Question Period Note: Budget 2024 – Regional Homebuilding Innovation Initiative

Budget 2024 – Regional Homebuilding Innovation Initiative

• Through Canada’s Housing Plan and Budget 2024, our Government is making critical investments in housing innovation and affordability that will benefit Canadians of all generations.

• These investments included $50 million for Canada’s Regional Development Agencies to deliver support to local innovative housing manufacturing solutions across the country.

• With this funding, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) will continue to make investments that help to scale innovation and increase productivity in the housing sector, bring new housing-related technologies to market and contribute to the goal of building homes smarter and faster.

• On April 16, 2024, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, tabled the 2024 Government of Canada Budget, Fairness for Every Generation.
• Budget 2024 provided an additional $158.5 million over two years to the Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI) program. Included in this funding is $50 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) to support local innovative housing solutions across the country, such as designing and upscaling of modular homes, the use of 3D printing, mass timber construction, and panelized construction.
• This funding will be delivered with the objective to accelerate the construction of homes across the country to help solve Canada’s housing crisis, as outlined in Canada’s Housing Plan and Budget 2024. RDAs are engaged with other departments, agencies and organizations, such as NGen, Canada’s global innovation cluster for manufacturing, to coordinate efforts and ensure alignment with the government’s Housing Plan and complementarity in the delivery of this funding.
• FedDev Ontario opened the application intake for its ongoing regional programming and the innovative housing initiative on October 22, 2024. Project applications will be accepted until December 20, 2024.
• The Agency’s delivery of the RHII will prioritize projects that: increase productivity or output in manufacturing and construction technology (e.g., modular and/or prefabricated housing, panelized construction, 3D printing); promote innovation, demonstration, commercialization, and/or update of new materials/methods for homebuilding; and support the development of industry tools that accelerate homebuilding innovation through improvement/adoption of off site manufacturing technologies and practices.
• FedDev Ontario has already made innovative housing a priority under its ongoing regional programming. Recent investments announced include:
o Announced in January 2024, BECC modular is receiving a $2.5 million repayable investment to adopt more efficient steel frame manufacturing capabilities for modular home construction. BECC modular manufactures turn-key modular homes for affordable housing projects and commercial properties, and as a result of the investment, the company is expected to deploy modular structures for single and multi-story buildings across Canada and abroad.
o Announced in February 2024, Grand River Modular is receiving an investment of nearly $190,000 to build a prototype modular home demonstration unit that is designed to meet the need for affordable housing. This build will give the company valuable information as it looks to scale up production and achieve its vision of bringing affordable modular homes to market.

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