Housing and Modular Construction in Laval: The 2026 Picture

In short — Laval is one of the 11 winners of the SHQ's first call for highly prefabricated housing: the Habitation Havre du Renouveau, 36 units deliverable in summer 2026. The City has also just doubled its ambitions with an action plan targeting 2,000 social and affordable units by 2028. Behind an overall vacancy rate that looks healthy, the affordable segment remains suffocated — and that is precisely where modular construction has the most to offer.

Quebec's third-largest city, Laval is living a deceptive housing crisis: the overall figures reassure, the reality of modest-income households much less so. Here is the 2026 picture, sourced figures in hand.

The housing situation in Laval

The Laval paradox fits in three numbers. According to October 2025 data reported by the Courrier Laval, the overall vacancy rate reaches about 3.4% — above the equilibrium threshold. But it drops to about 0.8% in the cheapest quartile of units, while it climbs to 7.7% in the most expensive quartile. In other words: the market is overflowing with unaffordable new units, while accessible units remain impossible to find.

This imbalance is the local version of a provincial phenomenon: the easing of Quebec's rental market comes almost entirely from the high end, as we explain in our feature on the housing crisis and modular construction. For a dense suburban city where land is getting scarce, the question is no longer "build or not," but "build what, and how fast."

Add a provincial factor: the Tribunal administratif du logement's new method for calculating rent increases came into force on January 1, 2026 (Le Devoir). It aims to smooth out spikes in increases — but it creates no housing. For households in Laval's affordable quartile, the only real relief will come from new supply at accessible prices.

The 2025-2028 action plan: Laval doubles down

The municipal response arrived in spring 2026. The Housing Action Plan 2025-2028, adopted in April 2026, sets a target of 2,000 social, affordable and non-profit units by 2028 — double the previous plan (Ville de Laval, Info Laval).

The pipeline described in the plan gives the measure of the movement: since 2025, four projects delivered (153 non-profit units), four under construction (268 units) and seven more funded totalling about 1,450 units, plus a new tax-credit program for affordable units in new builds. For non-profits and co-operatives, the municipal message is clear: the land and the incentives are coming — what remains is to deliver fast.

Havre du Renouveau: Laval in the first prefab wave

This is where modular enters the picture. On August 22, 2025, the SHQ announced the 11 winners of its first call for 500 highly prefabricated housing units — 336 units in total, delivery targeted for summer 2026. Among them: the Habitation Havre du Renouveau in Laval, 36 units (official list).

Laval thus finds itself in Quebec's first cohort of standardized 24- and 36-unit factory-built buildings. And the program's most spectacular proof of concept took place just across the Rivière des Prairies: Projet Acadie in Montreal, 26 modular units wrapped up in under 12 months, permits included, with tenants expected in October 2026 (Québec.ca). After two calls for projects, the program totals 566 selected prefabricated units.

The first call also locked in five design-build consortiums backed by Quebec factories: the industrial capacity to produce these buildings in series exists, and it is already under public contract. For Laval, a second prefabricated project would therefore be no precedent — the supply chain is broken in.

What modular changes for a plan like Laval's

A target of 2,000 units in three years does not forgive builds that drag on. Independent studies measure timelines cut by 20 to 50% for modular construction compared with traditional builds — and factory fabrication advances while the site is prepared, winter included (see our feature on building in winter in Quebec).

Concretely, for Laval, the range runs from the modular multiplex slotted into an existing neighbourhood up to the SHQ-format standardized 36-unit building. Municipal departments that want to line up land, zoning and financing packages for the next calls will find the step-by-step in our guide for municipalities. Let's stay clear-eyed on costs: direct savings range from 0 to 20% depending on market and scale. The reliable gain is time.

The programs available in 2026

• PHAQ (Programme d'habitation abordable Québec). The 2026-2027 budget funds a new call for 1,000 affordable units — the first regular call since 2023 (Québec.ca).
• The SHQ "highly prefabricated" calls. 566 units selected across two calls, including the 36 of Havre du Renouveau; the next cycles are worth watching.
• Laval's tax credit for affordable units in new construction, provided for in the 2025-2028 action plan.
• CMHC mortgage loan insurance extended to modular (May 2026), which eases the financing of prefabricated multi-unit buildings — we break it all down in our guide to funding affordable modular housing.

Sources: Gouvernement du Québec (SHQ), Ville de Laval, Info Laval, Courrier Laval, CMHC. Article written by Jeremy Soares. Last updated: July 2, 2026.