Item - 2025.PH18.10

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in the context of several interrelated projects in City Planning Division’s 2025 study work program, to work with the General Manager, Transportation Services, the TTC, other divisions as appropriate, and the Ward Councillor to assess recent growth and emerging development pressures in the Queensway and Humber Bay Shores areas of Ward 3 Etobicoke-Lakeshore to identify options for advancing improvements to the road and transit networks in these areas, ensure there is cohesion between the multiple initiatives underway, and to report back to Planning and Housing Committee on December 3, 2025.

This report provides the annual update on the Study Work Program from the City Planning and Development Review divisions. It outlines the divisions’ 62 completions and approvals in 2024, including a broad range of city building work across Toronto. The report also provides a forecast for the divisions’ 2025 Study Work Program.

The Study Work Program Update highlights initiatives led by the City Planning and Development Review divisions to manage the city’s growth and its physical form, and the opportunities these initiatives provide for increased access to housing, jobs and services for all Toronto residents.

The Study Work Program supports the City’s equity strategies and is aligned with the Official Plan’s four principles of reconciliation, access, equity and inclusion.

This year’s update reflects work from both divisions as the study work program and budgets remain intertwined.

In 2024, the City Planning and Development Review divisions completed 62 items. With respect to service levels, the divisions delivered 21 items under City Building Studies (service level: 18), 1 item under City-wide Urban Design Guidelines (service level: 1) and 5 items under Heritage Conservation District (HCD) Studies/Plans (service level: 5). In addition to completions against service levels, City Planning undertakes a range of additional initiatives, including legislative review, Official Plan and Zoning By-law updates, forecasts and modelling, environmental implementation, special projects, heritage conservation, Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) appeal-related work, and ongoing Official Plan implementation. 35 of these additional initiatives were completed or approved in 2024.

City Planning and Development Review are actively examining how their city building work can better deliver planning outcomes that advance social equity and economic inclusion for current and future residents; encourage appropriate kinds of growth and development across Toronto; and guide investment in community improvements and infrastructure. The overarching driver is to focus the divisions’ integrated and cross-disciplinary city building approach in support of a more inclusive and climate adaptive city.

Both divisions stand alongside their divisional partners in pursuing all available tools to address the housing crisis. The policies, plans and programs advanced by the divisions encourage responsible development to increase the supply of housing within complete, inclusive and resilient communities that have the necessary infrastructure to support growth. Partnerships with the provincial and federal governments are critical to delivering that vision.

The Divisions’ 2024 achievements spanned a wide range of topics, supporting the Official Plan’s goals of advancing reconciliation, taking action on climate change, addressing housing demand, and removing barriers.

The adoption of a new Chapter One to the Official Plan gives the divisions an updated set of guiding values, brought to life through initiatives such as the naming of Ookwemin Minising and Biidaasige Park. Climate action is also a priority, with efforts such as updating the Toronto Green Standard timelines and improving watershed health. To address housing supply, the divisions advanced work to implement inclusionary zoning, use City-owned lands for housing, and updated the Official Plan to encourage more mixed-use development close to transit.

In 2025, study work will prioritize unlocking permissions for more housing to be built more quickly. The divisions will report on several area studies including for Chinatown, Kingston Road/Guildwood, Glencairn and Lake Shore West. Ongoing work to update the Official Plan will focus on expanding Mixed Use Areas and updating Neighbourhoods and Apartment Neighbourhoods policies while zoning by-law updates will ensure that more housing can be delivered as-of-right across the city.