DIGITAL announces collaboration with addy
DIGITAL, Canada’s Global Innovation Cluster for digital technologies, is advancing 11 solutions to accelerate housing production in British Columbia. These projects are supported under DIGITAL’s Housing Growth Innovation (HGI) program, which was launched in November 2023 with a $9 million investment from the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs. The program leverages collaborative innovation across multiple parties to build and deploy scalable, sustainable solutions to grow B.C.’s housing production capacity.
“DIGITAL is excited to announce these investments through our Housing Growth Innovation program that will accelerate the development and deployment of technologies designed to deliver more houses, faster across British Columbia,” said Sue Paish, CEO of DIGITAL. “Working alongside industry, governments and housing community partners, DIGITAL ignites new ideas that support the development and deployment of sustainable, housing solutions for the benefit of all British Columbians.”
“We can’t continue to use the same tactics and expect different results. We must innovate and improve permit times and speed up construction to achieve our government’s goal of delivering more homes for people,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs. “We are proud to support DIGITAL, whose vision aligns with ours in speeding up housing production by leveraging digital tools and technologies. I look forward to seeing the transformative impact of these HGI projects that will help unlock more homes for people, faster.”
addy’s project is part of the second cycle of investments under DIGITAL’s HGI program are focused on optimizing supply chain performance and utilizing advanced production technologies to increase housing productivity.
Health for Health Project Overview
addy in collaboration with Tomo Spaces and City of Mission aims to develop a case study for accelerating the development of rental housing for essential workers in the health, safety and education sectors within the communities they serve across British Columbia.
The Problem
Real estate development has largely been confined to professional developers and investors that have both access to major capital financing and can withstand risk. These requirements limit the number of new and active development projects, particularly within smaller communities.
Additionally, smaller communities face consistent challenges in providing enough affordable housing for service workers to both work and live within the same community.
How We Are Solving It
Led by addy in collaboration with Tomo Spaces and the City of Mission, this project aims to develop a case study for accelerating the development of rental housing for essential workers within health, safety and education within the communities they serve across British Columbia.
A core component of the case study will include a proof-of-concept for engaging local health service workers as investors through addy’s crowdfunding platform. By allowing community members to contribute financially, with investments starting at $1, the approach aims to foster a sense of community ownership and direct participation in the development. Additionally, Tomo Spaces will conduct research and feasibility studies to refine the design and architectural approaches for the housing units. Their work will focus on addressing regional challenges, such as diverse climate conditions and local building regulations, to target a model that is adaptable and scalable across various regions.
The case study will culminate in a pilot development to serve as the first real-world application of the approach. The pilot will validate the effectiveness of community investment, the designs developed by Tomo Spaces and the use of prefabricated materials.
Read More: Accelerating Rental Housing Development for Health Service Workers
