The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released housing starts data on Friday. Housing starts in Canada dropped to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 165,861 units in January from 172,533 units in December. December's figure was revised down from 172,965 units.

The data had originally been scheduled to be released on February 08.

"Housing starts trended down across the country with the exception of Ontario. The overall decline is mostly attributable to a slowdown in the Prairies where the housing starts trend was at a 4-year low in January," the CMHC's Chief Economist Bob Dugan said.