As part of its efforts to get more housing built faster, the federal government has launched a request for proposals for companies to provide designs for low-rise housing units that will be included in the planned Housing Design Catalogue.

In January, the federal government began conducting targeted engagements with industry professionals and technical experts, homebuilders, non-profit housing providers, and other orders of government to inform the types of designs, features, and amenities in the catalogue, and to discuss how it can be adopted and implemented in various regions across the country.

The launch of the RFP process is an important step in advancing the first phase of the Housing Design Catalogue. Managed by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the process will seek proposals from capable firms specialized in residential design services to produce a series of flexible designs that will form the federal low-rise housing design catalogue.

Interested proponents have until August 7 to submit their proposals.

The first iteration of the catalogue, which is set to become available in late 2024, will contain up to 50 low-rise housing designs, such as row housing, fourplexes, sixplexes, and accessory dwelling units, that provinces, territories, and municipalities could use to simplify and accelerate housing approvals and builds.

The government will also explore opportunities to leverage new construction methods such as modular and pre-fabrication in future iterations of the catalogue.

“We need to build more homes, faster, and Canada’s Housing Plan provides the blueprint to get us there,” said Housing Minister Sean Fraser. “As a country, we need to innovate, deploy new tools and cut red tape to fast track construction. The Housing Design Catalogue provides an opportunity to find modern day solutions to the housing challenges of today. I am excited to introduce standardized designs later this year that will help builders construct cost-effective, labour efficient, energy efficient homes that are also built rapidly and affordably.”

Budget 2024 provided $11.6 million in funding to support the development of the Housing Design Catalogue for up to 50 designs to simplify and accelerate housing approvals and builds.