B.C. government ‘dashes’ out digital tool to help build homes faster

Senakw, an Indigenous-led housing development under construction, is silhouetted in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. The project being built on the traditional lands of the Squamish Nation will have more than 6,000 rental units and 1,200 homes in a total of 11 towers when complete. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

VICTORIA — British Columbia is launching a free, new digital tool aimed at helping developers and non-profit organizations design and build prefabricated homes faster and more cost-efficiently.

Housing Minister Christine Boyle said Thursday that the online platform for digitally accelerated standardized housing, or DASH, is a “game changer” for constructing three-to-six-storey buildings.

Lisa Helps, a former Victoria mayor and an executive with BC Builds, the program launched to speed the development of new homes in the province, said DASH can help shift the residential construction industry to building mostly off-site by using prefabricated housing components and standardized designs.

She said the platform features a range of wood-frame buildings, and an architect can select a design, position it on a lot, then use software to optimize the blueprint.

Boyle said the tool can save about fifty to sixty per cent of design time and 20 to 25 per cent in construction costs.

Helps said design processes that would take an architect two to three weeks can be done in three to five minutes with DASH.

But Helps said architects don’t need to worry about being replaced.

“What it does is it gives architects these new digital tools, and then frees up time for more creative work to make sure that these buildings fit beautifully into neighbourhoods,” said Helps.

For developers, architects and manufacturers, Boyle said the platform “means less red tape, faster approvals, and reduced costs.”

“For people and families, this means turning the key to a new and affordable home sooner,” said Boyle.

Helps said the app is now available for use on the BC Housing’s website.

“But as with any innovation, there’s lots of room for input, feedback, and testing along the way,” said Helps.

“We cannot shift industry to modern methods of construction, to prefabrication, to industrialized construction without digital platforms and digital tools like this.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2025.