The BC Housing Model Catalog is available here. Where is Ottawa’s? – National
The revelation this week of a new catalogue of pre-approved housing models in British Columbia raises questions about when a promised federal equivalent will be available.
As the cost of living and unemployment rates continue to weigh on society, advocates say it’s time to accelerate the federal government’s promise to do everything it can to build more housing, quickly, and try to make it easier to build manufactured homes.
“For a factory to produce housing, you have to guarantee a certain number of orders. And that’s very difficult to do when you’re working with multiple different jurisdictions, all of which have different rules about what’s allowed and what’s not,” said Carolyn Whitzman, a senior housing researcher at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities.
Prefabricated housing or prefabricated construction is a method of construction where the bulk of the construction takes place off-site, often in a facility such as a factory.
A fully constructed modular home or portions of a home are then shipped to the site, where they are assembled and connected to utilities.
That potential has become a growing topic of conversation as provinces and the federal government explore ways to standardize and speed up home construction.
Having standardized designs means developers can eliminate paperwork and start building quickly.
Whitzman said this is demonstrated by the city of Kelowna, B.C., which introduced standardized designs in 2022, well before the rest of the province.
“Kelowna can get these pre-approved projects approved in 10 days. Whereas in the Greater Toronto Area, for example, it could easily take 18 months to get an infill project approved,” she said.
Whitzman said a federal catalog was a necessity of the moment.
“Whatever level of government can do it, they should do it. It’s much less effective to have 750 municipalities and over 5,000 people do a whole bunch of changes than it is to have 10 provinces and three territories do it. And it’s more effective to have national standards,” she said.
What does the BC catalog contain?
The British Columbia government announced Wednesday has released a free catalog of duplex, triplex, quadplex and townhouse models that are compatible with the 2024 British Columbia Building Code.
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These designs can be customized for different lot sizes and configurations for use throughout British Columbia.
A spokesperson for AccommodationInfrastructure and Communities Canada told Global News the plan will support federal efforts, but did not answer a question about when exactly the federal catalogue will be available beyond “late 2024.”
“B.C.’s standardized design project is a great example of how provinces and territories can support our shared housing construction priorities, and discussions with provinces and territories will continue as needed to ensure that appropriate mechanisms are in place at all levels of government to support the adoption of catalogue designs,” the statement said.
Budget 2024 provided $11.6 million in 2024-25 to support the development of the housing design catalogue for up to 50 models.
The catalogue is currently in the request for proposals (RFP) phase, with the housing minister seeking design services “for the development of low-rise designs under the initiative”.
So-called “strawberry box” or “victory houses” were built for Second World War veterans and still stand in many Canadian neighbourhoods. On Tuesday, the federal government announced it was reviving the policy.
Library and Archives Canada
Whitzman says Canada’s approach to housing has been very “piecemeal,” with each municipality having its own variation of building codes, design requirements and zoning regulations.
“It is impossible to build housing quickly and also to build infill housing in a standardised manner,” she said.
“Kelowna has been a leader in design. British Columbia is now a leader in design. And I hope the federal government will lead the way in design…the more we can move decision-making up to the next level of government, the better.”
Singh said the pre-approved designs will not only help speed up the construction process but also reduce construction costs and avoid delays.
While Singh called for action at the federal level, she said more provinces also need to do their part as Canadians continue to face housing and financial challenges.
Singh said some provinces, like her home province of Ontario, do not agree with Ottawa.
“Given the often politicized nature of the relationship between the Ford government and the Trudeau government, I worry that this is going to end up in the pile of good ideas never done,” she said of implementing the housing catalogue.
She noted that Mississauga, Ont., now has two pre-approved templates that can be downloaded from the city’s website.
“This shows us that municipalities want pre-approved designs and would benefit from the province adopting a national catalogue,” Singh said.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Canada will need nearly 3.5 million additional new homes by 2030.
A federal catalogue of designs would not be new to Canada.
When thousands of veterans returned to Canada after the Second World War, the country was facing a housing crisis. To cut red tape and speed up the construction and approval process, Ottawa published a catalogue of pre-approved home designs that builders could begin building immediately. Hundreds of thousands of new homes were built across Canada in a short period of time.
In December, Housing Minister Sean Fraser announced the Liberals were scrapping the nearly 80-year-old program and revamping it.
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