Welcome to the CRE Podcast. 100% Canadian, 100% commercial real estate.
This is one of the episodes our audience keeps coming back to, and we’re putting it back in front of you because it deserves a wider audience than it got the first time. The arguments Dermot makes are just as sharp today as when we first recorded them, arguably sharper.
What if the biggest barrier to solving Canada’s housing crisis isn’t capital or construction capacity, but zoning itself? In this episode of the Commercial Real Estate Podcast, hosts Aaron Cameron and Adam Powadiuk sit down with Dermot Sweeny, Founding Principal at Sweeny&Co Architects, for a provocative conversation challenging the fundamental assumptions behind how Canadian cities regulate development. With nearly four decades of architectural practice spanning office, residential, hospitality, and institutional projects, Dermot argues that zoning has become the single greatest impediment to building livable, affordable, and sustainable cities.
The conversation explores why front yards represent wasted land, how Victorian-era fire codes still dictate modern building design, and why corner stores require council debates in 2026. Dermot shares lessons from Tokyo, Rome, and Paris on density done right, explains how industrial design principles from boats and trains could transform micro-unit living, and makes the case for why eight-story mid-rise buildings on underutilized employment lands could solve Toronto’s housing shortage without touching farmland.
What you will learn:
- Why zoning has been antithetical to building great cities
- How industrial design from boats and trains can transform micro-unit living
- The economics of mid-rise intensification in underutilized neighborhoods
- Why front yards represent the most wasted land in Canadian cities
- How Victorian-era building codes still block housing innovation
- The real cost breakdown of government charges in new housing
- Why collective amenities matter more than private space in urban living
- How to build housing under $2,000 per unit while maintaining 7% returns
- What Canadian cities can learn from Tokyo, Rome, and Paris on density
Dermot Sweeny is the Founding Principal of Sweeny&Co Architects, an architecture firm he started in his twenties that now employs over 55 people across a diverse portfolio of work. With 38 years of practice, Dermot has led design on over 7 million square feet of high-performance office buildings, innovative residential projects, and landmark institutional developments. His firm was responsible for Toronto’s first two-story open loft new build in 1987 and has pioneered green technology, raised floor systems, and tenant-driven workplace innovation across major projects including TELUS House, Loblaw’s headquarters, and BMW’s Canadian headquarters. Known for challenging conventional thinking around zoning, density, and sustainability, Dermot brings both sides of his brain—technical rigor and creative vision—to every conversation about the future of Canadian cities.
🎧 First-time listener or repeat visitor, this is the kind of conversation that rewards a second look.
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