Canada is in the midst of a housing crisis. We’ve heard this stated by well-respected professionals from every corner of the industry as well as countless housing advocates. In turn, governments from across the country have committed funding to the expansion of both greenfield and brownfield projects, hoping to meet current needs and keep up with projected municipal growth.
But it isn’t just a money problem.
What’s been quickly realized is that there is so much more to accelerating housing development than finding money, land and labour. There are invaluable processes that must be followed – processes that can cause significant delays to even the most important building initiatives.
Identifying the Challenge
Canada’s permitting and approval system has become a primary bottleneck to building new homes. This bottleneck is costly with projects delayed by months, even years, preventing new homes from being built at the accelerated timeline needed.
According to a 2025 report from the Ontario Association of Architects, for every month a 100-unit apartment building is delayed, a developer realizes additional costs of $230,000-$299,000. That same report noted that the review of site plan applications takes, on average, 23 months, far exceeding the provincially-mandated timeline of 60 days. At 23 months, that could add more than $50,000 to the purchase cost of the unit.
The 2024 Municipal Benchmarking study, released by the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, showed that the average housing application took 11.2 months to complete (2022-2024), an improvement of 2.1 months from the previous study term. Of the 22 major Canadian cites included in the survey, 13 saw their timelines improve, five stayed the same, and four were worse. While this is an improvement, there is still significant work that needs to be done.
Reviewing these documents is a challenge, both from a time and expertise perspective. Developing resources that can help expedite the process and the tedious aspects of the review to focus on core elements of the application is one way the current timeline can be accelerated.
There is a Solution
With recent advancements in the development of big data and artificial intelligence (AI), there is an opportunity to use modern technology to help solve the backlogs with housing applications.
First, AI-powered information chatbots help citizens navigate municipal bylaws, zoning regulations, and permitting requirements. The implementation of this technology can result in up to a 60 per cent call diversion rate, based on the results from early adopters, freeing up thousands of hours of staff and community members’ time.
The second is to utilize an AI Application Review and Real-Time Compliance Checking system, helping to reduce back-and-forth between developers and the municipality. This system reviews applications to confirm 100 per cent compliance, creating an immediate 20-30 per cent time savings.
Both of these solutions have already demonstrated significant savings in both cost and staff hours in Canadian communities, proving the concept for other cities looking for solutions to speed up municipal processes.
The optimal starting point for this implementation is single-family and multi-family housing permits. We have seen progress made through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund in getting this type of housing development to move forward. Focusing AI solutions on these dwellings takes low effort/risk but delivers a potentially high impact. It also promotes small/medium builders to get involved, and allows homeowners to take part in the new process.
Steps to Implementation
It can be challenging to get the necessary buy-in needed to integrate AI solutions into municipal processes.
Not everyone has the same level of familiarity or support of artificial intelligence, which is a challenge that may need to be overcome. Municipal staff, council members, and/or the public could show resistance to the implementation of an AI-based platform. This is why it’s important to use data from communities that have had success with the system, such as Kelowna, British Columbia where I worked with the team to introduce this concept and to support any decision.
That same unfamiliarity can cause municipalities and councils to hesitate to adopt such a solution. This is where technology providers and consultants have the potential to play a big role in providing the necessary education. This is already being done, as experts are speaking regularly at municipal-focused conferences like the one hosted by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, but further outreach could be needed. It’s important to identify these barriers to implementation and work with staff and council to eliminate the concerns.
AI has questioned the need to de-regulate first before we automate. Improving processes through automation using AI, creating a system that allows the user to access information through interaction, can create the efficiency needed to then buy the time needed to make thoughtful decisions on how to change the regulatory process.
By implementing digital solutions powered by AI to municipal permitting processes, significant progress can be made in the creation of the needed housing stock in communities across Canada.
Jazz Pabla is the chief innovation officer for WSP in Canada.
