GTA Construction News staff writer
Toronto City Council has approved zoning for three new housing developments that will add 1,087 rental units, including market and affordable homes, under the Toronto Builds policy framework approved in 2025.
The projects, approved at a February 10 council meeting, are: 9 Shortt St., 1631 Queen St. E. and 405 Sherbourne St. All three sites are on city-owned land and form part of the Toronto Builds portfolio, which consolidates and harmonizes requirements from previous initiatives such as Housing Now, ModernTO, the parking-to-homes program and the city’s public developer model. Thirty-six sites have been identified under the framework.
At 9 Shortt St., in the Fairbank community, a Green P parking lot will be redeveloped with 41- and six-storey buildings containing 458 market and affordable rental units.
The 1631 Queen St. E. project will include a six-storey mid-rise building along Queen Street East and an 18-storey residential tower on Eastern Avenue, providing 328 rental units.
At 405 Sherbourne St., a Toronto Parking Authority lot in Cabbagetown will be replaced with a 35-storey mixed-use building featuring 301 residential units and ground-floor space for community uses.
City officials say the approvals are part of a broader effort to address Toronto’s housing affordability crisis, which continues to affect low-income and vulnerable residents, people experiencing homelessness, key workers and middle-income earners.
Council has adopted what it describes as a whole-of-government response to accelerate housing delivery, including increasing the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan target to approve 65,000 rent-controlled homes by 2030. The target includes 6,500 rent-geared-to-income units, 41,000 affordable rental homes and 17,500 rent-controlled market homes.
About 100 city-owned sites have been identified as ready or potentially suitable for housing development, subject to due diligence.
The Toronto Builds framework establishes policies in 12 key areas to guide development on public land and is intended to create consistent requirements across city divisions, agencies and corporations, including CreateTO and Toronto Community Housing Corp.
The deputy city manager of development and growth services is expected to report back to council by the third quarter of 2026 with additional details on governance and program delivery, including updates on a proposed Housing Development Office.
Council has also authorized the release of three additional Toronto Builds sites in 2026 — 970 Kipling Ave., 158 Borough Dr. and 931 Yonge St. — through a market offering process. Those projects are expected to create approximately 1,523 new rental homes, including 504 affordable units.
The city is also pursuing a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Toronto District School Board to explore redevelopment of up to eight potential housing sites that could deliver more than 10,000 new rental homes, including 2,100 affordable units.
Toronto continues to call on the federal and provincial governments to partner in a proposed Canada-Ontario-Toronto Builds program aimed at aligning public land, funding and approvals to accelerate construction of affordable rental housing.
