Alberta broke housing construction records in 2025 and led the country in housing starts per capita — a massive upswing in homebuilding that comes after a period of similarly massive population growth.

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Some of Alberta’s advantage comes down to geography. Cities in Alberta tend to be a bit more spread out, said Moffatt, which means you can build outward more easily (though that can come with its own challenges, such as the need to build new water infrastructure to service far-flung suburban neighbourhoods).

In Alberta, developers also don’t need to contend with provincial sales tax, he said, which makes it cheaper to build.

And, generally, development policy is also friendlier at a municipal level in Alberta, said Moffatt.

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Some federal policies and programs have also helped move the needle — both in Alberta and elsewhere — such as the federal government’s removal of GST on purpose-built rental housing, and a CMHC program that offers discounted mortgage insurance on certain multi-residential projects.