The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, in partnership with the Municipality of North Grenville, are hosting a public event on Friday, March 27, 2026, to demonstrate how pre-designed housing packages can help accelerate the delivery of affordable housing across Leeds and Grenville, including in communities such as Gananoque. The showcase will take place at the Urbandale Arts Centre at the North Grenville Municipal Centre in Kemptville, Ontario, and is aimed at helping local builders, municipal staff and residents move construction projects forward more quickly.
The event will feature designs from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Housing Design Catalogue. Those designs are tailored to regional conditions and described by CMHC as ‘near permit-ready’ — intended to reduce the time and cost of early design work — but they are not a substitute for local building permits or any required professional engineering review.
Staff connected to the Leeds and Grenville Affordable Housing Development Lab will be involved in the event to show how the catalogue designs and Lab resources can support small homes and rental-unit projects. The workshop is part of the Counties’ broader 2025–2035 Housing and Homelessness Plan, which shifts the focus from planning to getting more shovel-ready construction started to address rising housing costs in the region.
Leaders in the Town of Gananoque have identified a need for ‘missing middle’ housing such as duplexes and garden suites in recent consultations tied to the 2025–2035 plan. The United Counties have promoted standardized, catalogued designs as one tool to help make project costs and timelines more predictable for small-scale developers and homeowners.
The half-day workshop runs from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and is intended for local builders, municipal leaders, non-profit housing groups and residents interested in lower-cost construction options. Participants will be able to explore a library of CMHC designs and learn how those packages — together with local supports such as the Affordable Housing Development Lab — can speed delivery of both rental and ownership housing across the region.
For event details and registration, see the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville events page.
