The number of housing starts in the province ended the year on a low note (-18.1%, seasonally adjusted) in December, bucking the national trend. Canadian starts were up 7.9% as new building activity accelerated substantially in some provinces. Ontario starts increased to nearly a third (32.4%) and Nova Scotia more than tripled its activity (203.6%). Meanwhile, Quebec (7.2%) and New Brunswick (5.7%) recorded solid, but comparatively moderate increases. On the other side of the scale, starts were down most notably in PEI (-46.7%) and Manitoba (34.7%). | 
