By Sharif Hassan
Andrea Adams, the chief director of the non-profit developer St. Clare’s, mentioned she was “daydreaming” about what could possibly be constructed on the yard subsequent to the 20-unit constructing on Ossington Avenue.
She was finally launched to Meeting Corp., an organization that builds mass timber modular housing, across the similar time that the town was in search of proposals for “shovel prepared” inexpensive housing initiatives.
St. Clare’s had the land, the contractor — and, extra importantly, the desire to get the undertaking completed.
The result’s an attention grabbing, three-storey constructing that’s now dwelling to greater than two dozen individuals who have been experiencing homelessness.
“It’s a really assertive undertaking,” Adams mentioned in her workplace subsequent to the L-shaped motel-style construction. Its residents, she mentioned, “would have been folks that have been residing in shelters or sofa browsing or residing in tents.”
The undertaking is a small step towards addressing the cost-of-living downside in a province that noticed 80,000 folks expertise homelessness in 2024, in response to an Affiliation of Municipalities of Ontario report.
Advocates and specialists say whereas there isn’t any single answer to the homelessness disaster that’s compounded by psychological well being and addictions points, prefabricated houses may play a big position in addressing the scarcity of inexpensive and supportive housing.
“The modular positively helps as a result of the quicker development is, the least costly it’s,” Adams mentioned.
The 25-unit complicated on Ossington was erected in simply 21 working days and total development took eight months.
The dimensions of every small studio is round 220 sq. toes, with a toilet, a kitchen and a lounge. The fashionable, mild brown exterior with massive home windows and shading fins attracts the eye of passersby.
The construction “makes use of each sq. inch of property accessible to it and but nonetheless appears to be like lovely,” Adams mentioned.
Given the urgency of the homelessness downside, much more must be completed, she mentioned. “We have to do all of the issues and consider extra issues after which do these issues.”
Lack of housing is a Canada-wide concern and by some estimates, the nation wants tens of millions of latest houses for its rising inhabitants.
Throughout the federal election marketing campaign, Prime Minister Mark Carney promised a housing plan that might yield 500,000 new houses yearly and supply $25 billion in loans for corporations that make factory-built houses.
In his first information convention after the April 28 vote, Carney mentioned he goals to create an “solely new Canadian housing business” round modular housing, utilizing Canadian lumber, expert employees and expertise.
Throughout the February provincial election, Ontario Premier Doug Ford additionally promised $50 million to assist modular housing expertise.
Specialists say modular houses have a number of benefits that embrace a faster development timeline, value effectiveness and a possibility to construct them in an environmentally pleasant manner.
The important thing to unlocking that potential is to create a secure demand for modular houses so factories can put money into them and rent employees with confidence, mentioned Carolyn Whitzman, a professor and researcher on the College of Toronto’s College of Cities.
She mentioned the brand new authorities’s funding in factory-built houses is a welcome transfer, however extra must be completed to make the plan successful.
“The trick is how can Canada get to the size,” she mentioned, noting modular development isn’t as quick or low cost because it has the potential to be, and that might change if manufacturing ramps up.
“With a purpose to construct these factories and provides folks manufacturing unit jobs, you must have a sure stage of demand. We merely don’t have that but.”
She mentioned the federal authorities may place an order for factories to construct a particular variety of modular houses for supportive, scholar or different forms of social housing yearly to assist stimulate the market.
Although modular housing accounts for less than 4 to 6 per cent of development, it is gaining popularity in Canada, a report co-authored by Whitzman mentioned.
Whitzman mentioned Sweden is an instance of a rustic that efficiently turned to modular houses to deal with a housing disaster, with almost 45 per cent of its houses in-built factories.
In Canada, the place business labour shortages and lengthy winters can delay development timelines, prefabricated houses might alleviate a few of these uncertainties, Whitzman mentioned.
However regardless of its many benefits, modular housing isn’t a “magic bullet” for affordability. Vital authorities monetary help and involvement is required, she mentioned.
For the Ossington Avenue modular constructing, the federal authorities offered round $4.8 million in funding and the Metropolis of Toronto contributed roughly $1.7 million within the type of incentives, cost waivers and tax reduction. St. Clare’s fairness was estimated to be round $900,000.
Adams, the chief director of St. Clare’s, mentioned the lease for every unit within the constructing is round $500 a month.
Modular models are an essential a part of Toronto’s inexpensive housing plan. Doug Rollins, the interim government director of the town’s housing secretariat, mentioned the purpose is to construct 18,000 supportive housing models by 2030, a few of which will probably be prefabricated.
The town just lately accomplished the development of a five-storey, 64-unit prefabricated constructing on Kingston Highway within the east finish, with lease based mostly on every tenant’s revenue, Rollins mentioned.
“It’s going to stay inexpensive and as their revenue adjustments, so will their lease,” he mentioned.
Different modular housing initiatives are underway elsewhere in Toronto and builders say they’re seeing elevated demand for prefabricated houses.
Luke Moir, who managed the Ossington Avenue undertaking, mentioned it’s a “nice instance” of how unused land in city centres could possibly be reworked.
“It’s a piece of the puzzle,” he mentioned of prefabricated houses as a housing scarcity answer.
Moir, who works as a undertaking supervisor at Meeting Corp., the contractor that constructed the home for St. Clare’s, mentioned such development initiatives are additionally much less disruptive as a result of most parts are fabricated from wooden and assembled off-site, that means there’s “lots much less nailing and banging, after which there’s no mud and grinding.”
In Ottawa, Theberge Group of Firms is engaged on its first factory-built dwelling with eight flats within the Westboro neighbourhood. Manufacturing started in early February. The modules have been introduced on website in mid-March and erected in simply three days.
The undertaking is about to be totally accomplished by the tip of June, and the primary tenant is anticipated to maneuver in on July 1.
Jeremy Silburt, the corporate’s director of acquisitions, planning and improvement, mentioned Theberge is anticipated to start out engaged on a couple of extra for-profit modular dwelling initiatives in late summer season.
Non-profit teams have reached out to the corporate about partnering to construct inexpensive houses, he mentioned, including that modular houses reduce the development time by one-third.
“So it permits us to construct a undertaking just a little bit cheaper, sure, but in addition in a short time and that saves us a bunch of time and money,” he mentioned.
Smaller cities in Ontario have additionally adopted modular development in an effort to construct small houses quick.
Peterborough constructed a 50-unit complicated in 2023, London constructed a 61-unit constructing in 2022 and Marathon, a city 300 kilometres east of Thunder Bay, has plans for the same 20-unit undertaking, in response to the Ontario Actual Property Affiliation.
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Final modified: Might 17, 2025
