Government of Canada Seeking Design Services for the Housing Design Catalogue

OTTAWA, ON, July 5, 2024 /CNW/ – Today, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, announced the launch of a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) process for the Housing Design Catalogue. The RFP will seek design services for the development of low-rise designs as part of the Housing Design Catalogue initiative. Interested proponents have until August 7, 2024, to submit their proposal.

In January 2024, the Government of Canada 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 Housing Design Catalogue – What We Heard Report summarizes the findings from the engagement and reflects on key points that have helped to inform the government’s next steps.

The launch of the RFP process is an important step in advancing the first phase of the Housing Design Catalogue initiative. The first iteration of the Catalogue, 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.

Quote

“We need to build more homes, faster, and Canada’s Housing Plan provides the blueprint to get us there. 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.”

The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

Quick Facts

In December 2023, the Government of Canada committed to begin engagements in early January 2024 to lay the foundation to change how Canada builds homes with a new housing design catalogue initiative.Budget 2024 provided $11.6 million in 2024-25 to support the development of the Housing Design Catalogue for up to 50 designs to simplify and accelerate housing approvals and builds.Managed by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), on behalf of the Government of Canada, the RFP process is seeking 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.

Associated links

CanadaBuys – Tender NoticeHousing Design CatalogueFederal government lays the foundation to change how Canada builds homesSolving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing PlanBudget 2024: Fairness for every generation

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SOURCE Infrastructure Canada