Province to allow use of mass timber up to 18 storeys
The Ontario government plans to amend the province’s building code to allow the use of mass-timber in the construction of buildings up to 18 storeys.
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra announced the news on April 8.
Currently, Ontario’s Building Code allows encapsulated mass timber construction buildings to be up to 12 storeys tall. The province says the move will help build homes faster and reduce costs over time while supporting the forestry sector.
“The use of mass timber can help the sector build more homes faster, keep the cost of construction down and boost our northern economy,” said Calandra. “As we work to cut red tape in order to increase housing supply, we’re taking an innovative approach to help our partners get shovels in the ground.”
Encapsulated mass timber construction offers an environmental solution for quieter and faster construction with the same fire and structural protection as other building methods. The province hopes that greater use of the technology will help to shift housing construction offsite and into factories, supporting more efficient and faster construction.
“Our abundant natural resources and highly skilled forestry sector are helping to meet the demand for housing across the province,” said Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. “Advanced wood construction will help bring long-term investments to northern communities that will create new, good-paying jobs while increasing housing supply and supporting Ontario’s largest renewable natural resource sector.”
In January and February 2024, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec participated in a national consultation on potential building code changes to safely expand the use of encapsulated mass timber construction.
“Mass timber” refers to manufactured wood products that meet similar structural, fire protection and seismic performance as materials traditionally used to construct tall buildings (e.g., concrete and steel). Encapsulated means that the manufactured wood components are covered with fire-rated treatments, like drywall.
Encapsulated mass timber construction can minimize the impact of the construction on surrounding neighbourhoods because it is prefabricated and ready to assemble, reducing construction time and onsite work.
The province recently announced a series of investments in housing-enabling infrastructure to help get more homes built. In addition to the previously announced Building Faster Fund, which rewards municipalities that make substantial progress toward their housing targets, as well as the existing Ontario Community Infrastructure Program, the province is also investing $1 billion in a new Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program as well as more than quadrupling its investment in the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund to $825 million.