The Mid-rise Manual
— unlocking mid-rise to end Ontario’s housing shortage
Above: Mitte Altona - G2 Landschaft
w/ SvN
Status | Completed November 2024
Client | Environmental Defence, Robert Eisenberg
Authors | SvN, LGA
Involvement | 2023-2024
Role | Project Manager, Author
Canada is in the midst of a housing shortage, and the housing that is available is unaffordable to the average family. We must address this; and at the same time we must also build low-carbon homes within resilient neighbourhoods to take decisive action on climate change. Doing so will require systemic change: all people, industries, and levels of government need to work together to address the combined climate and housing crises.
At the core of this challenge is a change in the way that we design our communities. Over the last 70 years, planning policy has encouraged suburban sprawl: resource intensive and car-dependent neighbourhoods of mostly single-detached houses. This pattern must change — we need healthy, resilient and livable neighbourhoods with more diverse housing options. This type of housing is supported by two key principles:
• Dense neighbourhoods, which enable greater housing supply, balanced municipal budgets, and reduce transportation emissions; creating convenient and walkable communities
• Diverse building types which enable a broader mix of housing options, flexible rental and ownership tenure, and more efficient, low-carbon methods of construction
Mid-rise buildings have the potential to deliver this density and diversity at a massive scale in Ontario's communities.
The Mid-Rise Manual is a lawmakers guide to unlocking mid-rise, by making it legal, practical and cost-effective to build. Written based on our professional insight as well as interviews with planners, economists, developers, and academics, the report focuses on 5 key leverage points:
Planning Policy & Approvals Processes
Fiscal Policy
Building Code
Infrastructure
Construction
This report outlines a path to deliver density and diversity with sustainable midrise buildings in livable neighbourhoods and family-friendly communities throughout Ontario and across the country.