On behalf of the Ontario…

On behalf of the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), we would like to thank you and your Ministry for your public commitment to reducing red tape in the housing sector and getting more affordable homes built faster. As you know, OREA supports nearly 100,000 REALTORS® in helping Ontarians find a great place to call home – but regulatory red tape is making it difficult to get more homes built. With Bill 185, Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, Ontario’s fifth piece of legislation under the Housing Supply Action Plan, the province will make significant progress on important policy solutions.

Alongside several legislative proposals arising from Bill 185, OREA is pleased to see that your Ministry wants to provide the MMAH Minister with broader authority to remove municipal zoning by-law barriers that limit the development of additional residential units (ARUs), i.e., self-contained dwellings within a single detached, semi-detached, or row house (secondary to the primary residence) or in a detached structure on the same lot as the primary residence. Considering the magnitude of Ontario’s housing affordability crisis, it is critical that the province supports legislation that facilitates increased housing supply. In fact, OREA’s most recent policy report Analysis of Ontario’s Efforts to Boost Housing Supply applauds the Ontario government for helping to reduce exclusionary zoning in the City of Toronto, and recommends that the province continue to remove exclusionary zoning province-wide.

OREA has identified some high-level zoning by-law barriers, standards, and requirements that may frustrate the development of ARUs in Ontario:

•Zoning greatly differs across municipalities: Increased alignment (where possible) would allow for more streamlining (e.g., blueprints for secondary suites for different building types)

•Lot size/density requirements: Zoning by-laws may require a specific amount of land area per unit, which could limit the feasibility of adding an ARU on a smaller lot

•Building height restrictions: Max. building height requirements may prevent the addition of extra floors

•Setback requirements: Min. setback distances from property lines can limit the available space for ARU’s on properties with small or irregularly shaped lots

•Parking requirements: Min. parking requirements per unit/bedroom can be difficult to accommodate for properties with limited space

•Bedroom requirements: Max. number of bedrooms per lot can restrict the size of ARUs (especially if they want to maximize occupancy)

•Angular plane requirements: Restricts the height + slope of buildings within a specified distance from lot lines/other properties. This makes it difficult to add ARUs in densely populated neighborhoods

OREA would like to emphasize that these zoning standards vary by municipality, and so the feasibility of adding ARUs in a given municipality will depend on their specific by-laws. However, as an example, the City of Toronto’s Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 569 includes several zoning by-laws that could restrict the addition of ARUs:

•Lot size/density requirements: In an R2 zone (R stands for residential), the min. lot frontage is 7.5 meters with a min. lot area of 250 square meters. This can restrict the addition of ARUs on small lots that don’t meet the criteria

•Parking requirements: In an R2 zone, 1 parking space per dwelling unit is required. This can pose challenges for homeowners looking to add an ARU for family members, who may not need a parking spot, especially in areas where additional parking spaces would require significant changes to the property layout

•Building height restrictions: In an R1 zone, the max. building height is 9 meters for a flat roof or 10.5 meters for a sloped roof. This can limit vertical expansion of existing homes to accommodate ARUs, especially in areas with lower height limits.

We appreciate the work that you and your Ministry are doing to reduce exclusionary zoning and increase housing supply across Ontario. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this consultation process – together, we can help fulfill the dream of homeownership for many hard-working Ontarians.

Sincerely,

Tim Hudak
CEO, Ontario Real Estate Association