Housing at the speed of need
Open data, standardized designs, digital bylaws, AI tools, and training programs that help governments, Nations, developers, manufacturers, and researchers deliver housing faster — across every region of Canada.
Housing delivery is held back not by ambition but by friction — fragmented data, bespoke analysis, and bylaws that cannot be read by code. OHC closes those gaps as public infrastructure.
Parcel, zoning, infrastructure, and program data live in dozens of jurisdictions and formats — making cross-region analysis nearly impossible.
Bylaws are written for humans, not machines. Even adjacent municipalities encode similar rules in incompatible ways.
Pro forma analysis still happens in bespoke spreadsheets. Soft costs accumulate before a single shovel is in the ground.
Approval pathways are unpredictable, undocumented, and inconsistent — eroding investor confidence and delaying delivery.
Each project is bespoke. Manufacturers, designers, and trades cannot scale because there are no shared, jurisdiction-ready typologies.
Smaller municipalities, Nations, and non-profit developers lack the in-house tools to evaluate housing opportunities at speed.
OHC operates as a public-interest stack. Each layer is open, interoperable, and designed to be adopted by any jurisdiction, Nation, or developer in Canada.
A national, openly licensed dataset of parcels, zoning, infrastructure capacity, and program eligibility — harmonized across jurisdictions.
A curated catalogue of code-ready typologies — from laneway homes and infill to mid-rise — with permit-ready drawings and manufacturing specs.
Zoning, building, and program rules encoded as queryable logic — so any parcel can be tested against any rule, instantly and verifiably.
Models and copilots that compose the layers above into useful answers — feasibility, scenario comparison, design fit, and approvals readiness.
Most of housing’s friction lives in the gaps between stages. OHC builds the rails that connect them — so information, designs, and decisions move without being rebuilt at every step.
Cadastral geometry, ownership, and lot constraints — harmonized into a single open layer so any place can be evaluated the same way as any other.
Zoning, infrastructure capacity, hazards, and program eligibility, normalized across jurisdictions — versioned, auditable, and citable as public infrastructure.
Permit-ready drawing sets and manufacturer-aligned specs — from laneway homes to mid-rise — matched automatically to what each parcel and bylaw will allow.
Zoning and building rules encoded as queryable logic, with explainable traces — turning opaque, months-long approvals into transparent, repeatable checks.
Tolerances and assemblies aligned to modular and offsite production, so manufacturers can scale on shared standards instead of one-off engineering.
Manufacturer selection, logistics, and on-site assembly sequenced from the same model that produced the design — fewer surprises, faster builds.
Completed homes feed real outcomes — cost, time, and performance — back into the commons, closing the loop between what we plan and what gets lived in.
University partners and practitioners study what worked, publish openly, and fold the findings back into designs, rules, and tools across the country.
Models compose land, data, design, and rules into parcel-level feasibility, scenario comparison, and approvals readiness — in seconds, for anyone.
A single, transparent pipeline from raw geography to a deliverable, financeable housing project. Every step is open, auditable, and reusable across jurisdictions.
Cadastral geometry, ownership, lot constraints.
Rules-as-code applied automatically.
Servicing, transit, capacity context.
Code-ready typologies that fit.
Scenario-tested financials.
Submission-ready documentation.
Manufacturer and delivery routing.
Cadastral geometry, ownership, lot constraints.
Rules-as-code applied automatically.
Servicing, transit, capacity context.
Code-ready typologies that fit.
Scenario-tested financials.
Submission-ready documentation.
Manufacturer and delivery routing.
BuildBlox is the AI/software layer that applies OHC’s data, standardized designs, and rules-as-code to specific sites and programs. It turns the commons into operational answers — for governments evaluating supply, for developers running pro formas, and for Nations planning long-term housing.
BuildBlox · feasibility brief
parcel #4408-22Allowed FSR
1.8
Best-fit typology
MD-04 stacked
Units
42
Soft cost change
−18%
Approvals readiness
82 / 100
Manufacturer fit
3 partners
Recommends MD-04 over LW-02 — meets servicing, fits zoning envelope, lower per-unit soft cost.
OHC is built to be useful to the whole housing system — not just one part of it. Every partner type has a clear engagement path and a defined outcome.
Run portfolio-scale supply analysis on shared, auditable data — not on ad-hoc spreadsheets.
Plan housing on-reserve and off-reserve under Nation-controlled data, with capacity-building built in.
Cut weeks of bespoke feasibility work to minutes. Move from idea to deliverable project, faster.
Get demand signal and design-fit alignment so factory pipelines stay full and predictable.
Use real, harmonized housing data for applied research, capstones, and graduate programs.
Bring your bylaws into rules-as-code and your parcels into the commons — without giving up authority.
Indigenous housing is not a vertical inside OHC — it is a foundational design principle. Our tools, data agreements, and governance are shaped to support Nation-led housing planning, delivery, and long-term stewardship.
Nation-controlled data stays Nation-controlled. OHC follows OCAP® principles by default — Nations retain ownership, control, access, and possession over their housing data.
Tools for long-range housing strategy — on-reserve and off-reserve — that respect Nation governance, land tenure, and community priorities.
Pairing tools with training, so housing departments build durable in-house capability rather than dependence on consultants.
Standardized design tracks co-developed with Indigenous designers, reflecting cultural, climatic, and ceremonial context — not a generic template.
DASH is a BC Housing program — delivered with Metro Vancouver Housing and funded by BC Housing, CMHC, and the Housing Growth Innovation Lab — that gives affordable housing builders ready-to-use digital design tools, permit-friendly blueprints, and a coordinated prefab supply chain. Open Housing Canada operates upstream: connecting builders to the data, bylaws, and design adapters the DASH toolset depends on, with BuildBlox as the application layer.
BuildBlox · the application layer
See all →BuildBlox is OHC’s AI/software layer. It applies open data, digital bylaws, standardized designs, and financial logic to a real parcel and a real project — covering site assessment, prefab planning, and manufacturer matching in one stack.
Parcel-level suitability against zoning, bylaws, and infrastructure capacity — and instant generation of permit-friendly typology fits.
Adapts the standardized design library against Canadian prefabricated component catalogues, sized to the site envelope.
Connects affordable housing builders with offsite manufacturing capacity nationally — beyond DASH's BC pilot regions.
Blueprint library
A growing digital library of permit-friendly multi-family typologies — usable across all BC climate and seismic zones — that affordable housing builders can adapt rather than design from scratch.
Where OHC fits
OHC is not a DASH operator. We supply the upstream commons that lets the DASH toolset run anywhere a Canadian builder works — parcel data, machine-readable bylaws, and design adapters across programs.
Active demonstration RFPs
General contractors and manufacturers · Quesnel · Cranbrook · Kamloops
OHC partners with universities to turn graduate programs into a national contribution engine — building durable open data infrastructure while training the people who will operate it.
Master’s-level capstones using OHC’s harmonized housing datasets — published, citable, public-good research.
Servicing capacity, climate resilience, and offsite-manufacturing research projects co-supervised with industry partners.
Planning students contribute directly to making municipal bylaws machine-readable, with publication and credit.
Research conducted with — and led by — Indigenous communities, under Nation-controlled data agreements.
OHC’s value is not a single product — it is the cumulative effect of removing friction from every step of housing delivery, for every kind of partner.
Parcel-level analysis in seconds instead of weeks.
Standardized inputs collapse repeated bespoke work.
Submissions arrive aligned with the rules — the first time.
Shared data and standards reduce schedule volatility.
Demand signal flows from sites to factories, predictably.
An open, citable, durable foundation for the entire system.
OHC was founded by people who have spent careers at the intersection of housing, data, and delivery — and who believe Canada’s housing problem is solvable with the right shared infrastructure.
Co-founder
Mike leads OHC’s data, AI, and partnership work. His research and applied projects span housing, climate, and Indigenous-led data infrastructure, with a focus on translating academic capability into operational public-sector tools.
Co-founder
Thor leads OHC’s design library and delivery work. His expertise in standardized housing typologies and offsite manufacturing connects the open commons to real, deliverable projects across Canada.
Whether you are a government agency, Nation, developer, manufacturer, or research partner — we would like to hear from you.