New homes are constructed in Ottawa on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. The federal government is planning to launch a catalogue of pre-approved home designs to speed up the homebuilding process for developers.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Ottawa to launch pre-approved home design catalogue, bring back post-war effort

by · CHEK

The federal government is planning to launch a catalogue of pre-approved home designs to speed up the home-building process for developers.

Housing Minister Sean Fraser announced today the federal government will begin a consultation process to develop the catalogue in January.

Fraser says this brings back a policy from the post-Second World War era when the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. developed blueprints to speed up the construction of homes.

A report released this summer co-authored by housing expert Mike Moffatt came with a set of recommendations for the federal government that included developing such a catalogue.

Fraser says the initiative will start with low-rise builds and will then explore a potential catalogue for higher-density construction.

The minister says the catalogue should come together sometime next year.

RELATED: B.C. developing ‘standardized designs’ for new homes in effort to cut costs

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2023. 

Editorial Policies Report an Error