Housing design catalogue: One Ontario can support the initiative by helping to identify viable sites
Published at RESCON
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with a senior economist at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and learned about the agency’s Housing Design Catalogue initiative. As part of the National Housing Strategy, the effort is aligned with CMHC’s broader mission to increase housing affordability and supply across Canada. The initiative aims to introduce scalable housing prototypes that address critical barriers in the development process, such as high costs, lengthy timelines and regulatory complexity. The catalogue’s emphasis on standardization and collaboration closely aligns with the work we’ve been doing at One Ontario. A lack of standardization remains one of the largest roadblocks to scaling housing development, as developers are faced with fragmented data and inconsistent regulations across jurisdictions. One Ontario’s mission to streamline processes and harmonize data is essential to addressing these challenges. As a result, this CMHC work is of particular interest to One Ontario.
What is the housing design catalogue?
The Housing Design Catalogue is a CMHC-led initiative designed to create a library of pre-approved housing designs. With approximately 50 templates expected, these designs will be accessible to municipalities and developers as ready-to-use solutions. The goal is to reduce the time and cost associated with planning and approvals, allowing housing projects to move forward more efficiently. By streamlining the design phase, CMHC hopes to remove some of the barriers that currently stall housing development, paving the way for faster and more affordable construction.
The role of data in making the catalogue a success
While pre-approved designs are an exciting innovation, their effectiveness depends on identifying suitable development sites and ensuring that projects align with zoning and infrastructure requirements.
This is where I think One Ontario’s efforts align closely with the catalogue’s goals. One Ontario was established to address one of the biggest barriers in housing development: fragmented, inaccessible data. Whether it’s navigating planning regulations, infrastructure constraints, or ensuring jurisdictional clarity about a property, the lack of a centralized, harmonized dataset creates unnecessary delays and costs for developers and municipalities alike. Powered by the LandLogic platform, we’re working to streamline these processes. The platform’s Data Fusion Engine integrates zoning, environmental, and property-level data from multiple jurisdictions into a single, accessible system. This allows developers and municipalities to identify underutilized land, assess risks, and understand infrastructure requirements – all in real time.
By providing this foundational data, One Ontario can support initiatives like the Housing Design Catalogue by helping to identify viable sites. The alignment between CMHC’s Housing Design Catalogue and One Ontario lies in a shared vision: reducing barriers to housing development and creating a more efficient, inclusive housing market. Both initiatives focus on practical, data-driven solutions that address systemic challenges. While we are not formally working with CMHC at this time, we see potential synergies in how our tools can complement their efforts. For example, LandLogic could be used to identify ideal sites for the catalogued designs, helping developers and municipalities move through the approval process more quickly and efficiently. The combination of pre-approved designs and streamlined site selection has the potential to accelerate housing development and bring much-needed homes to market faster. Ontario and Canada as a whole face significant housing challenges, but innovative solutions offer a path forward. By integrating data, design and collaboration, I think there is a great opportunity to enhance efficiency, lower costs, and deliver more affordable housing solutions that benefit everyone.
As CMHC continues to develop its Housing Design Catalogue, we’re excited to see how the initiative evolves and explore how it might align with the work we’re doing at One Ontario. While we aren’t formally partnered, our shared goals – streamlining processes, reducing barriers and accelerating housing development – create exciting opportunities for future collaboration.
Click here to learn more about the Housing Design Catalog. Click here to discover how One Ontario, powered by LandLogic, can assist with site selection and streamline development approvals. We invite developers, municipalities, and policymakers to join the conversation and explore how One Ontario’s tools can help address the challenges facing Canada’s housing market.
Read the full article at RESCON
For more information:
Mark Anderson
Director of Business Development
Mark.Anderson@oneontario.ca
