Prefabricated modular condos can help address Toronto's housing shortage, builders say

People searching for an affordable home in Toronto could soon have a choice never seen before in Canada's largest city: prefabricated modular condos.

Inspired by a style of building found in parts of Scandinavia, Germany and elsewhere in Europe, a trio of companies is hoping to construct three mid-rise condo buildings and do so quickly and sustainably, says Michael Barker, co-founder of R-Hauz Solutions, a firm that builds prefabricated homes.

"The traditional way of construction is flawed. It failed," said Barker. "It's too intensive … There's a lot of waste on labour, a lot of mistakes get made, things get dragged out."

The companies are seeking the city's approval for the project as the Toronto area grapples with an affordable housing crisis party due to what urban planners call "the missing middle" — a lack of low- and mid-rise multi-family buildings. Advocates say many proposed housing projects are slow to launch or don't get off the ground due to complex rules, as well as the time and the expense of construction.

This new approach, called a "flat pack modular strategy," would solve those problems partly by being faster and cheaper — delivering a building like "a house of cards" where the pieces come from the factory ready to go and teams just assemble them on the site, Barker says.

He and his partners, Windmill Developments and Leader Lane Developments, are planning to construct the three condo buildings in the city's west end near the Mimico GO Station, with 83 suites in all. The developers say they hope to start the presale of units in August and begin building by December.

The strategy will allow the developers to work much faster, Barker says. Until now, six-storey mid-rise homes have often been just as complicated to build as larger structures, creating little incentive to pursue these developments, he adds. 

R-Hauz Solutions finished an apartment building on Queen Street East in Leslieville last summer that is now occupied. The condo buildings they're planning to construct as part of this plan will essentially be copies of that project, says Barker. 

They'll construct the buildings with Ontario cross laminated timber (CLC), which "sequesters carbon" for life, he says, adding that the method also minimizes the use of concrete, a material he says is worse for the environment.

Under this method, the weather doesn't slow construction down as much and working conditions will usually be better, says Tamer El-Diraby, a civil engineering professor at the University of Toronto who isn't affiliated with the project.

He also says it will be easier and cheaper to recruit and teach workers to build these prefabricated structures than with more conventional construction methods.

"Finding people who are trained and willing to go to the site is becoming harder and harder," El-Diraby said. "And the cost of that is increasing."

The new method may provide more jobs in the construction industry for young people, women and those with technical interests, he says.There are also advantages for the neighbours. It means less noise and dust and fewer disruptions because the prject gets finished more quickly, El-Diraby says.

There are also efficiencies in the planning process, says Don Manlapaz, a partner at Leader Lane Developments.