Why some Canadians are betting big on 3D printed housing in Canada

Linda Reisman has made a big bet on the future of 3D printing houses in Canada.

When she was looking to build a home on land she purchased in the Muskoka area of ​​Ontario, after encountering high quotes from traditional builders, Reisman decided to invest her savings – about $700,000 – in a robotic arm that can 3D print concrete walls layer by layer.

“I can see what 3D printing is capable of doing, how fast it can go – we can print walls in a day with just a few people to do it,” she said.

Ideally, while Reisman, who is still a renter in the Muskoka area, hopes to use the hand to print the walls of her own home, she also wants to print homes for other people because she believes 3D printing could help solve the country’s housing crisis.

She says she became aware of the technology after listening to government talks about the need for innovation in the housing sector, including 3D printing, and saw that government grants were being offered to those who used it.

“The government keeps saying we need more homes quickly and cheaply and this technology can do that,” Reisman said, noting that Canadian politicians have long called for innovation in the construction industry. And while some developers have adopted the technology to build a handful of 3D printed housing projects across the country, some experts say only time will tell whether the technology will catch on.

But Reisman still needs buy-in from traditional builders, because his robotic arm can only print walls. To complete a 3D printed home, merchants need to install doors and windows, a roof, and plumbing and electrical systems.

She says it has been difficult to find Canadian contractors willing to collaborate.

“Builders and developers will meet me and say ‘interesting’ and then that’s it,” he said. “I want them to believe that it works.”

3D-printed housing projects underway

The proof of concept Reisman needed exists in the form of a townhome complex located in a single location in Gananoque, Ontario.35 kilometers northeast of Kingston, Ontario.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) – which contributed $2.7 million in funding to the project – it is the largest neighborhood and housing development built using 3D printing robotics in Canada.

“We built all the walls on the first floor using a robot called Val, with the help of just four people,” said Nguyễn Nguyễn, CEO of Horizon Legacy, the construction automation company behind the project.

The units range in size from studios to two-bedroom spaces and will be ready for tenants in 2026. There are 26 units total, 13 of them were 3D printed and Nguyen says eight will be priced affordably and below market rent at about $1,000 a month.

“We’ve simplified the normal construction process because you don’t have drywall, you don’t have framing, you don’t need brick,” Nguyen said. “They’re multiple phases that we’re consolidating into a single phase. This shortens that part of the construction timeline.”

She says the more people work with technology, the faster and more efficient it will become. Nguyen says that within a year of his team working with the robotic arm, “material costs dropped by 50 percent and we became twice as productive.”

how it works

The robotic arm is ultimately a giant 3D printer following an architect’s blueprints that have been loaded into its computer system.

Printing begins on a specific housing basis. The robotic arm is in constant motion, peeling out the concrete walls layer by layer, leaving room for doors and windows.

Typically, only a few people are needed to operate the robotic arm and monitor the work.

“So in theory, 3D printing is one process, but if you take it down to the basics, it’s just about laying concrete in a different way,” Nguyen said. And she notes that “in Canada we have a lot of concrete buildings.”

Nguyen also says 3D printing could help solve labor shortages in construction.

“Not enough people are going into business, which has been going on for years and this technology can help solve that problem,” he said.

“The robot can do the work and take away all the manual labor intensive parts of construction that people don’t want to do, and it can also move at a faster speed than a human,” he said.

government grants for housing

The federal government allocated $600 million in 2024 for innovative housing technologies like 3D printing.

That same year, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted a social media video About building houses “in just a few months” using innovative methods, including 3D printing and automation.

So far, CMHC says it has awarded more than $10 million in grant funding to three projects across the country, including Horizon Legacy’s Gananoque Housing Complex.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s initial housing initiative also appeared to prioritize speed. he introduced himself Canada Build Homes Program This comes after promising to double the pace of housing construction and “build, baby, build” during the campaign in September last year.

But Michael Piper, associate professor of urban design and architecture at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, says it can take time for an industry to adopt new technologies.

Industry may take time to adapt: ​​Experts

“The construction industry is like an ocean liner, it’s a complex system, and it takes a lot of time and effort to change Its direction,” Piper said.

“With 3D printing, you’re just printing the walls. So you have to think about countertops and plumbing systems and electrical systems and how to coordinate and align them with any new innovations.”

Piper also points to the more challenging aspects of building a home in addition to construction, like navigating building codes, zoning rules, and financing practices, all of which traditional construction methods are accustomed to dealing with.

“Faster is not always better,” warns Shelagh McCartney, a professor in the department of urban planning at Toronto Metropolitan University.

“It’s more important to look at different options and work with what works best for that area,” he said.

McCartney says there are still questions about how 3D-printed homes could be renovated or repurposed, she also worries that they may not be practical for many parts of northern Canada where winters can be cold.

“There’s a lot of innovation happening right now, including prefabrication and modular homes,” he said. “3D printing is part of that, but it can’t be the only solution.”

next steps

But Horizon Legacy sees itself as part of that solution. He has already started his next housing project.

The company has also teamed up with Two Row Architects on a more ambitious project in Ohsweken, Ontario, located approximately 36 kilometers within six counties of the Grand River. southwest of Hamilton, where they’re building a three-story complex with all floors 3D printed.

According to Horizon Legacy, it will be the world’s largest indigenous housing project built using onsite robots.

“So this is definitely pioneering for Canada. And it’s one of the largest projects in the world using this technology,” Nguyen said.

Reisman says she expects the industry to move quickly to adopt new 3D printing manufacturing technology, but she’s also concerned that she got involved too quickly.

“There are companies like mine that start early and people just watch and they see what’s going to happen for these companies after we’ve done all the work,” he said.

“I just want the government and people to realize that this is the future and that it is capable of changing the way we build houses.”