Federal government reboots Canada’s housing policy from Second World War
What is old is new again when it comes to Canada’s national housing policy.
The federal government announced today it is reviving a previous housing policy now about 80 years old, which was created in response to the immense demand for housing after the Second World War.
Federal Minister of Housing Sean Fraser says the federal government will begin the process of creating a new housing design catalogue, which will help speed up the design and construction of homes by standardizing designs.
This effort to create a catalogue of templates will begin with low-rise construction, including modular and prefabricated structures, with the consideration of higher-density forms later on, such as mid-rise buildings. The consultation process with relevant stakeholders and partners in the housing sector will begin in January 2024.
“In order to build more homes faster, we need to change how we build homes in Canada. We are going to take the idea of a housing catalogue which we used the last time Canada faced a housing crisis, and bring it into the 21st century,” said Fraser in a statement.