Fourth-year civil engineering student Thomas Fulton completed his last co-op work term at Caivan, the Ontario-based real estate developer and founder of the Future Cities Institute (FCI) at Waterloo.
As part of Caivan’s land development team, Fulton applied his engineering and technology skills to support purpose-built housing solutions amid Canada’s ongoing affordability challenges.
Using computer-aided design platforms and optimization tools, he evaluated housing configurations and produced two- and three-dimensional layouts for future neighbourhoods. Fulton also tackled the complex constraints that shape development, including zoning regulations and on-street parking requirements that limit density.
“Street parking requirements are much easier to meet when you have low-density units [single houses], and it becomes harder as the density of housing increases, for example townhouses and rear lane townhomes,” Fulton said. “In the current market, townhouses are selling better, so it's a matter of getting as many into a plan as possible while still meeting the street parking requirements for a subdivision.”
The experience also exposed him to innovative construction practices. Caivan uses modular methods to pre-build wood framing components, accelerating construction timelines and reducing costs. Fulton saw how streamlined approvals and advanced production systems can help boost housing supply.
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