An 18-unit transitional housing project designed and built in seven months with only two change orders sets a standard for other housing projects at a time when speed of construction is a prerequisite to tackling the deepening housing affordability crisis in Ontario and Canada.

In keeping with the church’s themes of community and looking to the future, the proposed addition of housing to the site features some unique elements. The design by CMV Group Architects includes mass timber construction that offers a low-carbon solution in the face of climate change, while the proposed affordable housing is intended to support low-income individuals. Portions of the church would be retained to continue as part of the community.

This story is part of Maclean’s annual Year Ahead guide. Read predictions for the rest of 2023 here.

A Kitchener, Ont.-based architect sees plenty of opportunities for mass timber to help solve the affordable housing crisis.

Long-time Toronto developer Leith Moore has in recent years been working on mass timber mid-rise townhomes, and laneway suites made with prefabricated parts. Despite recent advances in timber structures and building codes, “there’s still a lot of mystery around wood,” he said.

St Paul’s Italian United Church on Ossington Avenue in Toronto’s Davenport Village area was declared surplus by the United Church of Canada in the first century of the new millennium, and was converted to affordable housing, with 20 apartments having opened within the renovated building in 2012. Now, another 25 units could be brought to the site in a new development that is proposed to be constructed by R-Hauz on the property.

Pictured is a cross-laminated timber (CLT) affordable housing pilot project being carried out by R-Hauz in East Gwillimbury, Ont. R-Hauz is working with Windmill Developments and Leader Lane Developments on a massive project in Toronto that will see three CLT buildings in one community. R-Hauz was looking for a long-term partnership such as this to create missing middle housing.

For the launch of its fifth season,Intended Consequences returns with an episode dedicated to a major concern for Ontarians going into the upcoming provincial election: housing and the politics of development.