By Richard Lyall
RESCON
Ontario’s housing market is flashing red.
In the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, sales have plunged. Starts are down 29 per cent year-over-year across Ontario’s metropolitan areas outside Toronto, and in Toronto itself are down 58 per cent.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. estimates that between 430,000 and 480,000 homes must be built annually over the next decade to restore affordability. We are not even close.
The gap between what we need and what we’re delivering is expanding. If we’re serious about addressing the housing crisis, we must modernize how we approve, design and build housing. That means digitizing planning approvals, supporting new approaches to homebuilding and embracing a full-scale ConTech and PropTech revolution.
Digitize planning approvals
Our planning approvals process is often too cumbersome and burdened by unnecessary bureaucracy. Some municipalities have made progress, but the overall system remains fragmented and inconsistent. It’s not unusual for builders to face multi-year delays on projects.
Globally, Canada ranks near the bottom among OECD countries in terms of approval timelines. Jurisdictions that outperform us have embraced digitization, standardized designs and full integration of tools such as Building Information Modelling. Ontario must do the same.
Ontario should fund, mandate and monitor a province-wide digitization strategy that includes common technological platforms, standardized data requirements and measurable service benchmarks. Municipalities need the tools and the financial support to modernize.
If other industries can automate and digitize their processes, there is no reason construction and development approvals should remain stuck in the dark ages.
Support new approaches to homebuilding
However, modernizing approvals is only half the equation. We must also transform how homes are built.
Around the world, off-site and modular construction have moved from niche to mainstream. Countries such as Sweden and Germany have embraced factory-built systems that integrate design, engineering and manufacturing from the outset. This past fall, RESCON led a mission to Germany to study its off-site construction ecosystem. What we saw was eye-opening. From design through to occupancy, systems were streamlined, industrialized and supported by policy.
We have work to do.
Off-site construction permits wall panels, floor systems and modules to be engineered and assembled in controlled factory environments, improving quality, reducing waste and shortening construction timelines.
Earlier, RESCON members recently toured the H+ME Technology plant in Etobicoke with federal Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson. It was a striking example of what can be accomplished. There, floor and wall panels are precision-engineered for just-in-time delivery to job sites – a model that boosts productivity and mitigates labour shortages.
Yet innovative builders still face significant barriers such as high upfront capital costs, fragmented regulations and uncertain demand.
That is why Ontario, in partnership with the federal government and its new Build Canada Homes initiative, must provide targeted financial support. This should include purchasing guarantees, shared-risk mechanisms for expansion, favourable loan terms and tax incentives to attract private investment.
Bulk procurement programs could create sustained demand for prefabricated housing, enabling Ontario-based companies to scale up production.
A recent report from the C.D. Howe Institute underscored the urgency. It called on governments to create the conditions necessary for innovation to thrive, highlighting modular, panelized, mass timber and 3D printing as methods with the potential to accelerate housing delivery.
Embrace the PropTech and ConTech revolution
Digitization and off-site construction are components of a broader transformation driven by property technology (PropTech) and construction technology (ConTech).
PropTech leverages digital platforms, artificial intelligence, data analytics and tools such as BIM to streamline how properties are identified, evaluated, approved and managed. ConTech applies automation, robotics, smart site management systems and data-driven solutions to improve productivity, safety and efficiency on construction sites.
Together, they can fundamentally reshape how land is activated and housing is delivered.
Platforms such as LandLogic use a custom-built Data Fusion Engine to unify zoning, planning and property data, helping developers quickly identify viable sites and reduce risk and uncertainty, while DEVNEX guides clients from acquisition through to project completion, using digital tools to surface regulatory, environmental and market risks early in the process.
Together, these technologies eliminate guesswork, reduce delays and restore stranded land to the housing pipeline. By increasing transparency and predictability, they make redevelopment within existing urban boundaries more feasible – which is critical in land-constrained regions such as the GTHA.
Governments must include funding and incentives to accelerate the adoption of PropTech and ConTech solutions across Ontario. Municipalities should be required – and supported – to implement digital permitting systems, open data platforms and real-time tracking tools. Builders should be encouraged to adopt advanced construction technologies that reduce timelines and waste.
The housing sector is at a crossroads. The industry has cratered. Job losses are mounting. At the same time, population growth continues and affordability remains out of reach for too many families.
We can continue to limp along with outdated processes and hope for different results. Or we can embrace digitized approvals, industrialized construction and a PropTech and ConTech revolution.
If we are to meet the ambitious housing targets set by the provincial and federal governments and restore balance to the market, we must build smarter, faster and more efficiently. The tools exist. The expertise exists. What is required now is leadership, co-ordination and the political will to act.
We must adapt or fall further behind. Standing still is not an option.
Richard Lyall is president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON). He has represented the building industry in Ontario since 1991. Contact him at media@rescon.com.
