Item - 2024.PH17.11

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to consider lessons learned from the Ward 23 six unit multiplex study for City-wide implementation, to undertake consultation in 2025, and to report back with final recommendations in the fourth quarter of 2025.

As part of the City’s application to the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), City Council directed staff to report back by the second quarter of 2024 on opportunities to enable as-of-right zoning for residential buildings with up to six units and four storeys city-wide. This would build on the recent adoption of permissions for multiplexes with up to four units and the Ward 23 (Scarborough North) Multiplex study exploring six-unit buildings that is currently underway.

This report provides an overview of the current policy context and ongoing work to permit six-unit buildings city-wide; summarizes emerging trends and best practices in other jurisdictions for multi-unit residential buildings; identifies potential barriers; and sets out a proposed workplan to identify opportunities to expand permissions for six-unit and four-storey residential buildings city-wide.

Should Planning and Housing Committee endorse this workplan, staff will undertake further analysis and stakeholder consultation and will report back in Q4 2025 with a proposals report outlining proposed amendments to advance for broader public consultation and implementation.