Building on Canada's neighbourhoods
The Housing Design Catalogue provides tools to increase housing options within existing neighbourhoods through gentle density.
A head start for those looking to build
Explore final renderings, floor plan layouts and key building details for the low-rise housing designs. This information offers a head start for homeowners, builders and municipalities in their planning processes.
The final architectural design packages will be available in Spring 2025 and will include:
- Architectural and engineering drawings (PDF, CAD and BIM files)
- Technical guidance to support builders with key details such as site considerations, material selection and climate resilience
- Energy modeling guidance and performance report
- Construction cost summary
- Alternate floor plans for different accessibility needs
The catalogue offers practical, adaptable designs for gentle density and infill development, prioritizing energy performance, accessibility, climate resilience and financial feasibility.
The designs are specific to each region to align with building codes, climate zones and planning rules.
About the designs
Enabling communities to support new housing
Local governments across Canada are looking to build more homes that meet their residents’ needs. The catalogue provides tools to support homebuilding in your community with a focus on infill development and gentle density.
For local governmentsApplying standardized designs to specific sites
Designs in the catalogue are based on common lot sizes, typical planning rules and zoning bylaws within each region of Canada. The final architectural design packages will include guidelines to assist users with site-specific considerations. Working with qualified professionals, the designs can be adapted for details such as:
- Zoning compliance (lot coverage, setbacks, etc.)
- Parking, access, bike storage and waste management
- Grading and drainage
- Foundations, basements and crawlspaces
- Building orientation and siting
- Services and utilities requirements
- Cladding and material selection
- Energy performance, climate and structural requirements
