Toronto Affordable Housing Challenge

Toronto is among the ten most expensive major housing markets in the world, and housing prices are predicted to rise again in 2020 by almost 10%, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.


325,000 jobs were added to the Greater Toronto Area, while only 102,000 new homes were constructed.
The reason housing prices in Toronto are so disproportionate to household incomes is mainly due to a lack of supply. Between 2016 and 2019, more than 325,000 jobs were added to the Greater Toronto Area, while only 102,000 new homes were constructed, and only 2% of those new homes were classed as affordable.

And while the Bank of Canada has kept interest rates artificially low in an effort to encourage easier access to loans and mortgages, this only tackles the demand side of the problem. Therefore, Buildner in partnership with ARCHHIVE BOOKS are looking to tackle the supply side of the city’s affordable housing crisis with the Toronto Affordable Housing Challenge.


Bank of Canada has kept interest rates artificially low in an effort to encourage easier access to loans and mortgages
For the Toronto Affordable Housing Challenge, participants are tasked with creating designs for affordable housing solutions that are flexible enough to accommodate all types of inhabitants, from families and couples to single professionals.

While there are no specific requirements for design submissions, participants areencouraged to be as creative as possible, challenging the typical ideas of housing, design, and the community at large. Those projects that manage to merge blue sky thinking with an element of practicality will likely be the most successful, but don’t be afraid to go big with your designs.

Winning designs will not only receive a share of the prize money but will also be featured in the next edition of ARCHHIVE BOOKS “Affordable Housing” publication.


Competition Programme: 

Design a pilot-phase concept for affordable housing within Toronto, which can be easily rolled out to increase capacity of housing stock, and is minimal in its use of land and materials. 

No minimum size or number of residential units per block is defined. The proposals should be flexible and adaptable enough for different sizes and various inhabitant capacity requirements. Designs for the Toronto Affordable Housing Challenge should be able to adapt to various locations across the city.  

Download full competition brief for more information!

Competition is open to all. No professional qualification is required. Design proposals can be developed individually or by teams (4 team members maximum). Correspondence with organizers must be conducted in English; All information submitted by participants must be in English.