Reform efforts across North America

The Center for Building in North America’s goal is to drive change in construction through research. We track reform efforts – through model code proposals, legislation, and executive action – across a number of building systems in the United States and Canada, which you can find here.

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Canada

Updated: January 18, 2025

In April 2022, Conrad Speckert – a Toronto-based architect and author of secondegress.ca, a project to compare multifamily egress rules around the world – submitted two code change requests (CCRs 1815 and 1816) to the Canadian Board for Harmonized Construction Codes, to raise the country's two-story limit on single-stair multifamily buildings to three and six stories, depending on building type, with additional life safety measures. The board reviewed the requests and in April 2023, decided to develop these for the upcoming code change cycle.

British Columbia

Updated: January 18, 2025

In June 2024, Jensen Hughes released a report prepared for the British Columbia Ministry of Housing on single-stair apartment buildings. A week later, the province's housing minister told The Globe and Mail that he expected legislation to be introduced in the fall to allow single-stair apartment buildings up to six stories, with up to four units per floor. On Aug. 29, the province announced that the code has been updated, with the exact text published online a few days later.

Vancouver

Updated: February 26, 2025

In Feb. 2025, Vancouver's chief building official recommended that Vancouver City Council decline to adopt British Columbia's single-stair provisions, which he considered "not well suited to the Vancouver context." He instead recommended that the Council direct him to consult with the city's fire chief to recommend their own language for more space-efficient egress in small multifamily buildings. The report suggested that potential alternatives might include scissor stairs or a single exterior stairway.

Edmonton

Updated: July 12, 2025

On Oct. 8, 2024, the City of Edmonton released a report saying that it was developing a guideline to encourage developers and architects to submit plans for a variance through its alternative solutions process for single-exit apartment buildings taller than those allowed by the Alberta Edition of Canada's National Building Code. The report also mentioned that "[v]ariances approved through this process can be used by the Government of Alberta to inform future updates to the prescriptive portions of the codes," and may be considered for province-wide bulletins that would enable the development of such buildings across Alberta.

Ontario

Updated: March 4, 2025

The government of Ontario wrote on April 10, 2024 that after releasing a new edition of the province's building code, it intends to "consult with fire-safety stakeholders on single-exit stair in small residential buildings."

Toronto

Updated: January 22, 2025

In June 2024, LMDG published a report for the City of Toronto about the feasibility of allowing single-stair buildings, finding that it would be feasible to allow single-stair apartment buildings up to four stories. Toronto does not have the authority to write its own building code, so as an interim step while Ontario reconsiders the provincial code, the city's chief building official wrote to Toronto City Council to recommend that it issue guidance to developers to use the document to prepare "alternative solution proposals" to seek permission to build single-stair apartment buildings in the city.

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Stephen Smith, Executive director
stephen@centerforbuilding.org

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