A panel of housing experts have recommended 140 collaborative policy actions that could add millions of affordable homes in the next few years that are also low-carbon and climate-resilient.
The Task Force for Housing and Climate released a document this week titled, Blueprint for More and Better Housing, which engages all levels of government across Canada. The guidance is intended to help legalize density, implement better building codes, invest in factory-built housing and regulate housing growth in areas most vulnerable to climate impacts. The advisory group was created in September 2023 to devise solutions for the national housing target of 5.8 million homes by 2030. This includes 2.3 million non- and below-market housing units.
This document is the task force’s final output and comes at a time when housing remains a critical need. “Our Blueprint shows that climate-aligned housing can be faster to build and more affordable as a result of lower utility and insurance bills, lower infrastructure costs, and less regulation-blocking density,” said former Edmonton mayor Don Iveson.
The panel, co-chaired by Iveson and former federal cabinet minister Lisa Raitt, is urging municipal governments to take 40 actions, including fully abolishing parking minimums, eliminating unit maximums, establishing ambitious density rules near transit, and streamlining approval processes.
There are 50 actions for provinces to consider: supporting municipal governments with pro-density reforms while overriding counteractive policies; investing in factory-built housing; and adopting the highest tiers of Canada’s National Model Building Code to improve energy efficiency, for which British Columbia has already committed.
From the federal government, the task force recommends tying all federal infrastructure, transit, and housing funding to provincial and municipal adoption of pro-density legalization reforms and adoption of stronger building codes. As well, an innovation strategy is needed to accelerate housing innovations, such as mass timber, low-carbon concrete and other factory-built housing approaches. This can incorporate tax reforms for purpose-built rental projects and exempting skilled trades programs from international student visa caps.
Canada is also advised to overhaul the National Model Building Codes to integrate physical climate resilience measures and support integration with local building performance standards to reflect changing regional climate risks.
Among other takeaways, the panel recommends more collaboration with First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples to support Indigenous-led housing projects and improved mapping of climate impacts such as flood and wildfire hazards.
Last year, polling results from the team found that more than 4 in 5 Canadians want a climate-centred fix to the housing crisis.
Betsy Agar, director of the Pembina Institute’s buildings program, said in a statement this week, that the recommendations “reinforce both the critical need for shared action and the opportunities present to advance necessary policy at the municipal, provincial, and federal level.” They also support findings from Pembina’s Getting Canada’s Homes in Order report.
“The Task Force for Housing and Climate is a unique initiative bringing together experts and key actors across the housing, finance, and insurance industry, as well as Indigenous leaders and civil society,” she said. “This level of diverse input and engagement offers invaluable insight into the varied methods through which the housing, affordability, and climate crisis can be addressed through concerted effort and a commitment to partnership and collaboration.”
The Blueprint for More and Better Housing report can be accessed here.
