The NEXTHOME Global Lab: Bridging Canada's Housing Implementation Deficit

TORONTO, ON – November 03, 2026 — Amid a worsening national and global housing affordability crisis, the traditional silos separating academic research, urban policy, and private real estate development are increasingly viewed as a critical bottleneck. To bypass this friction, the Urban Economy Forum (UEF) and Ontario-based home builder Elevate Living have formalized a strategic partnership to establish the NEXTHOME Global Lab.

Signed at the World Urban Pavilion in Toronto's Regent Park during the 30th-anniversary commemoration of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), the Memorandum of Understanding marks a pivotal experiment in housing innovation. By directly pairing an international urban policy organization with a regional private developer, the initiative attempts to solve a persistent problem in modern urban planning: the "implementation deficit," where actionable research routinely fails to transition into physical housing supply.

From Regional Development to Global Strategy

The emergence of Elevate Living as the Founding Sponsor and Strategic Partner of a global urban lab represents a fascinating shift in how regional developers are positioning themselves. Rooted in Ontario's Niagara Region, Elevate Living has built its portfolio on the principles of "New Urbanism"—prioritizing walkable blocks, mixed housing types, and community engagement to create sustainable neighborhoods.

Historically, regional builders have focused strictly on local execution, leaving global policy discussions to massive multinational development firms or academic think tanks. However, Elevate Living's approach to "gentle density" and the "missing middle" has uniquely positioned the company to scale its localized success. The developer's pipeline, which includes the Warbler Place Urban Village in Welland—a 14-block development featuring townhouses, apartments, and urban condos—serves as a live testing ground for the exact types of scalable, human-scale environments that international policymakers are desperate to replicate.

"We know innovation is needed to move the needle on housing," says Drew Toth, Founder of Elevate Living, emphasizing the necessity of integrating private sector agility with policy frameworks. "Innovation alongside collaboration is a formula for real change."

Through the NEXTHOME Global Lab, Elevate Living is providing operational and financial backing to translate complex urban theories into tangible blueprints. This leap from regional builder to global think-tank partner suggests that the solutions to international housing crises may not come from top-down mega-projects, but from exporting and scaling successful regional models of gentle density.

Curing the Implementation Deficit

Canada is currently facing a severe housing shortage, with estimates indicating a need for 3.5 million new homes over the next five years to restore affordability. Ontario alone requires 1.5 million new homes within the next decade. While there is no shortage of research on how to build these homes efficiently, translating that research into physical supply remains incredibly difficult.

Canada already boasts several initiatives aimed at fostering housing innovation. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Solutions Labs program, for example, provides vital funding to address complex housing problems, often focusing on marginalized populations and grassroots innovation. Similarly, academic hubs like the University of Toronto's School of Cities produce world-class research on modular construction and affordable housing in small towns.

Yet, urban policy experts frequently point to an implementation deficit. Research papers and policy recommendations often stall when they hit the realities of municipal zoning, private financing, and construction logistics.

The NEXTHOME Global Lab aims to deliver distinct value by avoiding the duplication of existing research-only hubs. By structurally integrating a private developer from day one, the lab ensures that every policy recommendation, financing model, or construction technology explored is immediately vetted for real-world viability. If a new approach to modular construction or co-living financing cannot be practically executed by a builder like Elevate Living, it is reworked until it can be. This direct tie between academic research and private development execution is designed to mobilize resources rapidly and bypass conventional delivery bottlenecks.

The Mechanics of a Hybrid Innovation Hub

Under the newly signed agreement, the Urban Economy Forum serves as the Founding Convenor and Lead Coordinating Organization. As an international non-governmental organization with strong ties to UN-Habitat, the UEF brings significant institutional credibility and a vast network of global municipal partners to the table.

The UEF's mission has long been to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 11, which focuses on sustainable cities and communities. By guiding the lab's strategic development and coordinating its research priorities, the UEF ensures that the physical projects developed align with global sustainability and affordability benchmarks.

"The agreement marks an important step toward advancing housing innovation and supporting the transformation of the housing industry in Canada and internationally," says Reza Pourvaziry, Chair of the Urban Economy Forum. "NEXTHOME Global Lab will serve as a collaborative platform connecting research, industry expertise, project development, and implementation to address housing challenges and promote practical, scalable solutions."

A central goal of the lab is to explore innovative approaches to housing development, investment, and financing. As government funding for social housing declines globally, there is a growing consensus among urban economists that tackling the housing shortage requires massive private capital deployment. The lab will focus on creating public-private partnership frameworks that can attract this capital, lowering the risk for investors while ensuring the resulting developments meet community needs for affordability and sustainability.

Scaling the Missing Middle for the Future

The physical location of the MOU signing—the World Urban Pavilion—is highly symbolic. Launched as a collaboration between UEF, UN-Habitat, CMHC, and The Daniels Corporation, the Pavilion serves as a global knowledge exchange hub. Housing the NEXTHOME Global Lab within this ecosystem provides immediate access to international researchers, policymakers, and a network of "Frontrunner Cities" eager to pilot new housing models.

In the coming months, the initiative will focus on developing its sustainable operating model, finalizing its governance framework, and establishing long-term resource mobilization strategies. The lab's immediate research priorities are expected to heavily feature the documentation of lessons learned from active housing projects, identifying friction points in the municipal approval processes, and developing replicable models for gentle density.

By focusing on the "missing middle"—diverse housing forms like purpose-built rentals, stacked townhouses, and smaller units that sit between single-family homes and high-rise towers—the NEXTHOME Global Lab is targeting the most critical gap in modern urban housing. If successful, the partnership between the Urban Economy Forum and Elevate Living will not only provide a blueprint for accelerating housing construction in Canada but will also offer a replicable, exportable model for cities worldwide struggling to turn urban policy into physical reality.