Across Canada, the housing landscape has shifted. For more than two decades, condominium development dominated the residential market, driven by strong demand for ownership and investor-driven sales. Today, economic conditions, changing demographics and housing policy are accelerating a pivot toward purpose-built rental and rental infill development. This transition is an opportunity to deliver buildings that perform better over time, operationally, socially and economically.
Flexible, modular suites in multi-unit residential buildings designed to support diverse needs, adaptability and inclusive living across all stages of life.
For us, this emerging rental era opens the door to a more holistic approach to housing design. Unlike the prior condominium typology which were optimized for sale, purpose-built rental buildings are long-term assets that must perform over decades, supporting tenant retention, reducing turnover costs and remaining functional and livable across decades. Adaptability, accessibility and inclusive design play a critical role in achieving these goals.
Axess embeds accessibility and inclusion as core design priorities, including 100% of suites meeting barrier-free provisions of OBC and Enhanced Day program to support those living with cognitive disabilities.
Rental housing serves a wider range of residents across different stages of life. These buildings experience continual tenant turnover and residents may include young professionals, families, older adults, some of whom may also be people living with disabilities. This diversity places direct performance demands on buildings: they must accommodate change without requiring costly retrofits or disruptive renovations.
Inclusive design addresses this challenge by embedding adaptability into the base building, allowing units and common areas to function for a wider range of users over time. In Canada, nearly one in four people lives with a disability and many more will experience changes in mobility or ability as they age[1]. Housing that anticipates these realities reduce future capital costs, extend tenancies and support aging-in-place or independent living at home, key indicators of long-term asset stability.
Our Age-Friendly Living Report reflects on the fact that people are living longer, healthier lives than ever before. As they age, they are also seeking opportunities to stay active in their homes and communities.
Beyond accessibility, inclusive design broadens market reach and reduces vacancy risk by supporting families with children, downsizers and renters transitioning from homeownership. By designing spaces that work for people across the various stages of life, purpose-built rental buildings can provide greater stability for tenants and stronger long-term value for building owners. Ultimately, buildings can operate more efficiently and remain competitive longer.
Twelve integrated design principles for future-ready multi-unit residential building suites, supporting inclusivity, wellbeing, flexibility and community.
One of the key advantages of purpose-built rental housing is the opportunity to future-proof performance from the outset. Targeted inclusive design moves, such as step-free access, wider clearances and adaptable layouts, require minimal upfront cost but can dramatically improve accessibility and flexibility.
Axess features a café that will partner with the Enhanced Day Program to employ program participants, providing opportunities to learn social and job skills.
Inclusive design also improves performance at the building scale. Well-designed amenity spaces and circulation areas increase usability, encourage social interaction and strengthen tenant retention, reducing turnover and improving operational stability. For aging populations in particular, social connectivity is directly linked to positive health outcomes, reinforcing the value of these design decisions.
Amenity spaces in multi-unit residential buildings can foster socially resilient communities. Neighbourhood Nests are open, welcoming spaces designed for pause, connection, and shared activities.
In Age-Friendly Living Report, we explore how building floors can be treated as micro-neighbourhoods with hallways broad enough to permit social circulation and conversational nooks. Rooftops can be leveraged for terraces and gardens. Access to the outdoors is key to good health and wellbeing.
Federal housing programs are reinforcing this shift as well. Through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), funding incentives are tied to accessibility outcomes, aligning financial performance with accessibility and inclusive design strategies. The Accessible-Ready Housing CAN/ASC- 2.8:2025 standard introduces Design for Accessible-Ready (DAR), which formalizes adaptability as a performance metric.
DAR integrates features such as step-free or easily adaptable entries, clear paths of travel, wider doorways and layouts that support future modifications. Additional measures, such as reinforced walls for future grab bars and accessible height or easily adjustable controls (e.g., switches, thermostats), reduce the complexity, cost and disruption of future upgrades, shifting expenditure from reactive retrofits to planned, incremental adaptation.
While these standards may increase unit sizes by roughly 20 – 25 percent, this should be understood as a performance trade-off that balances upfront yield with long-term durability, reduced retrofit costs and access to favourable financing. CMHC incentives help offset these impacts, making inclusive design more viable and financially strategic.
Human Space plays a critical role in translating these opportunities into measurable outcomes. As an inclusive design practice, the team ensures that accessibility and inclusivity are embedded throughout the design process, supporting both design intent and long-term performance tied to funding requirements.
Our work begins early in project planning with inclusive design assessments, identifying where accessibility can improve usability, reduce risk and enhance building performance. We then conduct funding readiness reviews, aligning design decisions with CMHC requirements to unlock incentives and de-risk approvals.
Throughout design development, Human Space provides design alignment tracking, ensuring accessibility strategies are not lost through iteration, protecting both performance outcomes and funding eligibility. The team also supports documentation and reporting, streamlining compliance and reducing administrative burden for project teams. In essence, Human Space acts as both a design advisor and a strategic partner, bridging the gap between architecture, inclusion, policy and funding programs.
Inclusive design is not an overlay but a performance strategy. It enables buildings to operate more efficiently, adapt more easily and serve more people over longer periods of time. And ultimately, designing better housing means designing for everyone.
As Canada continues to shift toward rental housing, the opportunity to deliver buildings that are not only financially viable at completion, but that continue to perform socially, operationally and economically well into the future. In this context, inclusive design is not a value-add, it’s a critical driver of long-term building performance.