KITCHENER, October 15, 2025 – The Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) welcomes the federal government’s release of the Housing Design Catalogue’s technical design packages. These detailed packages include architectural and engineering drawings, climate resiliency guides, cost estimate summaries, user guides, and other tools that will enable planners to generate housing solutions in their communities.
CIP has been an active supporter of the development of the Housing Design Catalogue since its first consultations. Addressing Canada’s housing crisis requires a multifaceted approach—one that focuses not only on the number of homes, but also on ensuring that housing types, sizes, and locations reflect the diverse needs of Canadians. By providing pre-approved designs for a range of scales and densities, and integrating modern construction methods such as modularization, the Housing Design Catalogue will help accelerate the efficient delivery of new homes across the country.
CIP and its members support streamlined processes, tools, and resources that remain widely accessible to the professionals who implement housing solutions. CIP embraces the scale and speed of the Housing Design Catalogue and other federal housing initiatives, including the recently launched Build Canada Homes, a new federal agency which aims to deliver housing solutions for Canadians.
In addition to the Housing Design Catalogue, CIP continues to encourage the development of a national repository of municipal land use plans and zoning amendments—which would facilitate knowledge-sharing and reduce costly duplication of effort—as well as sustained investment in building the expertise needed to support rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous communities. Planners stand ready to ensure the federal government’s initiatives and investments address distinct community needs, promote sustainability, and foster long-term resilience.
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For more information or to request an interview with CIP’s CEO, Deborah Morrison, please contact:
Lauren Murray (she/her)
Manager, Communications
800.207.2138 x 207
communications@cip-icu.ca
About the Canadian Institute of Planners
The Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) works on behalf of over 9,500 diverse planning professionals and has served as the voice of Canada’s planning community since 1919. Planners safeguard the health and well-being of urban and rural communities by addressing the use of land, resources, facilities, and services with consideration to physical, economic, and social efficiency.