Measures to solve the housing crisis in Toronto

Toronto's housing crisis has escalated in recent years. It has emerged as a result of multiple factors: population growth, insufficient construction, restrictive urban regulations, rising construction costs, rising interest rates on housing mortgages, as well as a general decline in living standards.

The construction of new condominiums is in drastic decline, and investors who have already started projects are facing serious financial challenges. Sales of newly built apartments are at their lowest in 30 years, which is not surprising given the market risks. Many buyers stay on the sidelines, learning from the experiences of those who bought apartments in the pre-construction phase between 2019 and 2021. Today, due to rising interest rates and falling real estate prices, these apartments are worth less than at the time of purchase. In March 2025, the greater Toronto area saw a 65% decline in new housing and home construction, the largest in decades. At the same time, in the state-subsidized housing sector, waiting lists have increased by as much as 50% in the last ten years.

In the last few years, the municipality of Toronto has taken aggressive measures to remove administrative barriers to the creation of new housing, especially when it comes to smaller buildings. In 2023, there was a revolutionary change in the law on city zoning regulations. The construction of up to four residential units became possible without zoning barriers, even in parts of the city that were traditionally zoned exclusively for single-family homes. Prior to this change in urban regulations, any deviation from zoning required the approval of the Urban Zoning Committee, which often entailed months of waiting. Without this approval, a building permit could not be obtained. The commission's decisions also took into account the views of neighbors, and neighborhood complaints were often enough to deny a request to build more than one additional housing unit in the parts of the city zoned for single-family homes.

In February of 2022, the Toronto City Council approved the construction of the so-called  "Garden Suites" and "Laneway Suites." These projects must meet regular zoning requirements, such as maximum area, height and distance from the fence of the yard with the neighbor, etc., and these projects do not require the approval of the urban deviation commission ( which is known as the Committee of Adjustment). Like any construction, these projects must comply with the Ontario Building Code. Additional restrictions relate to fire safety conditions: the maximum permissible distance from the main street to the entrance to the garden dwelling is 45 meters, with a mandatory passage of 1 meter wide and 2.1 meters high for the needs of fire and emergency services.

In recent years, the Toronto Municipal Department of Building Permits has introduced a number of initiatives to speed up the process and support residential construction. One of the most significant changes is the acceptance of certified modular projects, as well as the adoption of standardized plans for the issuance of building permits for single-family homes, garden apartments and apartments on access streets. This department has gone a step further, from the beginning of 2024, the so-called Express Building Permits, which in addition to the small residential projects and small renovations in commercial spaces, it also allows you to obtain a building permit for an additional residential unit within a family house (secondary suite) within three working days.

This article is part of the Local Journalism Initiative