2026 marks ten years since Passive House Canada began operating under its current name.
A decade may not seem like long in the context of the building industry. Buildings themselves often stand for generations. But in those ten years, the conversation around building performance in Canada has changed dramatically, and Passive House has played an important role in that shift.
Ten years ago, Passive House was still widely viewed as a niche concept in Canada. Many in the industry associated it only with small residential projects, and only a handful of Canadian buildings had been completed to the standard.
Today, Passive House buildings can be found across the country and across building types: affordable housing, schools, student residences, civic buildings, and commercial developments. Municipal climate policies increasingly reference high-performance building standards, and design teams across Canada have developed the skills and experience needed to deliver them successfully.
This progress did not happen overnight. It happened project by project, team by team, and city by city.
Each new building demonstrated that Passive House works in Canada’s diverse climates.
Each project helped refine the expertise needed to design and build to the standard more efficiently. And with each successful project, the perceived risk decreased while the value proposition became clearer.
Today, many project teams report that Passive House buildings are becoming easier to deliver as industry knowledge grows. Improved detailing, more experienced trades, and better-integrated design processes are helping reduce complexity and improve return on investment for building owners.
In other words: building better buildings is becoming standard practice.
Several landmark projects helped accelerate this shift in Canada.
Projects That Changed the Conversation
Momentum began building as the first large-scale Passive House projects appeared across the country, changing perceptions about what Passive House could achieve in our climate.
A major moment came in 2017, when The Heights was completed in Vancouver. It became Canada’s first large mixed-use Passive House building, combining ground-floor retail with 85 rental housing units above.
Fast forward to 2026, and the Vancouver area now has one of the highest concentrations of Passive House buildings in Canada, demonstrating how policy, industry leadership, and education can accelerate change.
As the movement grew, so did the scale and ambition of Passive House buildings in Canada.
In 2018, the University of Toronto Scarborough began exploring the possibility of building an exceptionally large Passive House student residence.
After extensive design development and planning, the project was completed in 2023 as Harmony Commons, a residence housing 750 students. At the time of its completion (and the time of this article), it is the largest Passive House building in Canada and the largest Passive House dormitory in the world.
Projects like Harmony Commons helped demonstrate that Passive House can be applied successfully to large, complex institutional buildings, further expanding the standard’s reach.
“What started as a handful of pioneering projects has grown into a national movement. Cities, universities, and developers are now using Passive House to meet climate goals while improving building quality.”
Projects like these helped shift Passive House from an experimental approach to a proven pathway for delivering comfortable, durable, low-energy buildings at scale.
But equally important are the hundreds of smaller projects across the country — daycare centres, town halls, and housing developments — where teams have quietly been raising the bar for building performance.
Across the country, Passive House adoption continues to grow. Each region has developed its own momentum, supported by local champions, municipal policies, and innovative projects showing what’s possible.
Building a Community of Expertise
Passive House Canada’s role over the past decade has been to help build the knowledge and community needed to support this transformation.
Our training programs have helped thousands of Canadian architects, engineers, tradespeople, and builders develop the technical skills required to deliver high-performance buildings.
Our national conference has grown into the country’s leading gathering for professionals working in building performance, bringing together designers, policymakers, manufacturers, and developers to share lessons learned and showcase new projects.
And our members – practitioners, advocates, and industry leaders – have helped demonstrate that better buildings are both achievable and practical in the Canadian context.
In recognition of this work, Passive House Canada was acknowledged by the United Nations as a Centre of Excellence, reflecting the growing global recognition of the education and capacity-building taking place within Canada’s Passive House community.
Growing a National Community of Expertise
Perhaps the most encouraging sign of progress is that Passive House is no longer viewed as unusual.
Many municipalities now reference Passive House principles or targets in their climate strategies. Public-sector clients are increasingly comfortable pursuing high-performance building standards. Developers are discovering that better buildings can deliver long-term value for both occupants and owners.
At the same time, the industry continues to innovate. New materials, improved products, and growing technical expertise are making Passive House buildings more accessible and more efficient to construct.
And while there have been many “firsts” over the past decade, there are still many more to come.
Looking Ahead
The past ten years have shown that Passive House works in Canada — in our climate, within our construction industry, and across a wide range of building scales.
The next decade will be about scale.
As the industry continues to build its skills and experience, the question is no longer whether high-performance buildings are possible. The question is how quickly we can make them the norm.
Passive House Canada looks forward to continuing to support the designers, builders, policymakers, and communities who are helping lead that transformation.
Because when we build better buildings, we create healthier, more comfortable places to live, work, and learn – and a more resilient built environment for the future.
“The first decade showed that Passive House works in Canada’s climate and construction industry. The next decade will show just how far it can scale.”
Canada’s Passive House Milestones
2009
Lost Lake Passive House — Whistler, BC
The first Passive House building in Canada, Lost Lake Passive House was originally Austria House, built for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
2012
First Certified Passive House Designers in Canada
The number of trained Passive House professionals in Canada began to grow when the first Canadian designers became certified Passive House Designers, helping establish local expertise and accelerating adoption across the country.
2015
North Park Passive House — Victoria, BC
The North Park Passive House became the first market condominium Passive House project in Canada, consisting of six homes.
2017
The Heights — Vancouver, BC
Canada’s first large mixed-use Passive House building, designed by Cornerstone Architecture. The building includes retail space at street level and 85 rental units above.
2018
Salus Clementine — Ottawa, ON
The Salus Clementine project became Canada’s first Passive House social housing development, helping demonstrate how the standard could support affordable housing.
2019
Okanagan College Daycare — Penticton, BC
The Okanagan College Child Care Centre became one of Canada’s earliest non-residential Passive House buildings and the first Passive House childcare facility in the country, using 80–90% less energy than a conventional daycare building.
2021
500 MacNab — Hamilton, ON
After evaluating options including sale and redevelopment, CityHousing Hamilton chose to retrofit the 500 MacNab building. The result was an 18-storey EnerPHit-certified retrofit that significantly improved performance while costing less than new code-minimum construction. At the time of certification, it became the largest EnerPHit-certified multi-unit residential building retrofit in the world.
Learn more about this project.
2022
Fire Hall No. 17 — Vancouver, BC
Canada’s first Passive House fire hall, showing how even critical municipal infrastructure can achieve ultra-low energy performance.
2023
Harmony Commons, University of Toronto — Scarborough, ON
A 750-bed student residence, Harmony Commons became Canada’s largest Passive House building and, at the time of completion, the largest Passive House dormitory in the world.
2026
Passive House Industrial Park — Summerside, PEI
Canada is expected to reach another milestone with the development of the country’s first industrial park built to Passive House standards.
