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Canada turns to 1940s strategy to speed up housing construction

MFPRO+ News

Canada turns to 1940s strategy to speed up housing construction

The plan centers on creating a catalog of pre-approved residential building designs to reduce cost and time to build housing.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | January 8, 2024
Image by Syaibatul Hamdi from Pixabay - Canada turns to 1940s strategy to speed up housing construction
Image by Syaibatul Hamdi from Pixabay

To address a severe housing shortage, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration has begun a housing construction strategy pioneered in the years after World War 2.

The government aims to use a catalog of pre-approved home designs to reduce the cost and time to construct homes. The concept was used after the war when thousands of soldiers returning from overseas needed housing.

The new adaptation differs from what was done in the post-war era. This time, instead of a focus on single-family “Victory House” structures, the government is seeking designs for multiplexes, mid-rises, seniors’ homes, student housing, garden suites, and lane-way homes.

The catalog will feature multiple designs in each category. A government official told Bloomberg that it is open to modular, panelization, mass timber, and possibly 3D-printed home designs.

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