By Sara Rahgozar, M.Arch, OAA, Quadrant Architects
In nine Toronto wards, you can now build up to six units on a single residential lot, as-of-right, with no rezoning and no hearing. It is one of the biggest steps in the city’s housing reforms, and it opens up options a fourplex cannot.
However, this six-unit permission applies in nine wards only. Everywhere else, the maximum is still four units. So if you are considering a fiveplex or sixplex, the first thing to check is whether your lot is in one of the nine. This guide covers where the permission applies, how it differs from the fourplex rules, and what to confirm before you plan for six.
On June 25 and 26, 2025, City Council adopted the amendments allowing up to six units as-of-right, through OPA 818 and Zoning By-law 654-2025. The permission covers two areas.
The first is the Toronto and East York district, roughly the area south of Eglinton Avenue, from Roncesvalles in the west to the Beaches in the east. That takes in Cabbagetown, Leslieville, Riverdale, Parkdale, Liberty Village, the Annex, the south end of Leaside, and much of downtown. Eight wards in total.
The second is Ward 23, Scarborough North, from Midland Avenue west to Morningside, south of Highway 401. It was approved earlier, on February 5, 2025, and took effect immediately because no appeals were filed.
That makes nine wards. Everywhere else, four units remains the ceiling.
Your maximum is four units, unless your ward councillor opts in. A councillor can ask Council to extend the permission to their ward, and Council votes on it. The list may grow over time, but until your ward is actually added, you cannot design for six units and expect a permit.
Why only nine wards? It became a political question with money attached. In March 2025 the federal Housing Minister warned that if Toronto did not allow sixplexes city-wide by June 30, 2025, Ottawa would hold back 25 percent, roughly $30 million, of the city’s annual Housing Accelerator Fund money. Council approved the nine-ward version anyway, and the funding question is still playing out. For anyone building, the takeaway is simple: check your ward before you design for six.
Less than you would expect. Under the zoning by-law, a five or six-unit building is a “detached houseplex,” not an apartment building, which the by-law defines as seven units or more. That keeps a sixplex under the ordinary residential rules for height, setbacks, and lot coverage, rather than the tougher rules apartment buildings face.
| Fourplex | Sixplex | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum units | 4 | 6 |
| Where allowed | Every residential Neighbourhoods lot, city-wide | Nine wards only, plus any ward that opts in |
| Building form | Detached, semi-detached, and other residential forms | Detached houseplex only |
| Envelope (height, coverage, setbacks) | Standard residential zone limits | The same limits as a fourplex |
| Bedroom cap | Not the binding factor | Total per-building bedroom cap applies |
| Parking | None required | None required |
A few points are worth drawing out:
In the nine wards, yes. You can build a six-unit main building plus one laneway or garden suite in the backyard, for seven homes on one lot. This is the “6+1.”
The backyard suite runs under its own rules, not the multiplex by-law, and you can have only one, a laneway suite or a garden suite, never both. If your total across the lot is six units or fewer, development charges are fully waived. If the suite brings you to seven, it is no longer exempt, but you can apply to defer the charge, which is waived only if you keep the suite as a rental for 20 years or more. You can build it before, after, or alongside the main building without affecting the waiver on the main units.
Four beliefs cause most of the confusion:
The development charge waiver is the big one. For buildings of up to six units, the City waives development charges entirely. Without it, a six-unit building would face roughly $240,000 to $330,000 in charges, at $40,000 to $55,000 per unit. The City has also frozen development charge rates for 2025 and 2026, and non-rental residential charges are now due at occupancy rather than at permit, effective November 3, 2025, which helps cash flow. The full financial picture is covered in our separate guide to multiplex costs.
Before designing a five or six-unit building, confirm all of these:
An architect or designer experienced in Toronto multiplex work can run this review, and many offer a preliminary feasibility check for a modest fee. On a six-unit project it is worth doing before you commit to full design, and it is where we start as a multiplex architect.
Sara Rahgozar, M.Arch, OAA, Quadrant Architects. 416-357-5713 · sara@quadrantarchitects.com
Current as of August 2026. The sixplex ward list can expand through councillor opt-ins, so check with the City of Toronto for the current list. Verify the rules for your specific address before making design or investment decisions.