Today, Toronto City Council adopted City of Toronto staff recommendations to help permit multiplexes in all neighbourhoods to support building new homes for people.
The adopted recommendations will result in amendments to the City’s Official Plan and city-wide Zoning Bylaw to enable the development of multiplexes – low-rise housing with two, three or four units in a single building – in all neighbourhoods throughout Toronto. The recommended changes aim to permit more housing in all low-rise neighbourhoods while largely maintaining their built form and landscape amenities.
This initiative is one component of the City’s 2023 Housing Action Plan, which seeks to increase the housing supply within complete, inclusive and sustainable communities with critical infrastructure to support growth.
Toronto is a dynamic, growing city which continues to attract newcomers. Current and future residents will need homes and to accommodate the diversity of household sizes and compositions, the city needs a diverse range of housing options. While there has been housing growth through mid- and high-rise apartment buildings concentrated in densely populated areas of the city, the supply of low-rise housing, such as multiplexes, has not kept up with the demand.
We are working non-stop to get more housing built across Toronto.
Today, City Council adopted @CityofToronto staff recommendations to help permit multiplexes in all neighbourhoods to support building new homes for people.
Allowing multiplexes in our low-rise neighbourhoods… pic.twitter.com/YDxXtZCvfP
— Jennifer McKelvie (@McKelvieTO) May 10, 2023
To remove barriers and enable the creation of more low-rise housing, the adopted report recommends an Official Plan Amendment to permit multiplexes in residential areas across the city and a Zoning Bylaw Amendment to implement these permissions in all residential zones. The report also recommends a monitoring program to track uptake and identify issues related to achieving multiplex housing.
These amendments were informed by feedback received through extensive public consultation, including comments submitted to the City in response to the draft amendments.
The full Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods: Multiplex Study – Final Report is available on the City’s website: www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/20
More information about the City’s HousingTO 2020-2023 Action Plan is available on the City’s HousingTO Action Plan webpage: www.toronto.ca/community-peopl
Quotes:
“We are working non-stop to get more housing built across Toronto. Allowing multiplexes in our low-rise neighbourhoods brings more types of housing to our city and supports a more equitable approach to growth. By introducing multiplexes, we also create the flexibility of our residential buildings and ensure that we have a mix of housing types to meet the needs of our current and future residents.”
– Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie (Scarborough-Rouge Park)
“Multiplexes have a long history in some Toronto neighbourhoods, providing desirable housing for many different types of households. Our recommendations to permit multiplex housing across all neighbourhoods will enable property owners to create housing for extended families or rental units for tenants. This is an important step to removing exclusionary zoning and will contribute to the City’s housing goals.”
– Gregg Lintern, Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning
SOURCE City of Toronto
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