House prices have declined for three months in a row in Canada, as the country deals with the damaging effects of Donald Trump’s tariffs and prepares for the upcoming general election.
Between February and March prices fell by 0.4% across Canada, with the biggest declines happening in Halifax (-1.9%), Toronto (-1.2%), Hamilton (-0.8%), and Ottawa-Gatineau (-0.4%).
Unsurprisingly for such a large geographical country, some cities buck the trend, as prices have increased in Victoria (+2.2%), Winnipeg (+1.6%), Edmonton (+0.6%), Quebec City (+0.5%), Calgary (+0.4%), and Montreal (+0.2%).
The data comes from the House Price Index from Teranet and the National Bank of Canada.
The Canadian federal election will take place on April 28, with Liberal leader and current Prime Minister Mark Carney going against Conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre.
Election discussions have been dominated by discussions around dealing with Trump’s tariff trade war.
Canada’s economy has traditionally been intertwined with the US, but the US has now slapped a 25% tariff on Canadian goods, with a 10% tariff on potash and energy, and disrespected Canada’s sovereignty with talk of making the country the 51st US state – damaging relations between the two.
The Bank of Canada has warned that the tariffs could cause inflation to spike, putting the country into a recession.
Annual house price growth
These monthly declines are pushing down annual growth levels, which have fallen from 2.9% in February to 2.3% in March.
Quebec City lead the way with price increases of 12.7% over 12 months, followed by Montreal with a gain of 9.7% and Halifax with growth of 8.8%.
The largest declines occurred in Brantford (-8.1%), Oshawa (-3.7%), and St. Catharines (-2.8%).
