Maybe they consider a townhome or apartment condo as a starter home, which is true in the current market, but 25 years ago it wasn't uncommon to buy a detached as your first home.

They mean a single family home which might be described as a "detached house"

In the GTHA (including Waterloo) there is no such thing as a starter home any more, which in the past meant "small detached house, probably needs some work". The only thing they build now is very small 500 sqft condos and very large 3000+ sqft houses.