From Outdated Offices to New Beginnings: Tackling Housing Shortages Across Canada
BUILD-ING | February 19, 2025
Paul Fritze, BASc, P.Eng. | Principal
With an office vacancy rate of 18 per cent and a surging demand for housing, Halifax faces an urgent need for innovative urban solutions.
The 2024 Q4 CBRE report revealed a national office vacancy rate of 18.7 per cent to end 2024, highlighting a consistent challenge across Canadian cities. Amid this, Halifax emerged as a leader in innovation, addressing its housing crisis by converting vacant office spaces into much-needed homes.
Supported by the federal Housing Accelerator Fund federal Housing Accelerator Fund, the city launched a groundbreaking pilot program to enable developers to transform outdated buildings into vibrant residential spaces. A truly visionary approach that tackles housing shortages while showcasing creative problem-solving and sustainable urban planning. Early successes in 2024 demonstrate the potential for impactful change, offering a blueprint for revitalizing urban cores across Canada.
A Plan that Tackles Two Problems at Once
With an office vacancy rate of 18 per cent and a surging demand for housing, Halifax, Nova Scotia faces an urgent need for innovative urban solutions. The pilot program, introduced after the federal Housing Accelerator Fund agreement was reached towards the end of 2023, addresses both challenges head-on. Post-pandemic work habits and shifting economic pressures have left many commercial spaces unused, while the housing market struggles to meet the needs of families and individuals. The solution lies in adaptive reuse: re-purposing existing office spaces into residential units.
The concept is as practical as it is impactful. Compared to constructing new buildings, converting offices into housing is faster, more cost-efficient, and significantly more sustainable. This approach seamlessly aligns with Halifax’s need to take swift action in re-purposing vacant buildings, while upholding its environmental and community-focused goals. So far, approximately 400 housing units have already been completed or are underway, with the Canadian Urban Institute forecasting the potential for an additional 500 units. Halifax isn’t just tackling a crisis—it’s setting a precedent for forward-thinking urban development.