Toronto sixplex rules, 2026: the nine wards, the waivers, and what you can actually build

The short answer

Yes, you can build a sixplex in Toronto — as-of-right, no rezoning, no Committee of Adjustment hearing — provided your lot sits in one of nine wards. In June 2025, City Council adopted OPA 818 and Zoning By-law 654-2025, permitting up to six units, up to four storeys and 10.5 metres, in low-rise residential buildings across eight Toronto and East York wards plus Scarborough North as a pilot. Council then went further and waived development charges and parkland dedication on multiplexes up to six units — part of the City's Housing Accelerator Fund commitments to the federal government.

Those two moves together are why the sixplex has become the most talked-about building in Toronto real estate. The rest of this guide is what the headlines skip: where the permissions actually apply, what the waiver is worth, what the envelope rules allow, and — the question we'd push you to ask — whether six units is even the right ambition for your lot.

The nine wards where six units are as-of-right

The 2025 permissions cover these wards:

• Ward 4 — Parkdale–High Park
• Ward 9 — Davenport
• Ward 10 — Spadina–Fort York
• Ward 11 — University–Rosedale
• Ward 12 — Toronto–St. Paul's
• Ward 13 — Toronto Centre
• Ward 14 — Toronto–Danforth
• Ward 19 — Beaches–East York
• Ward 23 — Scarborough North (suburban pilot)

If that list looks familiar, it should — it's the band of pre-war, streetcar-built neighbourhoods where the missing middle originally thrived. It's also, not coincidentally, where our entire portfolio sits: The Annex and Seaton Village (Ward 11), Trinity Bellwoods and Davenport (Ward 9), the Danforth corridor (Ward 14). Every neighbourhood we build in is covered.

The other sixteen wards stay capped at the city-wide four-unit maximum until their councillor opts in — a mechanism Council built into the reform precisely so coverage can expand without another marathon debate. The City's Multiplex Monitoring Program is studying a citywide rollout, with further expansion possible in 2026. And even outside the nine wards, a sixplex isn't off the table; it's simply a minor variance application rather than an as-of-right permit, a process that is manageable with experienced hands.

The waiver: what "no development charges" is actually worth

Development charges are the City's per-unit levy on new construction, and they are not small numbers — on a multi-unit residential project they routinely run into six figures. Waiving them entirely on projects up to six units, along with the parkland dedication requirement, changes the arithmetic of the building. Costs that once consumed a meaningful slice of the budget now stay in the project — effectively a permanent improvement to yield on every sixplex built under the program.

The waiver exists because Toronto committed to it — one of 35 milestones under the City's Housing Accelerator Fund agreement with the federal government. That context matters for one practical reason: policy tied to funding agreements has momentum. The direction of travel in Toronto is more permission, not less, and building owners who move while incentives are fresh tend to capture the best of them.

What the envelope allows

The as-of-right permission sets the envelope at four storeys and 10.5 metres — a half-metre above the 10-metre multiplex standard, added specifically so basement units get taller ceilings and real daylight. That fourth storey is worth more than it sounds: it's the difference between six units that are genuinely family-sized and six units that fight each other for floor area.

And to be clear, 10.5 metres is the as-of-right number, not a wall. Greater height is regularly achievable — through a minor variance, on lots that fall under the Major Streets permissions (up to six storeys), or in zoning categories beyond the low-rise residential zones this bylaw covers. Which ceiling applies to your lot is exactly the kind of question the bylaw answers only when read against your survey.

Beyond height, the usual performance standards of your zoning category still apply — setbacks, lot coverage, landscaping, and the angular planes that shape the upper storeys. There's no hard minimum lot size; the standards do the constraining. From our own build experience: a sixplex works comfortably on a standard 25-foot frontage, and depth matters more than width — a deep lot is what unlocks the most efficient layouts.

One threshold to keep in view: at seven units, the City treats the building as an apartment building, which brings floor space index requirements and a different set of standards. That line — between the sixplex and the true multiplex — is where our own work mostly lives, and it's covered in depth in our multiplex zoning guide.

Is six units the right ambition for your lot?

Here's the perspective you won't get from most sixplex coverage: six units is a milestone, not necessarily the destination. The same reform environment that produced the sixplex permissions also produced the 2024 Major Streets bylaw — small apartment buildings up to six storeys on designated major streets — and a minor-variance pathway that is more predictable than it has ever been (third parties can no longer appeal a Committee of Adjustment approval).

That means the honest question for any lot is not "can I build a sixplex?" but "what is the most this lot can responsibly carry?" Sometimes the answer is six units, and the waiver makes it a clean, fast, incentive-rich project. Sometimes the answer is eight, eleven, or — on a major street — several dozen, and stopping at six leaves a generation of value in the ground. A lot gets redeveloped once in a generation; the sizing decision deserves more than a headline number.

That analysis — bylaw against survey, all layers considered — is the first thing we do on any site, and it's free to start: tell us the address and we'll tell you what's allowable, and what could be.

Frequently asked questions

Can I build a sixplex anywhere in Toronto?

Not yet. Six units are as-of-right in the nine wards listed above. Elsewhere the cap is four units unless the ward opts in — or you pursue a minor variance, which is often viable with the right preparation.

Do the waived development charges apply to fourplexes too?

The waiver covers multiplex projects up to six units, so smaller multiplexes benefit as well — but the sixplex captures the most value from it, since the waiver scales with unit count.

Can a sixplex include a laneway or garden suite?

Often, yes — laneway and garden suites run on their own permission track and can stack with multiplex permissions, which is how a "sixplex lot" sometimes carries seven or eight doors. Access, setback, and servicing rules differ, so the combination needs to be designed as one program from the start.

How long does a sixplex take to permit?

As-of-right projects go straight to building permit — the fastest path in the system. The realistic schedule driver isn't the permission; it's design quality, servicing upgrades (a single-family water and electrical service was never sized for six kitchens), and how complete the application is on day one.

Is a sixplex a good investment in Toronto?

The combination of as-of-right permission, waived development charges, four-storey height, and deep rental demand makes the 2026 sixplex environment the most favourable small-multifamily setup Toronto has offered in decades. Whether it beats a larger program on your specific lot is a feasibility question — see what it costs to build a multiplex in Toronto for how we think about the numbers.