Educational Resources

Outils pratiques pour les communautés locales

Vous songez à offrir davantage d’options de logement à votre communauté ? Les Considérations réglementaires relatives à la densification douce – élaborées par Small Housing et la SCHL – est votre feuille de route pour y parvenir.

Cette ressource présente l’histoire de l’habitat à densification douce et propose des mesures aux communautés locales, aux urbanistes, aux élus et aux défenseurs du logement. Qu’il s’agisse d’entamer la conversation ou d’affiner les politiques, ce guide offre des conseils clairs et pratiques pour aider à façonner des quartiers plus inclusifs et plus agréables à vivre.

Qu’y a-t-il à l’intérieur ?

Qu’est-ce que la densification douce ? Découvrez comment les communautés définissent et mettent en œuvre ce type d’habitation à petite taille.
Stratégies d’engagement communautaire – Obtenez des outils pour entamer des conversations productives et répondre à des préoccupations communes.
Plan de travail étape par étape – Suivez une approche structurée pour évaluer les besoins en logement et planifier une densification douce.
Modèles de statuts et meilleures pratiques – Découvrez des exemples et des modèles de politiques pour simplifier votre processus.
Ressources supplémentaires et études de cas – Découvrez comment différentes municipalités font de la densification douce une réalité.

Pourquoi ce guide ?

Pratique et actionnable – Conçue pour aider les communautés locales à mettre en œuvre le changement dès maintenant.
Centré sur la communauté – Il s’agit de rendre le logement plus accessible sans perturber le caractère du quartier.
Facile à utiliser – Un format structuré, étape par étape, vous permet de vous y plonger à n’importe quel stade de votre parcours..

Prêt à passer à l’étape suivante ?

Téléchargez le guide pour commencer à façonner l’avenir de votre communauté dès aujourd’hui !

Unlocking the Missing Middle: Proven Practices for Affordable, Higher-Density Housing

The School of Cities, University of Toronto, presents a comprehensive report on enabling “Missing Middle” (MM) housing development—a key solution to Canada’s housing affordability and density challenges. This report explores proven and promising practices from Canada, the U.S., and New Zealand, offering actionable insights to overcome barriers and enhance reforms for MM housing.

What is Missing Middle Housing?

MM housing bridges the gap between single-family homes and high-rise buildings, encompassing:

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs): Small detached or attached homes.
Multiplexes: Multi-unit conversions of existing homes or purpose-built flats.
Small Apartment Buildings: Developments up to four storeys, often on a single lot.

Designed for households earning 51–120% of the area median household income (AMHI), MM also includes affordable options for low-income households through ADUs, rooming houses, and nonmarket housing. MM housing was once a staple of North American cities, offering compact, diverse housing types in central, well-serviced locations before exclusionary zoning and gentrification limited its availability.

Why Missing Middle Housing Matters

The benefits of MM housing are transformative:

Affordability: Smaller homes at moderate price points.
Diversity: A range of home sizes, from studio ADUs to four-bedroom apartments.
Accessibility: Proximity to public transit, amenities, and employment hubs.
Sustainability: Energy-efficient designs and reduced travel distances.

The Road Ahead

The report outlines barriers to MM development—legislative, administrative, and financial—and identifies enablers to support its growth. Drawing from case studies in Auckland and other cities, it demonstrates how increasing MM housing supply can reduce housing costs and improve access for low-income tenants.

📖 Discover how Missing Middle housing can reshape Canadian cities. Read the full report now to explore proven practices, global success stories, and actionable strategies to bring MM housing to life.

Scaling Up Modular Housing: A Blueprint for Success

The School of Cities, University of Toronto, has published a comprehensive report on the future of modular housing in Canada. This in-depth analysis explores how modular construction can be scaled up to address housing needs, with a particular focus on overcoming barriers through stronger collaboration between developers, manufacturers, and construction companies.

The report is divided into four key sections:

Overview – Learn about modular construction methods, where factory-produced components are assembled on-site, offering adaptable, efficient solutions for diverse environments.
Barriers and Enablers – Discover the challenges that limit modular housing adoption, from project-level constraints to industry-wide hurdles, and explore actionable solutions tailored to Canada’s housing landscape.
Case Studies – Explore real-world examples showcasing how communities overcame obstacles to deliver successful modular housing projects.
Recommendations – Gain insights into strategies for scaling modular housing, including organizational changes, industry collaboration, and policy advocacy.

Unlock the potential of modular housing to transform Canada’s housing market. Dive into actionable strategies, real-life examples, and expert recommendations that pave the way for scalable, sustainable solutions.

Read the full report now to explore how modular housing can reshape housing affordability and innovation.

Explore how cities across Canada are embracing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) with the School of Cities, University of Toronto’s interactive ADU Tracker. Dive into charts and interactive maps that reveal the take-up of detached and attached ADUs in 16 major urban centres, alongside summaries of municipal and provincial policies shaping this housing innovation.

With federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) investments boosting housing supply to address population growth and affordability, this tool offers insights into ADU trends, permitting data from 2014–2023, and policy analysis. From Toronto to Calgary, see how ADUs are shaping the future of housing—and learn how your city can do the same.

Developed by Ahmad Al-Musa, Priya Perwani, Muhammad Khalis Bin Samion, & Jeff Allen.

Unlocking Alberta’s Middle Housing Potential

In partnership with the Canadian Urban Institute and mddl, and funded by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation, this report dives into the transformative possibilities of middle housing in Alberta. From innovative strategies to overcome barriers to scaling production, to practical solutions for unlocking gentle density across the province, this collaboration is a must-read for anyone passionate about housing solutions. Curious about how middle housing could reshape Alberta’s communities?

Click through to discover the findings and recommendations shaping the future of attainable, diverse housing options!

ReHousing is a pioneering research initiative focused on converting single-family homes into multi-unit housing. Their approach emphasizes affordable, common-sense design to create high-quality, well-designed living spaces. Explore more about their work on their profile page on the Gentle Density Toolbox.

ReHousing leads numerous innovative projects, including a design catalogue featuring cost-effective, gentle density designs. This catalogue offers unique insights into the challenges and opportunities presented by various house configurations and lot sizes.

The designs in this catalogue have been categorized based on the relative cost and complexity of construction. Each design is mindful of future phasing, so you can move from one level to the next without having to redo work that you have already done. Each drawing represents one of the thirteen common house types found throughout Toronto, where ReHousing is based.

The full catalogue can be accessed here.

As Vancouver grows and evolves, we need to ensure that there are housing options that meet the needs of the diverse households that live and work here, including more “missing middle” housing options. With the help of Quickviz, the City of Vancouver developed this useful video that illustrates the changes proposed to allow more of this type housing in low density neighbourhoods across the city as part of the implementation of the Vancouver Plan. The animation depicts a standard block with a variety of housing options, including multiplexes (buildings with up to 6 units on a single lot).

As Vancouver grows and evolves, we need to ensure that there are housing options that meet the needs of the diverse households that live and work here, including more “missing middle” housing. With the help of Uytae Lee from About Here, the City of Vancouver explains what the “missing middle” is, and why they are exploring changes to allow more of this type of housing, including multiplexes (buildings with up to 6 units on a single lot), in low density neighbourhoods across the city as part of the implementation of the Vancouver Plan.

The City of Mississauga is offering free pre-approved plans for one-bedroom and studio garden suites.

As Small Housing holds, design flexibility is crucial for the financial viability of gentle density housing projects. It also ensures a variety of housing forms to better meet the diverse needs of our communities.

Offering pre-approved plans is an important step in progressing gentle density ambitions, making it easier for homeowners to build a detached unit on their property. You can explore the full suite of Mississauga’s resources on their dedicated page.

Download (PDF)

Key insights:

The United States foreign-born population has quadrupled since the 1960s. In 2021, one in seven US households were headed by a foreign-born resident. Around half of these foreign-born residents have naturalized as citizens. Foreign-born residents comprise a growing share of the United States housing market: research projects that foreign-born households will become the primary source of new housing demand by 2040.

This literature review synthesizes previous research on the key barriers to and strengths of immigrants in becoming homeowners.

This report was authored by Sharon Cornelissen and Livesey Pack.