Item - 2025.PH25.17

Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, the Executive Director, Development Review, and the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services to conduct a review of Type G loading requirements, including the unit cap triggering Type G at 31 units, and report to Planning and Housing Committee by the second quarter of 2026 with an analysis of the feasibility, including the financial, resourcing, operational needs and any other requirements in order to be in a position to modify City requirements for loading space to better enable mid-rise development and small-scale retail in mid-rises.

2. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, the Executive Director, Development Review, and the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, to consult with industry stakeholders and conduct jurisdictional analysis of global best practices for waste collection and loading space in mid-rise buildings, and report on the feasibility, cost and operational considerations of implementing innovative solutions including smaller trucks, on-street collection, turntables, alternative storage, waste room sizes, to City Council by the second quarter of 2026.

3. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, the Executive Director, Development Review, and the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services to review and report on any required changes to the 2022 Waste Collection Standards arising from Part 2, above.

Dear Chair and Committee Members,

I am writing to request your support to have Staff review the City’s Type G Loading requirements and waste management approaches for mid-rise developments. Through working closely with City Staff from Development Review and Solid Waste Management Services, along with industry leaders, we have identified potential improvements that could support the viability of certain development sites and improve the at-grade retail experience in mid-rise developments.

Toronto is currently facing a generational housing crisis, and the City has undertaken a range of policy initiatives to grow our housing supply, including broadly permitting more density along avenues and major streets and encouraging new mid-rise housing forms, also referred to as the “missing middle”.

However, there are major barriers to the development of missing middle housing that significantly impact development potential and feasibility. One major barrier that is frequently noted by industry is the City’s Type G loading requirements, and the associated complexities of waste collection for mid-rise apartment buildings. 

Type G loading space requirements require developments to be designed to fully internalize a truck’s ability to turn around, collect waste and swing up a waste bin, without reversing onto a public road thereby reducing potential incidents of collision. This results in unnecessarily high ceilings, and the loss of significant ground floor area.

As a consequence this reduces development viability, especially in smaller buildings where every square foot is critical. By eating up the majority of the ground floor, these requirements also result in the loss of small-scale retail, which contributes to the erosion of the commercial fabric of our neighborhoods. This is contrary to the City’s broader objectives, which seek to support a diversity of built forms, fostering thriving main streets with small-scale retail.

Type G loading is interconnected with the City’s approach to waste collection. With the continued emergence of missing middle housing forms across the city, the need for more flexible and context-sensitive waste collection solutions is becoming increasingly important.

This motion directs staff to undertake a comprehensive review of Type G loading space requirements and their interactions with waste collection standards. It requests the City to explore the feasibility of the utilization of small scale waste collection vehicles that are more compatible with constrained urban areas, as well as innovative solutions such as turntables, shared or below grade loading space, and on-street storage systems currently used across many other global cities.

There is  existing staff direction to conduct a review of loading space requirements through the Missing Middle and Midrise Housing Implementation Initiative. This motion is intended to ensure that there is clear direction for interdivisional coordination to focus on implementing innovative solutions, in a timely and urgent manner given the significant impact of loading requirements on new housing supply and good design.