Josh Nye, the senior economist at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), notes that the Canadian housing starts were little changed at 201,000 in November with the six-month trend still at a robust 219,000.

• “Housing starts held above the 200,000-mark for a sixth consecutive month in November and another solid month for permit issuance (in October) suggests home building will remain firm through the turn of the year.
• On a six-month trend basis, activity has come off multi-year highs in Quebec and BC, while Ontario and the Prairies have seen a bit of a rebound, but not to earlier levels (particularly for the latter).
• We expect starts will settle closer to the 200,000-mark going forward rather than the 209,000 pace set year-to-date. So while residential investment should remain a positive contributor to growth near-term, we don't expect Q3's double-digit annualized gain will be repeated.”