the report, 588,700 Ottawa residents were employed in 2021, with 182,000 residents working in "knowledge", 134,000 working for government and 84,000 employed in the retail sector.   Staff say the "Industrial and Resource Cluster" saw the largest employment growth last year, with 12,900 new jobs. Ottawa's retail sector saw a decline of 3,000 jobs in 2021 from the year before.

The wards of Barrhaven and Gloucester-South Nepean had the highest ward populations in Ottawa.

The planning committee will receive the annual development report at its meeting on Aug. 25.