Toronto offers free pre-approved designs for multiplexes

Toronto now gives builders free, ready-made designs for multiplexes of four and six homes. The City has added them to its Pre-Approved Building Plans Program, which already covered garden and laneway suites. UrbanToronto reported that LGA Architectural Partners, a 35-year-old firm focused on public sector housing, won the City’s request for proposals to create the designs.

Dylan Aster of Toronto Building, the City’s building department, said the plans are meant to cut upfront design work, lower costs and give more certainty in the permit process. Janna Levitt, an LGA partner, said the full drawing set, from architectural to plumbing, is free to users. She said Toronto’s lot sizes are unusually diverse and small by Canadian standards, which shaped the designs.

Multiplex building has already grown. Since the City expanded multiplex permissions in 2023, Toronto has built 2,119 new multiplex buildings holding 3,371 housing units. Those figures leave out conversions and additions to existing buildings. Multiplexes, garden suites and other small infill homes now make up ten times more of Toronto’s housing starts than two years ago.

Mr Aster said the City will judge success by whether the program makes it easier for homeowners and builders to move from permission to construction.

Sources: UrbanToronto