GOHBA News

Each year at this time I talk about resolutions for housing in Ottawa for the coming year. For 2021 I would still like to see the public conversation focus more around the contribution homes make to our communities, to our fellow citizens, and to ourselves and our families. Last year the City committed to seeing…

Last year GOHBA presented information about the then-forthcoming Official Plan, the intention to accommodate more homes through intensification in existing neighbourhoods and the need for everyone to understand the profound changes Ottawa is going to see as its population grows by 400,000 people to 1.4 million by 2046. Now the draft Official Plan is out…

On September 22 GOHBA won EnerQuality’s Home Builders’ Association of the Year award, which recognizes “outstanding leadership in high-performance home building by promoting and participating in EnerQuality programs and the high-performance homebuilding construction industry.” GOHBA is the proud voice for excellence in the home building community, and one of the things we’re most proud of…

If you’re building a new home, thinking about one, or have bought lumber for a home renovation project recently, you’ve likely seen media reports about supply constraints and sharp price increases in wood products — specifically pressure-treated wood, plywood and framing lumber. A big part of what you’re seeing now is the lag effect from…

The health and safety of workers and homeowners is the priority while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. This requires an increased focus on health and safety considerations on renovation jobs or warranty work in a new home. The Association has worked with a number of partners, health authorities and regulators to develop protocols for working in…

May 5, 2020 – Housing affordability in Ottawa has declined from “affordable” in 2005 to “seriously unaffordable” in 2019 according to the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA) and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP). In anticipation of the City’s discussion on a growth management strategy for the new Official Plan, GOHBA asked FCPP…

May 2, 2020 – The Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA) released maps of potential intensification areas in Ottawa’s core today to illustrate what a City of Ottawa staff’s recommendation to increase housing intensification from 40% to 60% could look like if it were to go ahead. “The City will not release maps that detail…

On April 3, the provincial government announced restrictions to residential construction and renovation activity – essentially ordering that current builds/projects could be finished, but no new ones could be started. Members of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA) support the government’s move to combat COVID-19 while enabling the completion of already-started new homes and…

I spend the majority of my time in this space on planning and development, and what the residential construction industry talks about when we’re at city hall. This necessarily means talking a lot about new homes and new development projects, both inside and outside the greenbelt. But, there’s another side of housing activity that also…