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 homes in Canada.

Confronted with high quotes from traditional builders when she was looking into constructing a home on land she'd purchased in Ontario's Muskoka region, Reisman instead decided to invest her savings — almost $700,000 — in a robotic arm that can 3D print concrete walls layer by layer.

"I can see what 3D printing is capable of, 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 region, hopes to use the arm to print the walls of her own home, she also wants to print homes for other people because she believes 3D printing can help solve the country's housing crisis.

She says she learned about the technology after hearing the government talk about the need for innovation in housing, including 3D printing, and saw that government grants were being offered to those who used it. 

"The government keeps saying we need more homes quicker and cheaper, and this technology can do that," said Reisman, noting that Canadian politicians have long called for innovation in the construction industry. And while a few developers have embraced the technology to produce a handful of 3D printed housing projects across the country, some experts say only time will tell if the technique will catch on.

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

She says finding Canadian contractors willing to collaborate has been difficult.

Builders and developers "will meet with me and say 'interesting,' and then that's it," she said. "I need them to believe this works."

That proof of concept that Reisman needs does exist in the form of a townhome complex in Gananoque, Ont., located about 35 kilometres northeast of Kingston, Ont.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) — which contributed $2.7 million in funding to the project — it's the largest neighbourhood and housing development made with the use of 3D printing robotics in Canada.

"We built all the walls on the first floor using a robot named Val, who had the help of just four people," said Nhung Nguyen, the CEO of Horizon Legacy, the construction automation company behind the project. 

Units range in size from studios to two-bedroom spaces and will be ready for renters in 2026. There are 26 units in total, 13 of them were 3D printed and Nguyen says eight will be priced to have affordable and below-market rents of around $1,000 per month. 

"We've simplified the typical construction process because you don't have drywall, you don't have framing, you don't need brick," Nguyen said. "Those are multiple steps that we're consolidating into a single step. So that shortens that part of the construction timeline."