Ontario Construction News staff writer
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow wants to change how housing is built in the city, to allow a new mid-rise residential buildings to be built along major streets.
In an Oct. 29 letter to members of the city’s Planning and Housing Committee, Chow said housing policies “need to be bold and ambitious” to address the housing crisis.
“Building more mid-rise buildings on Toronto’s Avenues is an important strategy for unlocking more housing quickly,” she wrote. “Toronto’s Avenues are in highly liveable areas. They’re near transit, employment areas, schools, parks, grocery stores, and other amenities and services.
“There is a great deal of potential to build wonderful communities that cater to people of all walks of life.
The mayor supports widespread “as-of-right” zoning along Toronto’s Avenues, meaning developers could build within specified height limits without needing a rezoning application. This would streamline the process, reduce costs, and allow new homes to be built more quickly and affordably.on transit-served Avenues will follow in early 2025.
Chow proposed three recommendations that were adopted by the committee and will be considered at a City Council meeting today, Nov. 13.
- Updates to the mid-rise urban design guidelines to provide flexibility and enable opportunities for taller and denser mid-rise built form along the Avenues and report back to the December 5 Planning and Housing Committee
- Re-examine older avenues studies and consider opportunities to align height, density and built form permissions with the recommended new as-of-right zoning for midrise permissions and report back to the Planning and Housing Committee in Q3 2025
- Make best efforts to identify additional opportunities to enable increased housing supply along existing and proposed Avenues that are served by frequent transit and report back to the Planning and Housing Committee in Q1 2025.
A staff report approved by the committee considers the potential of mid-rises and proposes more mid-rise buildings as-of-right on our Avenues to speed up approvals and allow for more homes to be delivered faster and more affordably.
“It’s a big step in the right direction, but I believe we can go further. We can allow for even more homes along these Avenues and give more people the opportunity to live in our city,” Chow said. “While this work must happen quickly, it must also be done with care. I asked staff about increasing the density immediately, but it needs to be more than just assigning new as-of-right heights arbitrarily.
“The recommendations would direct staff to quickly undertake the technical work required to create permissions for more housing on our Avenues.”
Council will debate the proposals at a meeting today (Nov. 13).
