Toronto’s Busiest Streets Could See More Mid-Rise Buildings

More of Toronto’s most-travelled streets could be lined with taller buildings in the not-too-distant future. On Wednesday, a new policy that introduces as-of-right zoning for mid-rise buildings on all Avenues (an official name for the city’s busiest streets) will be discussed at a City Council meeting. If approved, the policy would create uniform rules to allow for dense mid-rise buildings of up to 11 storeys on these designated streets.

Of course, the proposed changes come as Toronto remains in the grips of a housing crisis, where increasing supply is the name of the game for urban planners and politicians. Despite recent Canadian immigration restrictions intended to control population growth, the ballooning number of Canadian residents remains a major source of pressure on Toronto’s housing markets. More mid-rise housing (buildings typically six to 11 storeys tall) is just one piece of the supply-side puzzle.

Back in 2010, the City of Toronto first published its design guidelines for mid-rise buildings on avenues in its Avenues and Mid-Rise Buildings Study and Performance Standards. According to the City, between 2010 and 2023, over 136 mid-rise buildings were completed as a result of these new rules.

Now, the City wants to update policies and zoning permissions to expand the Avenues and Mixed Use Areas, update built form and public realm standards, and implement as-of-right zoning permissions to make it easier, faster, and more affordable to plan and build mid-rise buildings. Essentially, under proposed changes, the wider the avenue, the taller the building allowed. New regulations could also see the possible introduction of Avenues. In fact, recent consultation identified the potential for 120 kilometres of new Avenues in Toronto, according to a report from city planning.

“This supplementary report provides an overview of the HAP’s Avenues, Mid-rise and Mixed-Use Areas projects, how they cumulatively remove barriers, ease administration, and support the goal to achieve or exceed the provincial housing target of 285,000 new homes over the next 10 years, to continue to achieve intensification and housing opportunities along Toronto’s Avenues,” reads the report.

Toronto skyline/Shutterstock
Toronto skyline/Shutterstock

This report recommends a zoning by-law amendment to permit as-of-right heights and densities for mid-rise buildings on lands identified as Avenues and designated Mixed Use Areas in the Official Plan. It implements urban design performance standards, including updated standards for rear transition alongside the increases to height and density permissions. Such changes will allow for mid-rise development on the Avenues without the need for a site-specific zoning approval. Property owners can seek special approval for buildings higher than 11 storeys. According to the City, the recommended changes could result in more than 61,000 more units than the 21,500 new homes yielded under current zoning standards.

In recent years, new legislation designed to increase density – from so-called “gentle density” initiatives, to sky-high (literally) condo developments – has begun to reshape Toronto’s streets and neighbourhoods.

On the smaller scale, this includes everything from the legalization of laneway houses and garden suites (in 2018 and 2022, respectively) to new(ish) legislation that permits multiplexes of up to four suites in all Toronto neighbourhoods – whether the NIMBY set likes it or not. On the hyper-density side, legislation passed by the Province in 2023 requires minimum density requirements set near major transit stations – neighbourhoods defined as Major Transit Station Areas (MTSA) or Protected Transit Station Areas (PTSA). To date, City Council has delineated 29 MTSAs and 105 PMTSAs, many of which overlap with the Avenues.

Proposed new Official Plan policies encourage taller mid-rise buildings on Avenues where there is access to higher order transit.

“These projects advance the objectives of the Housing Action Plan by expanding the Avenues and modernizing their development framework, to optimize their potential for new mixed-use development in a mid-rise form that enables the delivery of housing along the City’s avenues,” reads the report.

As recent figures reveal, the odds of Ontario hitting its target to build 285,000 over the next 10 years are increasingly slim (yes, we’d bet on that). So, the pressure continues to mount for more supply-side solutions, especially in cities like Toronto.