Monith Developments, Inc: a BC Benefit Company
Monith Developments Inc. is a residential development and consulting company on southern Vancouver Island. We build small-scale multi-unit housing — three and four unit buildings on lots that until recently permitted only a single house — to the Passive House standard, and we are working on ways to keep some of that housing affordable to the people who live in it.
The company was incorporated in British Columbia in January 2025, as a benefit company, in response to the province’s small-scale multi-unit housing legislation. The experience behind it is considerably older.
David Collins, PhD
I have spent thirty years in residential real estate, from three sides of it.
Fourteen of those years I worked as a licensed real estate broker in Michigan, and seventeen as a residential landlord there — owning, managing and maintaining rental property through two complete market cycles, including the one that ended in 2008. I held a Michigan builder’s licence, which I used on my own buildings rather than other people’s: renovating, rebuilding and keeping a rental portfolio standing. After teaching, I spent five years as a carpenter, in a tool belt.
I also hold a PhD in mathematics, and taught at both the secondary and university level. That is not the usual route into development, and it shows in how this company works. The analysis comes first. The numbers have to close — under conservative assumptions, with the contingency inside them — before a shovel goes anywhere near the ground.
I am a Certified Passive House Consultant, I hold a British Columbia builder’s licence, and I live in Saanich.
What we do
For homeowners. Most urban lots on southern Vancouver Island can now hold three, four or six homes instead of one, with no rezoning, no council decision and no public hearing. We tell you what your particular lot can take, and what it would cost. If you want to go further, we can run the whole process — from deconstruction through permitting and construction to the Certificate of Occupancy — either in partnership with you, so you keep ownership and the value you’ve built up, or by purchasing the lot outright.
For the housing question. Small-scale infill is the only form of new entry-level ownership housing that British Columbia’s planning system now produces easily. Getting it financed is another matter. We research and publish on that gap, and we are developing an ownership structure that holds a home’s price to inflation across successive owners — so that a single building keeps housing moderate-income households rather than pricing them out after the first sale.
How we build
Every Monith-built home meets the Passive House standard: airtight, heavily insulated, mechanically ventilated, and cheap to heat in a way that conventional construction is not. That matters more than it used to — a home built to this standard stays habitable through a heat dome or a multi-day power failure, and its operating cost does not track the energy market.
We build under Part 9 of the British Columbia Building Code, working with licensed general contractors who carry the mandatory 2-5-10 home warranty. Our buildings include secure bicycle parking and other active-transportation amenities as standard, not as an upgrade.
Where we are now
Monith is a young company doing patient work. We have screened the Saanich lot inventory against buildability criteria to identify where small-scale infill actually pencils, developed and tested a financial model for permanently affordable ownership, and in September 2026 filed a submission to Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada on the financing gap facing small-scale owner-occupied housing in Canada.
Our first buildings are in development. We would rather say that plainly than photograph someone else’s.
Action Plan: SSMUH
If you are ready to assess the SSMUH potential for your property in the Urban Containment Boundary, the first step is contacting us for a consultation.
If you’re ready to realize the cash potential of building a Small-Scale-Multi-Unit Houseplex on your property, you have options. We can buy your property, or partner with you to develop it.