CMHC’s Housing Design Catalogue
Charles Song
6 min read
Governmental Plan
Introduction
CMHC’s Housing Design Catalogue launched in October 2025 with over 50 standardized, free-to-use designs for rowhouses, fourplexes, sixplexes, and accessory dwelling units across Canada. The catalogue has since been actively updated with new regional designs and technical revisions — most recently in October 2026 with a new Fourplex 03 design for Atlantic Canada. For OSC practitioners, the catalogue represents something more significant than a design library: it is federal infrastructure for standardization at national scale.
Introduction
CMHC’s Housing Design Catalogue launched in October 2025 with over 50 standardized, free-to-use designs for rowhouses, fourplexes, sixplexes, and accessory dwelling units across Canada. The catalogue has since been actively updated with new regional designs and technical revisions — most recently in October 2026 with a new Fourplex 03 design for Atlantic Canada. For OSC practitioners, the catalogue represents something more significant than a design library: it is federal infrastructure for standardization at national scale.
Standardized designs. Faster approvals. The federal government just built the blueprint — the question is who can deliver it.
Standardized designs. Faster approvals. The federal government just built the blueprint — the question is who can deliver it.
1. What the Catalogue Is
In late 2023, the Government of Canada asked CMHC to develop a new Housing Design Catalogue — a modern resource to help communities build more homes, faster. By offering technical design packages that give builders and communities a head start in planning new housing projects, the Catalogue reduces the time and effort needed to move from concept to construction.
Over 50 standardized housing designs for rowhouses, fourplexes, sixplexes, and accessory dwelling units across all regions of Canada
Free-to-use technical design packages including architectural and engineering drawings
Regionally tailored designs addressing local code, climate, energy, and accessibility requirements
Accessing federal dollars under the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund is conditional on provinces and territories collaborating with the federal government to support the adoption of standardized designs from the Housing Design Catalogue
💡 Key point: The catalogue is not optional infrastructure — it is tied directly to federal funding eligibility. Projects that align with standardized designs gain a material financial advantage.
2. October 2026 Technical Updates
The catalogue continues to be actively maintained and expanded. The October 2026 update cycle adds new designs and technical revisions across multiple regions:
New design — Atlantic Canada (NB, NL, NS, PE): Fourplex 03 added across all sheets
New design — Territories (YT, NWT, NU): ADU Municipal with Garage added across all sheets — July 2026
Alberta update — ADU 01, ADU 02: Roof assemblies updated to show a minimum 63mm venting space between roof sheathing and insulation
Alberta energy compliance: Technical Design Packages now include energy calculation templates to assist Qualified Professionals in preparing building envelope energy compliance calculations for AHJ submission
💡 Key point: The ongoing update cycle signals that the catalogue is live infrastructure, not a static document — users must work from the most current version or risk submission errors.
3. Why This Matters for OSC Delivery
The standardized designs create a predictable framework that can more easily integrate with innovative methods like modular, panelized, or even 3D-printed housing components. For OSC practitioners, the catalogue directly expands the addressable market for standardized modular delivery.
Standardized building footprints and programs reduce system selection complexity for OSC integration
Pre-approved designs compress the design development phase — shortening the front end of OSC project timelines
Municipalities signing on as local partners are streamlining approvals for catalogue-aligned projects — Mississauga and Yarmouth have committed to two-week approval targets for qualifying designs
Energy compliance templates now bundled with Alberta designs signal the direction for future national updates.
💡 Key point: Every standardized design in the catalogue is a potential OSC project. The catalogue effectively pre-qualifies building types for modular delivery at national scale.
1. What the Catalogue Is
In late 2023, the Government of Canada asked CMHC to develop a new Housing Design Catalogue — a modern resource to help communities build more homes, faster. By offering technical design packages that give builders and communities a head start in planning new housing projects, the Catalogue reduces the time and effort needed to move from concept to construction.
Over 50 standardized housing designs for rowhouses, fourplexes, sixplexes, and accessory dwelling units across all regions of Canada
Free-to-use technical design packages including architectural and engineering drawings
Regionally tailored designs addressing local code, climate, energy, and accessibility requirements
Accessing federal dollars under the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund is conditional on provinces and territories collaborating with the federal government to support the adoption of standardized designs from the Housing Design Catalogue
💡 Key point: The catalogue is not optional infrastructure — it is tied directly to federal funding eligibility. Projects that align with standardized designs gain a material financial advantage.
2. October 2026 Technical Updates
The catalogue continues to be actively maintained and expanded. The October 2026 update cycle adds new designs and technical revisions across multiple regions:
New design — Atlantic Canada (NB, NL, NS, PE): Fourplex 03 added across all sheets
New design — Territories (YT, NWT, NU): ADU Municipal with Garage added across all sheets — July 2026
Alberta update — ADU 01, ADU 02: Roof assemblies updated to show a minimum 63mm venting space between roof sheathing and insulation
Alberta energy compliance: Technical Design Packages now include energy calculation templates to assist Qualified Professionals in preparing building envelope energy compliance calculations for AHJ submission
💡 Key point: The ongoing update cycle signals that the catalogue is live infrastructure, not a static document — users must work from the most current version or risk submission errors.
3. Why This Matters for OSC Delivery
The standardized designs create a predictable framework that can more easily integrate with innovative methods like modular, panelized, or even 3D-printed housing components. For OSC practitioners, the catalogue directly expands the addressable market for standardized modular delivery.
Standardized building footprints and programs reduce system selection complexity for OSC integration
Pre-approved designs compress the design development phase — shortening the front end of OSC project timelines
Municipalities signing on as local partners are streamlining approvals for catalogue-aligned projects — Mississauga and Yarmouth have committed to two-week approval targets for qualifying designs
Energy compliance templates now bundled with Alberta designs signal the direction for future national updates.
💡 Key point: Every standardized design in the catalogue is a potential OSC project. The catalogue effectively pre-qualifies building types for modular delivery at national scale.
Conclusion
CMHC’s Housing Design Catalogue and its ongoing technical updates represent the federal government’s clearest commitment yet to standardization as the primary strategy for housing delivery. For developers, builders, and OSC integrators, the catalogue removes the design uncertainty that slows project initiation — creating a direct pipeline from site acquisition to permit-ready documentation. The October 2026 update cycle confirms the catalogue is live, maintained, and expanding across all regions.
