Canada’s National Conversation on the Housing Crisis Spotlights a Global Solution

A recent feature in Maclean’s magazine put a spotlight on a reality urban planners, developers, and local governments have faced for years: we can’t solve the housing crisis by doing things the old way. If we want to deliver more homes, faster, we need to rethink the planning process from the ground up.

Among the article’s proposed solutions, one stood out — and it’s a principle we live and breathe at Archistar:

“Use tech to speed up approvals.”

It’s a simple idea with massive impact — and we’re already making it a reality in cities across the world.

Archistar in Action: Powering Smarter Planning in Canada and Beyond

At Archistar, our mission is to empower government and industry with technology that accelerates planning, improves compliance, and unlocks new housing opportunities — all at scale.

We’re proud to be working with forward-thinking Canadian cities like Vancouver, Surrey and Kelowna, as well as partners across the United States, Australia, and beyond. These cities understand that the housing challenge isn’t just about supply — it’s about streamlining the systems that get homes built.

eCheck: Pre-Assess Before you Press Submit

One of our most powerful tools is eCheck — a platform that gives applicants the “answers before the test.”

eCheck uses AI to pre-assess development applications against local planning rules, long before they reach a council officer’s desk. This means:

Faster approvals
Fewer rejections
Significantly less back-and-forth between applicants and assessors

Precinct Planner: Simulating Entire Neighbourhoods in Minutes

For larger-scale planning, our Precinct Planner offers a game-changing solution.

It leverages AI and generative design to simulate thousands of compliant housing scenarios, tailored to local zoning codes, planning policies, and community needs. Whether you’re reimagining a precinct or unlocking underutilised land, Precinct Planner gives councils and developers the ability to:

Test housing yield scenarios instantly
Visualise outcomes in 3D
Compare designs based on density, height, open space, sun access, and more
Plan with confidence and clarity

The Housing Crisis is a Technology Challenge

Canada’s housing shortage is a national challenge. But it’s not just a political or economic one — it’s a technology challenge.

Fixing it doesn’t only require building faster. It demands scalable, intelligent systems that remove bottlenecks, ensure regulatory clarity, and empower both government and industry to act with speed and certainty.

At Archistar, we’re proud to see our technology featured in the national conversation — and even more proud to support cities across Canada and the globe as they build the future: faster, fairer, and smarter.