On November 13, 2024, Toronto City Council (the “City”) approved changes to facilitate greater intensification along portions of its Avenues (as defined by the City’s Official Plan) and to improve the feasibility of midrise residential and mixed use construction. Specifically, the City:
- Updated portions of its Mid-Rise Building Rear Transition Performance Standards (the “Performance Standards”), and;
- Enacted as-of-right zoning along portions of its Avenues in Commercial Residential (“CR”) Zones.
This post provides an update on both items, and future steps the City will be taking as part of its broader Housing Action Plan, in relation to mid-rise buildings, to increase housing supply.
- Updated Mid-Rise Building Rear Transition Performance Standards
The City initially adopted the Performance Standards in 2010 and updated them in 2016. The Performance Standards form part of the City’s Urban Design Guidelines. A component of the Performance Standards was the introduction of a 45-degree angular plane requirement, running from the adjacent property edge to the top of any proposed mid-rise buildings, as shown in Figure 1. The purpose of these angular planes was to facilitate a transition between mid-rise development on the City’s avenues, and its lower-density “Neighbourhoods” (which we have written about here). However, the inclusion of angular planes also reduced the amount of housing that could be provided in a new development.

The newly simplified Performance Standards (the “New Standards”) will replace the 45-degree angular plane requirement for rear transition to Neighbourhoods (standard 5A) by instead requiring:
- a single 7.5m setback for buildings under 6 storeys (20 metres);
- additional setback of 2.5m for buildings between 7 to 11 storeys in height (greater than 20 metres);
- a minimum 20.0m separation distance between Mid-Rise Buildings to other Mid-Rise or Tall Buildings; and
- separation distances that may be reduced to 15.0m at lower levels (see Figure 2).
Additionally, the New Standards replace the 45-degree angular plane requirement for rear transitions to Parks and Open Spaces (standard 5B) by instead requiring:
- a minimum 10.0m setback from building face to property line; and
- minimum setbacks which may be reduced to 6.0m if building provides active edges to Parks and Open Spaces (see Figure 3).
Changes will be implemented via the creation of new development standards within the City’s Zoning By-law.
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- As-of-Right Zoning for Mid-Rise Buildings on Avenues
Proposed changes to facilitate “as-of-right” mid-rise buildings along portions of the City’s Avenues were also approved. Technical amendments will be made to the Zoning Height Overlay Maps to reflect updated as-of-right height for properties along Avenues based on planned right-of-way widths set out on Map 3 of the Official Plan. Additional amendments will permit greater densities via increased Floor Space Index permissions.
Notably, however, these amendments will only apply to lands on portion of Avenues that do not have:
- a Secondary Plan;
- a Site and Area Specific Policy (“SASP”);
- an Avenue Study; or
- any other similar Planning Studies.
While City Staff are also undertaking work to potentially increase the number of Avenues (as mapped in figure 6), the new Avenues are not subject to these amendments.

Next Steps
The City continues to advance planning initiatives to increase the supply of housing and simplify construction of mid-rise buildings along its Avenues. The City will be taking additional steps this year including:
- Assessing the implementation of as-of-right zoning on portions of avenues where there is already a secondary plan, avenue study, or SASP in place.
- Exploring additional recommendations to enable increased housing supply along existing and proposed Avenues that are served by frequent transit, including consideration of increasing height permissions to 12 storeys, by Q1 2025.
- Considering further additional changes to the Mid-Rise Building Design Guidelines including contemplating mid rise buildings heights up to 45m or higher on “deep” sites on Avenues
Davies Howe LLP will continue to monitor changes to Toronto’s Official Plan and zoning by-laws. If you wish to obtain further information on how your property may be impacted by forthcoming City initiatives, please feel free to reach out to us.
Special thanks to our Co-op planning student Cherilynne Chau for assistance on this post.