A legacy of solving housing challenges

Canada faced profound housing challenges in the post-World War II era.

The homebuilding industry was underdeveloped. There was a chronic undersupply of new housing and many of the homes that did exist were low quality and in poor condition.

Only through profound changes in the decades that followed — in construction methods, financing and beyond — did this landscape change, and a new system emerged that more adequately met the housing needs of Canadians.

Standardized design as a solution

One of the key innovations during this time was the introduction of standardized home designs. Recognizing the urgent need to build quickly and efficiently, CMHC developed a practical solution to support builders across the country, the Small House Designs.

Standardized designs were a part of the innovation equation that changed the housing picture in Canada.

Beginning in the late 1940s, CMHC published home design catalogues for over 30 years. These guides gave builders practical plans and technical details, helping to speed up homebuilding across Canada. To this day, models such as the one-and-a-half-storey “Victory Home” remain fixtures in many neighbourhoods — a testament to the quality and liveability of the designs, and impact of the initiative itself.

A modern need for design guidance

Fast forward to today, and the need for standardized design catalogues remains — particularly those focused on infill development and gentle density.

Canada’s homebuilding industry still faces ongoing productivity challenges. Obtaining approvals for new homes can be a burdensome, lengthy process. And the technical requirements for homes continue to grow. Standardized designs are not a cure-all for these challenges, but they have a role to play in addressing them.

A new chapter: the modern Housing Design Catalogue

The Government of Canada first announced the intent for CMHC to develop and publish a modern Housing Design Catalogue in late 2023. Since then, the project team has consulted widely, bringing in technical experts from across the country and working closely with local partners to prepare for launch. They’ve also engaged with provinces, municipalities, builders, Indigenous organizations and Accessibility Standards Canada. Designing a catalogue that achieves all these objectives is no small undertaking. The historical catalogues focused mainly on design and layout. Today’s version has gone much further — considering not just architecture, but also regulatory requirements, economic realities, regional and cultural context and more.

The full technical design packages give builders the opportunity to use the designs in their own projects for the first time.

Building for today — and tomorrow

As Canada continues to face housing supply and affordability challenges, the new Housing Design Catalogue offers a practical step forward. By combining technical guidance with thoughtful design, it aims to support builders, speed up construction and help create homes that work for people today — just as the original catalogue did decades ago.

Read Part 2 to learn more about real-world examples of how First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities are leading innovative housing design initiatives and how the Catalogue complements them.