Studying single egress design in residential buildings

Ottawa – Finding solutions to Canada’s housing crisis requires rethinking how we design homes, while maintaining the safety of residents and first responders. That is why the Government of Canada is studying ways to optimize new building designs to create more residences in underused urban areas.

François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, announced that the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) has launched consultations with provinces, territories, industry, accessibility advocates and fire safety experts, as part of a research project to study the safety and inform potential model code provisions for multi-unit residential buildings with a single means of egress (pathway to exit).

The single egress design approach aims to optimize building space and allow for more residential construction. The consultations are being conducted to better understand the needs and perspectives of stakeholders, which will be used to inform the consideration of changes to the National Building Code. The consultations will be completed by the end of September 2024.

Topics to be discussed as part of the consultations include:

• Review of Canadian and international examples of single egress code provisions, standards, and best practices
• Identification of types of buildings to be evaluated (for example, building archetype, number of storeys and building design)
• Review of existing fire safety building requirements

The consultations will also incorporate learnings from other jurisdictions working on and implementing such changes, including the province of British Columbia.