Housing starts in Canada ticked down in September as the stand-alone monthly figure and six-month average both declined, preliminary Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. data showed.

The September figure came in at a seasonally adjusted 217,118 units from a revised 225,918 units in the previous before.

The six-month moving average fell for the first time in nine months to 214,821 units in September after a revised 220,573 units average in August.

Meanwhile, building permits in the country declined for the second straight month in August as municipalities issued permits worth C$7.5 billion, 5.5% lower than July's figure, Statistics Canada reported.

Residential building permits stood at C$4.87 billion in August, down 2.8% from C$5.01 billion in July as permits for multifamily dwellings tumbled 6.0% over the period, compared to 0.4% rise to single-family dwellings.

Building permits for nonresidential structures fell 10.0% to C$2.67 billion from a revised C$2.97 billion in July as all three components pulled back. Permits for industrial building decreased 17.3%, institutional buildings by 17.2% and for commercial structures by 2.7%.