Ask an Expert: Housing Design Catalogue

00:00:01

[Audio: Ticking and whooshing followed by upbeat music.]

[Visual: A montage of archival housing design catalogues and archival photographs of a variety of homes.]

[Visual: A woman with long, dark, wavy hair sits at a desk in front of a blue background. She wears red lipstick, a white collared shirt and a beige sweater with a large red heart on the front. A keyboard, a mouse, a coffee cup and a tablet sit on the desktop.]

Joelle Hamilton: We all know we need to build more homes, faster.

00:00:06

[Visual: A labourer walking inside a timber house frame with text that reads, "How do we get there?"]

Joelle: But how do we get there?

00:00:08

[Visual: Two men in hard hats and safety vests study a blueprint on a table in the timber house frame. Two shots of the complex timber house frame with text that reads, "More affordable. More attainable."]

Joelle: What are some of the ways we can make housing more affordable and attainable for Canadians?

00:00:12

[Visual: A montage of clips: newly built residential homes during the day, vehicles driving through a city intersection at night, newly built condominium buildings during the day, and a cityscape with a tall building under construction at sunset.]

00:00:19

[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Ask an expert."]

Joelle: Standardized housing designs help reduce the cost, time and uncertainty involved in development.

00:00:25

[Visual: Joelle sits at the desk. A text box that reads, "Joelle Hamilton, Communications & Marketing, CMHC" appears in the lower left corner.]

Joelle: In this episode, we’ll look at how the Government of Canada’s Housing Design Catalogue will help builders and communities increase housing supply across Canada.

00:00:35

[Visual: In a search bar, text reads, "www.housingcatalogue.cmhc-schl.gc.ca." On the website's homepage, the header and sub-header read, "Housing Design Catalogue. Standardized designs to make homebuilding easier." The mouse clicks a yellow button that reads, "How to use the catalogue."]

Joelle: We’re joined by an expert from our policy planning team who helped make the catalogue possible.

00:00:43

[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "What is the Housing Design Catalogue?"]

00:00:46

[Audio: Funky music plays.]

[Visual: A man with short brown hair and glasses sits in a bright office. He wears a navy-blue jacket and a light-blue shirt. A text box that reads, "Daniel Rubinstein, Advisor, Client Solutions, CMHC" appears and disappears.]

[Speaker: Daniel Rubinstein, Advisor, Client Solutions, CMHC]

Daniel Rubinstein: In a nutshell: the Housing Design Catalogue is a set of 50 low-rise ready-to-use home designs. They’re a head start for homeowners, builders, municipalities. They allow them to skip most of the design process and jump right into finalizing designs for a specific site.

00:01:02

[Visual: On the website, a sub-header reads "Regional Designs for Local Needs" with seven photos labelled "AB; BC; NB, NL, NS, PE; ON; QC; SK & MB; YT, NWT, NU." The page scrolls down to a sub-header that reads, "Supporting Gentle Density" above four drawings labelled "Accessory Dwelling Units, Rowhouses and Townhouses, Fourplexes, Sixplexes." The page scrolls down to a sub-header that reads, "Designs to help build more homes, faster" above an image gallery of 3-D animation renderings of each building style.]

Daniel: The idea is to support gentle density, which means housing options that fit into existing neighbourhoods. That means multiplexes, rowhouses, townhomes and detached accessory dwelling units also known as garden suites or laneway homes.

00:01:16

[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "What inspired the Housing Design Catalogue?"]

Joelle: The Housing Design Catalogue isn’t a new idea for Canada, but it’s definitely been reimagined for today’s context.

00:01:24

[Visual: Daniel sits in the office.]

Daniel: The Catalogue was inspired by CMHC’s post-war housing design catalogue, which was developed between the late 1940s and 1970s.

00:01:32

[Visual: The years "1947 - 1978" scroll past next to a montage of archival housing design catalogues. The pages include blueprints and descriptions for the designs, including "bungalows, two-storey, 1 1/2 storey."]

Daniel: We can still see evidence of the post-war catalogue influence on urban planning and development. For example, the 1.5-storey “Victory Home” is something you’ve probably seen in neighbourhoods across Canada.

00:01:43

[Visual: A montage of black and white photos of victory homes, which have simple rectangular shapes and steep roofs.]

Daniel: I definitely do—I actually live in one in Ottawa that was built in 1952.

00:01:49

[Visual: Daniel sits in the office.]

Daniel: The Catalogue architects used what we’ve learned about homebuilding in Canada from the last 85 years and applied it to housing challenges of the 21st century.

00:01:58

[Visual: On a page of the Housing Design Catalogue website, sub-headers read, "Adaptable by design, Energy performance and climate, Regionally informed, Designed for compliance, and Financially feasible."]

Daniel: Today’s Catalogue provides missing middle housing options, with a focus on energy performance, climate resilience and accessibility.

00:02:07

[Audio: Light rhythmic music plays.]

[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "How are designs adaptable?"]

Joelle: Canada is home to so many different climates. Just do a quick search on the weather in Vancouver and Toronto right now and you’ll see the proof of that.

[Visual: Joelle sits at the desk.]

Joelle: So how are these designs adaptable for so many different regions?

00:02:21

[Visual: The Housing Design Catalogue website's "Explore the Designs" page. The designs scroll past and the mouse clicks on "Row House - Municipal." Then, the mouse clicks an image of the blueprint and scrolls down to the Floor Plans.]

Daniel: The designs in the Catalogue were developed by regional architectural and engineering teams with local knowledge of climate conditions, regulations, construction methods, and materials. The Catalogue provides a big head start for builders, who can adapt the region-specific designs to site and project requirements.

00:02:38

[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Partnerships."]

Joelle: One way to ensure the most impact from the Catalogue is through partnerships.

00:02:44

[Visual: Daniel sits in the office.]

Daniel: In developing the Housing Design Catalogue, the Government of Canada worked with professionals from across the housing sector to get feedback, inform the types of designs, features, and amenities in the catalogue, and see how they can be adapted and implemented in different regions across the country.

00:02:59

[Visual: A man unrolls a blueprint. Three workers study housing blueprints on a table in a partially constructed building.]

Daniel: The government is also working with provinces, territories, and municipalities to look for ways to streamline and fast-track approvals of these standardized designs.

00:03:09

[Visual: Workers walk in a timber housing frame. Condominiums rise in a waterfront city surrounded by forested mountains.]

Daniel: Local governments know their communities best and can provide guidance to builders and homeowners. That’s one way we can work together to ensure the most impact in our communities.

00:03:19

[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "What’s Next?"]

Joelle: The Housing Design Catalogue could help build so many more homes, faster.

00:03:23

[Visual: Joelle sits at the desk.]

Joelle: But it requires collaboration between homeowners, builders, and local governments.

00:03:30

[Visual: Daniel sits in the office.]

Daniel: My hope is that we see an increase in housing options within existing neighbourhoods that meet various needs. I hope to see more 3-bedroom and 4-bedroom units like we have in many of the Catalogue designs, and homes that achieve greater energy efficiency and improve climate resiliency.

00:03:41

[Audio: Upbeat music plays.]

[Visual: The year "2025" appears next to the cover of the Housing Design Catalogue. The cover disappears, replaced by a montage of blueprints and 3-D animation renderings of various houses. Then, the Housing Design Catalogue's website appears and the "About" page scrolls past. The sub-headers read, "Flexible Housing Solutions, Inspired by our history, Consulting with the housing sector."]

Daniel: So not only do I want to see more homes built, faster, but I hope to see the Catalogue show what’s possible in terms of housing design today.

00:03:55

[Visual: Joelle sits at the desk.]

Joelle: The Housing Design Catalogue can help reduce costs, time and uncertainty involved in the development process. If you want to see how it can make a difference in your community, get the link in the description below.

00:04:07

[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Subscribe on YouTube."]

Joelle: And don’t forget to subscribe, so you never miss a video like this one.

00:04:15

[Visual: The Housing, Infrastructure and Communications Canada logo, the Canada wordmark, and the CMHC logo appear in a row.]