The Ontario government intends to amend its Building Code in the coming months to permit encapsulated mass timber construction up to 18 stories high. Currently, Ontario’s Building Code allows Encapsulated Mass Timber Construction buildings to be up to 12-stories tall. 

“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 Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “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.”

According to a government statement, Encapsulated Mass Timber Construction offers an environmental solution for quieter and faster construction with the same fire and structural protection as other building methods. 

Provincial initiatives that support advanced wood construction, such as Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy, offer a significant opportunity to shift housing construction offsite and into factories, supporting more efficient and rapid construction from renewable forestry resources grown and harvested in Ontario by Ontario workers for Ontario families.

“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.”

As part of a thorough review of this opportunity, Ontario participated in a national consultation on proposed changes to Ontario’s Building Code that would allow for expanded use of mass timber in the province. The feedback will be analyzed by a multi-province Joint Task Group that will share a report of these findings that will be used to implement this change.

The province recently announced a series of investments in housing-enabling infrastructure to help get more homes built across the province. 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.