PEI

Pre-approved plans for secondary units aimed at boosting Charlottetown's housing supply

Charlottetown council is getting some plans drawn up to use as templates for secondary suites on properties around the city. 

Templates will lower costs for developers or homeowners to build, says committee chair

A woman in a teal blazer stands in the lobby of Charlottetown city council with her arms folded leaning on a banister.
'I can't imagine that this would not increase the housing stock quite quickly,' says Deputy Mayor Alanna Jankov, who's also chair of Charlottetown's planning and heritage committee. (Tony Davis/CBC)

Charlottetown council is getting some plans drawn up to use as templates for secondary suites on properties around the city. 

The pre-designed blueprints will be for duplexes, as well as accessory dwelling units — secondary housing units located on the same parcel of land as an existing single-family home, sometimes known as garden suites. 

Having templates on file that are already approved by the city will speed up construction and cut costs for builders while adding to Charlottetown's housing market, said Coun. Alanna Jankov, chair of the city's planning and heritage committee. 

"It's the idea of this 'gentle infill,' meaning that we can increase density without fundamentally changing the character of the existing neighbourhoods," she said. 

"Having this pre-approved plan in place... should decrease the cost for builders, developers or just individual homeowners to be able to build these types of units on their properties." 

A mockup showing a garden suite design in a backyard.
A two-bedroom garden suite design released by the City of Toronto. Charlottetown council is getting pre-approved plans drawn up to make it easier for homeowners or developers to create similar secondary housing on properties around P.E.I.'s capital. (City of Toronto )

A consultant has been hired to draw up the plans and to create a database of areas in the city where the secondary units would be best suited. 

Jankov said the end goal is to have a few different plans that are suitable for various lot sizes.

Secondary suites a high priority

On P.E.I., as well as right across the country, communities have been feeling the need to create more housing for years now.

A housing crisis has gripped Canada's smallest province since before the COVID-19 pandemic, with vacancy rates floating just barely above zero and home costs having effectively doubled in the last 10 years. 

Money to create the city's pre-approved designs is part of the $10.2 million Charlottetown received from the federal government's Housing Accelerator Fund, meant to help municipal governments reduce some of the administrative burdens involved in creating housing. 

WATCH | Charlottetown is clearing the way to build more housing:

Charlottetown is clearing the way to build more housing

2 months ago
Duration 2:19
Eight zoning and development bylaw amendments passed first reading at the regular meeting of Charlottetown's council this week, most of them aimed at providing more housing options across the capital city. CBC’s Tony Davis has more.

A draft of Charlottetown's official plan suggests "gentle infill" in residential areas, which encourages boosting housing density in the city by means of secondary suites and semi-detached dwellings.

Council also plans to encourage that development by offering $10,000 to homeowners who add those accessory dwellings units to their properties.

Jankov said making it easier to build secondary suites was one of the highest priorities the city identified when officials applied for the federal funding.  

"This ready-to-go, pre-approved design… I can't imagine that this would not increase the housing stock quite quickly." 

With files from Jackie Sharkey