This week, councillors will consider a city staff proposal to allow up to 11-storey apartments on some of Toronto’s most prominent streets as part of a longstanding effort to tackle the city’s housing crisis.
Staff recently drafted a plan to change what kinds of buildings are allowed on sections of major streets like Dundas Street, Roncesvalles Avenue and St. Clair Avenue — known as “avenues” in the city’s official plan — outside of the downtown core.
The staff proposal currently before council would essentially allow apartments on avenues to be as high as the street is wide without the developer needing to apply for special permission from the city that would trigger a long and expensive rezoning process.
On narrow avenues, like Dundas Street, apartments could go as high as six storeys.
On wider ones, like Jane Street and the Queensway, they could go up to 11 storeys.
Under existing rules, staff said development on avenues could yield nearly 22,000 new housing units. The new rules could mean an additional 61,000 units.
That’s not good enough, according to Mayor Olivia Chow and Beaches—East York Coun. Brad Bradford.
“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 recently wrote in a letter to the city’s housing committee.
In the letter, Chow asked staff to revise the new proposed rules to “provide flexibility and enable opportunities for taller and denser mid-rise” buildings along avenues, among other changes.
Bradford, who sits on the city’s housing committee, made similar asks last month.
Chow and Bradford’s push for more height and density — which needs to be approved by council — is backed by some key stakeholders.
“The proposed increased permissions are insufficient to facilitate mid-rise development projects and enhance housing supply,” said Danielle Binder, senior director of policy for the Building Industry and Land Development Association, in a letter.
The new rules wouldn’t apply to every avenue because about half already have specific policies that apply in certain sections. The other half, however, would be affected by the change.
Chow’s letter also asked staff to revisit the old policies and align them with the new push for more housing.
Currently, if a developer wants to build on the avenues that don’t already have a specific policy in place they have to pay for a study themselves, which drives up costs, takes time and serves as a deterrent to building.
The city’s existing avenues policy hasn’t yielded much housing, according to a 2023 city staff report. From 2019 to the end of 2023, just 142 housing projects and 22,000 units were built on avenues, even though the city’s official plan says they’re a main target for residential growth.
“Rather than serving as key growth areas which could provide desperately needed homes throughout Toronto, the potential of avenues has been sidelined,” according to advocacy group More Neighbours Toronto.
