Reports
Relevant Reports
Gentle Density and Infrastructure Guidance Paper for Local and Provincial Government - Jul 2023
Communities across the BC are struggling to meet the housing needs of their residents, while working with limited funds for new infrastructure and a shrinking land base for outward expansion. Gentle density housing types, ranging from secondary suites and backyard infill through houseplexes and small townhouses present an attractive solution to growing our housing supply within our existing residential neighbourhoods. With Provincial policy set to increase development potential as-of-right in many residential areas, Small Housing – with support from consulting firms Urban Systems and ECONorthwest – convened a roundtable discussion to explore the relationship between gentle density housing types and local infrastructure. The Gentle Density & Infrastructure Roundtable included representatives from local governments, utility service providers, the development community, and Provincial government representatives.
This Guidance Paper presents recommendations that will assist various actors involved in planning for and financing growthrelated infrastructure, especially as it relates to new gentle density development. It provides background information and identifies challenges and recommendations in seven key areas: 1. Development finance tools 2. Local government capacity and understanding 3. Other order of government funding 4. Water and fire protection 5. Sewer system capacity 6. Stormwater management, and 7. Electrification.
Gentle Density and Affordability Guidance Paper for Local Governments and Other Community Partners - Jun 2023
This guidance paper brings together insights and perspectives collected through two expert roundtables where participants identified existing and emerging tools for local governments to increase the supply of gentle density and enhance its affordability. Proforma analysis was also conducted to accompany many of the tools, providing insights on the potential financial impact of various measures.
Multiplex Housing Financial Feasibility Exercise - 2022
This report presents the methods, findings, and recommendations of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Toronto’s Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) financial feasibility exercise. This exercise is in support of ongoing efforts by the City of Toronto to facilitate more low-rise housing in residential neighbourhoods within the city and follows the adoption of the Multiplex Study Interim Report in November 2021 - a zoning policy study to allow as-of-right multiplexes (2-4 residential units) in residential neighbourhoods across the city.
Upzoning Metro Vancouver’s Low-density Neighbourhoods for Housing Affordability - Feb 2022
To address the twin crises of housing affordability and climate change, Metro Vancouver needs more housing. Specifically, the city needs more “missing middle” housing between the extremes of detached homes and large condo towers. This paper proposes a framework of conditional upzoning, a regulatory shift away from detached housing to allow higher-density development across the region, while requiring that all new housing development contributes to greater affordability
The ‘Missing Middle’ - An Answer to Toronto’s Housing Shortages? - 2021
This report on the 'missing middle' has been commissioned by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board to assess the potential for increasing the available housing supply by introducing new forms of housing in the single-family neighbourhoods across the Greater Toronto Area.
Accessory Dwelling Units: Case Studies and Best Practices from BC Communities - 2021
This ADU guide was developed to address the current, timely needs and interests of small- and medium-sized communities wishing to scale up the provision of ADUs by providing demonstrated, effective leading practices in policies, bylaws, engagement, and other initiatives to more successfully implement ADUs
Secondary units in Ontario: municipal estimates and what contributes to disparities - Jun 2021
The purpose of this paper is to provide a more accurate estimate of the number of secondary units in Ontario’s most populated municipalities, and to examine some of the factors that contribute to the regional disparities across the province. The report devised a method that identified which properties in the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation’s (MPAC) database, one of the most comprehensive sources of property information in Ontario, had a secondary unit. Once these homes were identified, the authors were able to analyze whether certain location- and property-specific attributes affected the likelihood of a home having a secondary unit.
Missing Middle Housing: Development Costs and Affordability - Sep 2020
A pro forma analysis of several "Missing Middle" projects shows that expanding housing options has the potential to generate new rental units in neighbourhoods. The City of Toronto can contribute to affordability primarily through changes to development charges and other municipal costs, and by establishing a straightforward approvals process.
A strategy for significantly increasing the supply of “missing middle” housing in the city of Toronto - Feb 2019
The report explores the role of missing middle housing in the Toronto market (both past and present), and the reasons for the limited production of new missing middle housing units relative to demand. Further it provides recommendations for significantly increasing the supply of these types of housing units in Toronto in the future.
In-Between Issues: Exploring the “Missing Middle” in Ontario - 2019
This report demonstrates that accommodating future population growth in Ontario does not just mean increasing the supply of housing, but rather building the right type of housing. It explores reasons why Missing Middle housing types represent a decreasing proportion of new housing starts in Ontario, and identifies several contributing factors, including current land use planning regulations and the cost associated with development projects. The report also explores factors that contribute to housing unaffordability faced by middle-income earners in Ontario, and shows that by increasing the stock of Missing Middle housing types, middle-income earners will be able to choose a living situation that suits their household’s needs.
Accessory Dwelling Units. Principles and Best Practices - Sep 2018
This guide on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) is the result of a partnership between Arpent, a not-for-profit urban planning firm, and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Its purpose is to provide guidance and support for municipalities interested in this type of dwelling. Drawing on the experience of both U.S. and Canadian cities and on an extensive scientific literature review, this guide aims to promote good practices and the adoption of enabling ADU regulations in Canada.
Finding the Missing Middle in the GTHA An Intensification Case Study of Mississauga - Oct 2018
This report closely examines immediate, available opportunities to add Missing Middle housing in the City of Mississauga via intensification, using a model that can be readily transferred to other municipalities and scaled to the GTHA. The contradiction of low-density sprawl with no room to continue to grow outward makes Mississauga a perfect case study to build lower-scale Missing Middle housing to fit beside and into its single-detached house neighbourhoods (known also as “the Yellowbelt.”
What is the Missing Middle? A Toronto housing challenge demystified - 2018
The purpose of this brief is to bring clarity to the concept of the missing middle and to identify areas to explore solutions for increasing the supply of missing middle housing in Toronto.
Bringing the Neighbourhood into Infill - 2016
This report describes the outcomes of research undertaken in 2015-16 to consider the nature of resistance from existing residents to infill housing development in Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods, as well as the resistance of policy to this form of development.
Literature Review and Case Studies of Local Jurisdictions that Permit Secondary Suites - May 2015
To support knowledge and informed decision making regarding secondary suites, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) initiated a research project to document approaches used successfully by local governments across Canada to allow or encourage the creation of secondary suites in residential areas. As more municipalities develop policies and approaches to permit secondary suites, CMHC was also interested in raising awareness of the extent to which these approaches are helping to increase the supply of affordable rental housing. The intent is to provide valuable information to municipalities and other stakeholders to support the creation of secondary suites and inform related regulatory and policy considerations.
Releated Reports
Priced Out: Understanding the factors affecting home prices in the GTA - Nov 2013
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and the Pembina Institute’s Home Location Study released last year found that over 80% of Greater Toronto Area (GTA) residents would give up a large home and yard to live in a “locationefficient” neighbourhood that is transit-friendly, walkable and offers shorter commute times.1 However, more than 70% of residents in the GTA live where they do because of affordability rather than preference.2 Households are choosing car-dependent neighbourhoods mostly because of prices rather than a preference for the location. Priced Out is a follow-up study researched and written by the Pembina Institute, co-published by RBC, that explores the factors contributing to rising home prices in the GTA, and how homebuyers are being “priced out” of location-efficient options.
Widening inequities: Long-term housing affordability in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area 1991-2016
This paper examines long-term population-level housing affordability challenges and trends in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) from 1991 to 2016. This project’s goal is to analyze how housing affordability has changed for the general population and for different socio-demographic groups over this 25-year study period. Affordability is measured using shelter cost to income ratio (STIRs) data from the 1991 to 2016 censuses and the 2011 National Household Survey for the Toronto CMA. This equity-based analysis examines the distribution of household STIRs within and between a range of socio-demographic groups.