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.
3D printing can help speed up and lower the cost of home construction; So in the middle of a housing crisis, why isn’t Canada doing more of it? For The National, CBC’s Deana Sumanac-Johnson looks into the technology and meets some of the people trying to get it off the ground.
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.”
3D-printed housing projects on the go
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.”
The more people work with the technology, she says, the faster and more efficient it will become. Nguyen says that within one year of their team working with the robotic arm, “material costs have been reduced by 50 per cent and we’ve become twice as productive.”
A house in Houston, Texas is providing a glimpse of what construction could look like in the future, believed to be the first 3D-printed two-storey home in the United States.
How it works
The robotic arm is ultimately a giant 3D printer following an architect’s blueprint that has been loaded into its computer system.
The printing begins on a typical housing foundation. The robotic arm is in constant motion, pouring out the concrete walls layer by layer, leaving spaces for doors and windows.
Typically, only a few people are needed to operate the robotic arm and supervise the work.
“So in principle, 3D printing is a process, but if you take it down to the fundamentals, it’s about laying concrete in a different way,” Nguyen said. And she notes that “we have lots of concrete buildings in Canada.”
Nguyen also says 3D printing can help solve the labour shortage in construction.
“There are not enough people going into trades, that has been going on for years, and this technology can help solve that problem,” she said.
“The robot can work and take away all of the manual labour intensive parts of construction, which people don’t want to do, and it can also move faster than a human would,” she said.
Government grants for housing
In 2024 the federal government allocated $600 million toward innovative housing technologies like 3D printing.
That same year, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted a social media video about building homes “in a matter of months” with innovative methods including 3D printing and automation.
So far, CMHC says it has provided more than $10 million in grant money for three projects across the country, including Horizon Legacy’s Gananoque housing complex.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s early housing initiatives also seemed to make speed a priority. He introduced his Build Canada Homes program in September last year after promising on the campaign trail to double the speed of housing construction and “Build, baby, build.”
But Michael Piper, an associate professor of urban design and architecture with the University of Toronto’s School of Cities says it can take time for an industry to adapt new technologies.
Industry can take time to adapt: expert
“The construction industry is like an ocean liner, it’s a complex system, and it takes a lot of time and effort to change its direction,” said Piper.
“With 3D printing, you’re only printing the walls. So you have to think about countertops and plumbing systems and electrical systems and how those would have to be synced up and aligned with any new innovation.”
Piper also points to the more challenging aspects of building homes aside from the construction, such as navigating building codes, zoning regulations and financing practices, all of which are accustomed to dealing with traditional construction methods.
“Fast isn’t always better,” warns Shelagh McCartney, a professor with the urban planning department at Toronto Metropolitan University.
“It’s more important to look at the different options and work with what makes the most sense for that region,” she said.
The University of Windsor is building a multi-storey student residence with the help of 3D printing. But as Actin Clarkin reports, the weather has put a pause on progress until the spring.
There are still questions about how 3D-printed homes can be refurbished or renovated, McCartney says, noting she also has concerns that they may not be practical for many parts of Northern Canada where winters can be frigid.
“There are a lot of innovations happening right now, including prefabrication and modular homes,” she said. “3D printing is part of that, but it can’t be the only solution.”
Next steps
But Horizon Legacy sees itself as being part of that solution. They’ve already begun their next housing project.
The company has also joined forces with Two Row Architect on a more ambitious project in Ohsweken, Ont., located within the Six Nations of the Grand River, about 36 kilometres southwest of Hamilton, where they are building a three-storey complex with all floors printed in 3D.
According to Horizon Legacy, it will be the largest Indigenous housing project in the world constructed using onsite robots.
“So it’s leading edge, certainly for Canada. And it’s one of, if not the biggest project in the world using this technology,” Nguyen said.
Reisman says she hopes the industry moves faster to adopt the new 3D printing construction technology, but she also worries that she got on board too early.
“There’s companies like me that start early and people just watch and they see what’s going to happen for these companies after we’ve done all the legwork,” she said.
“I just want the government and people to realize this is the future and it is capable of changing how we build homes.”
