Prime Minister Carney is addressing the European Union (EU) Parliament this week to “strengthen Canada’s ties with the EU in trade, investment, and security”. While deeper integration with the EU is seen as an opportunity to diversify trade in key sectors such as energy and critical minerals, a well-crafted deal with the EU could also lower the cost of building a home in Canada, while opening new markets for suppliers and manufacturers of construction materials.

Canadians are all too familiar with the existence of interprovincial trade barriers, the differences in rules, regulations and standards between provinces that make exporting goods and services from one province to another more difficult. The same phenomenon holds true for international trade, as a lack of harmonization acts as a trade barrier: products legal for use in Canada may not meet other countries’ standards, and vice versa.

These barriers are particularly acute in the homebuilding industry, as many products, from windows to sinks to furnaces, that are certified and tested to European standards cannot simply be used in Canada. Those products must be retested and recertified against Canada’s CSA standards, adding cost and delay. Often, this expense is so prohibitive that importers simply do not bother importing these products, which reduces product choice and competition, slows the arrival of innovative materials, and increases the cost of everything we build.

Recertification costs are not the only barrier; often, products from Europe cannot be used at all because they do not meet current Canadian standards, including those specified in Canadian building codes. These limitations, and the cost increases they create, are invisible to us, but are substantial nonetheless. For example, a 2024 study by the Center for Building in North America found that hard costs of installing an elevator cabin in a four-storey building can be four times as expensive in Canada as in Switzerland.

These cost increases could be justified if Canadian standards offered superior safety or environmental performance. But neither holds true in this case: Europe is a global leader in creating environmentally friendly products, and there is no evidence that Switzerland experiences elevator tragedies at a higher rate than Canada.

Canada should make it easier to use these high quality products in our buildings. That does not mean, however, Canada must switch all of our standards to those of the EU. In fact, Canada’s National Building Code already accommodates “acceptable solutions” and “alternative solutions.” Recognizing European standards in product certification, assembly and fire-resistance standards as accepted alternatives is a modest, incremental change that would fit within the Building Code’s existing architecture. This would give builders options: they could use products that meet existing Canadian standards and certification, or EU standards and certification that Canada deems acceptable.

The obvious benefit is that it gives homebuilders immediate access to a wide array of safe, high-quality, environmentally friendly components; it also benefits Canadian manufacturers. By allowing the use of European-compliant standards in Canada, it creates a market for those products that Canadian manufacturers can meet. When those new Canadian products are successful domestically, exporting to the European Union, a market of 450 million people becomes possible. A 2026 report by the Centre for Industrial Policy makes the explicit case that Canada is well-positioned to supercharge its forestry products industry, so long as it can align its standards and outputs with international market demands.

Now is the time to make this a reality. Next month’s Canada-EU summit will have deeper trade integration at the top of the agenda. In preparation, the Carney government should immediately direct the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes and Codes Canada to begin formally recognizing the EU’s CEN-CENELEC building standards as alternative solutions. Canada has a pathway to simultaneously diversify trade and make housing more affordable for Canadians. We cannot afford to miss the opportunity.

Adam Mongrain is the Executive Director of More & Better Housing Canada. Mike Moffatt is the Founding Director of the Missing Middle Initiative

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