April 20, 2023, Toronto: The Toronto laws that shield large cuts of the city from anything other than detached or semi-detached houses may soon be relics, as Toronto’s chief planner has released a final set of recommendations to legalize multiplex housing across every neighbourhood citywide.
The proposal released Thursday morning was long-awaited, with city planners consulting and drafting changes to crack open the city’s long-held ‘yellow belt’ areas where only single-family homes are permitted for years. In his final report, chief planner Gregg Lintern proposes allowing duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in all of Toronto’s lowrise residential areas.
If the council approves, the changes will amount to a considerable rethink of how Toronto grows. Under the current zoning and planning rules, the city’s skyline has become jagged, with some areas defined by clustered, sky-reaching apartment towers while others, sometimes mere blocks away, have been shielded solely for single-family homes.
“Broadening the types and sizes of units available in lowrise neighbourhoods makes them more accessible to a diverse range of people and needs,” the new report reads, adding that increasing housing options also allowed for more access to neighbourhood parks, schools, and stores.
In some neighbourhoods, it noted that populations have been declining, leaving infrastructure “underused” — a situation Lintern described as a “driving factor” for the proposed overhauls. Census data has shown that as areas like Mount Pleasant West have seen explosive growth in recent years, other neighbourhoods like Trinity-Bellwoods have seen their populations constrict.
Under the recommended changes, multiplex housing could be built up to 10 meters, or three storeys, so long as the design was in keeping with that area’s existing “physical features.” The report adds that four-storey units may be possible in some neighbourhoods that already allow for greater heights.
The city pitch is a step up from the changes mandated by the province late last year through Bill 23, which requires cities allow a minimum of three residential units on any lot.
The proposed framework would allow for garden suites or laneway suites alongside multiplexes, if a lot is large enough, for a potential total of five units. The proposal includes a commitment to monitor the rollout of the new system, with a report due back to the city’s planning and housing committee on any needed changes by early 2026.
These changes are part of a broader city effort to boost housing density, with further pitched changes to planning rules expected to come down the pipeline. While city planners conducting the multiplex research had previously floated concurrent changes to allow more lowrise apartment buildings in specific residential areas, no such recommendations were advanced in Thursday’s report, which said staff would “continue consideration” of such policies.
In a separate report last month, city staff said final recommendations on four-to-six storey walk-ups on major streets would be released later in 2023, with further proposals expected next year.
