Toronto’s Free Fourplex and Sixplex Plans: What East End Homeowners Need to Know

On October 2, 2026, the City of Toronto started giving away something that used to cost homeowners tens of thousands of dollars: finished architectural plans for fourplexes and sixplexes.

Not concepts. Not inspiration boards. Pre-approved building plans you can take to a permit counter.

And here is the part that made me sit up: they drew versions specifically for narrow lots. If you have spent any time on the streets south of Queen in Leslieville, or anywhere in the tight grid around Pape and the Danforth, you know exactly why that matters.

Let’s go through what this actually is, and who it is genuinely useful for.

What Did the City Release?

Toronto expanded its Pre-Approved Building Plans Program with four new multiplex designs:

Two fourplex designs — one for a narrow lot, one for a wide lot
Two sixplex designs — one for a narrow lot, one for a wide lot

These are described as “made-in-Toronto” designs, meaning they were drawn around the realities of Toronto lot sizes, setbacks and zoning rather than adapted from somewhere else.

The plans are free to download and use.

The Part That Actually Saves You Time

The free drawings are nice. The process change is the real story.

Where a proposed multiplex meets the applicable zoning requirements, property owners can apply directly for a building permit without going to the Committee of Adjustment.

If you have never been through a Committee of Adjustment application, let me translate what that sentence is worth. Minor variance applications routinely add six months to a year to a project, plus consultant fees, plus a hearing, plus the real possibility of a neighbour objection sending you back to the start.

Skipping that is often worth more than the free plans.

What Else Has Already Changed

This release sits on top of several changes that have quietly stacked up over the past few years:

Fourplexes are legal on virtually all low-rise residential lots across Toronto, with sixplexes permitted in the highest-need neighbourhoods.

Development charges are waived on multiplexes up to six units. This is a meaningful number. Development charges on new units in Toronto have historically run into the tens of thousands of dollars per unit.

Parking minimums have been waived citywide since February 2022. You are not required to find room for parking spots you did not want on a 20-foot lot.

Toronto also received roughly $1.5 billion in federal funding tied to cutting development charges, which is a signal that this direction is backed by real money rather than just good intentions.

Why This Matters More in the East End Than Almost Anywhere

Here is where I will get specific about our neighbourhoods.

East Toronto is full of narrow lots. Leslieville, Riverside, Riverdale, the Pape and Jones corridors, Greenwood, Coxwell — these are streets of 15 to 25 foot frontages, many with laneway access, built as workers’ housing more than a century ago.

For years, that narrowness was a ceiling. Standard multiplex designs assumed a wider lot. Anything that did not fit meant a variance application, which meant time and money and uncertainty.

A pre-approved narrow-lot fourplex design removes the single biggest obstacle for exactly this housing stock.

Add in the economics. Here is roughly where east end detached values have sat recently:

Leslieville: detached homes averaging around $1,566,000 (Q1 2026)
Riverdale: detached homes averaging around $2,303,000 (Q2 2026)
The Beaches: detached homes averaging around $2,163,000 (Q1 2026)

In Riverdale, semi-detached homes make up roughly 70% of transactions and average around $1.4 million. These are not cheap lots. Which means the question of whether a lot can hold two units or six units has a very large dollar figure attached to it.

The Honest Reality Check

I am not going to tell you this makes building easy. It does not. Free plans remove one cost from a long list.

Here is what the free drawings do not cover:

Construction costs. A six-unit build in Toronto is a serious capital project, not a renovation. You need real financing, not a HELOC and optimism.

Site-specific conditions. Grading, soil, trees, heritage designations, existing foundations, and the condition of the house you would be replacing or converting. Every east end lot has a surprise in it somewhere.

Zoning compliance is still conditional. The permit shortcut only applies if your proposal meets the applicable zoning for your lot. Lot coverage, height, setbacks, and angular planes all still apply. Some narrow east end lots will still need a variance.

Utility servicing. Going from one unit to six can mean upgrading water and electrical service. That is a real line item.

Construction timeline. You are not living there during it.

If someone tells you free plans make this a straightforward project, they have not built one.

Who Should Actually Pay Attention to This

Long-time east end owners with a large lot and significant equity. If you bought on a wide Riverdale or Danforth lot decades ago, this is the most realistic path to unlocking that land value without selling and leaving the neighbourhood.

Owners of tired housing stock. If you are weighing a gut renovation on a house that is at the end of its useful life, the math on a multiplex deserves a genuine look alongside it.

Multi-generational families. This is the use case I think is most underrated. Six units can mean parents, adult children, and rental income on one property, in one neighbourhood, rather than everyone priced into separate suburbs.

Small-scale investors. Development charges waived plus no parking minimums plus free drawings plus no Committee of Adjustment changes the pro forma materially.

Buyers. This is the one nobody mentions. When you shop an east end lot now, you should be asking what it could hold, not just what is standing on it. That changes which listings are worth your attention.

Common Questions About Toronto Multiplexes

Are fourplexes legal in Toronto?
Yes. Toronto permits fourplexes on virtually all low-rise residential lots citywide, and sixplexes in the highest-need neighbourhoods. The City also released free pre-approved fourplex and sixplex designs on October 2, 2026.

Where do I get Toronto’s free fourplex and sixplex plans?
They are published by the City of Toronto through its Pre-Approved Building Plans Program. The October 2026 release includes two fourplex and two sixplex designs, each drawn for either a narrow or a wide lot.

Do I need a Committee of Adjustment hearing to build a fourplex in Toronto?
Not if your proposal meets the applicable zoning requirements. In that case you can apply directly for a building permit, which typically removes six months to a year from the timeline. If your proposal needs a variance, the Committee of Adjustment still applies.

Are development charges waived on Toronto multiplexes?
Yes, development charges are waived on multiplexes up to six units. Parking minimums have also been waived citywide since February 2022.

Can you build a fourplex on a narrow Toronto lot?
Yes, and this is what changed in October 2026. The City released pre-approved designs drawn specifically for narrow lots, which is the dominant lot type in east end neighbourhoods such as Leslieville, Riverside and the Pape and Jones corridors.

Is building a multiplex in the east end worth it?
It depends entirely on your lot, your equity position and your financing. With east end detached values ranging from roughly $1.57 million in Leslieville to $2.3 million in Riverdale, land value is high enough that unit count matters a great deal. But construction costs, servicing upgrades and site conditions are substantial and have to be priced properly first.

Final Thoughts

Toronto has spent the past few years removing obstacles to building more homes on existing lots, one at a time. Legalizing fourplexes. Waiving parking minimums. Waiving development charges up to six units. And now handing out the drawings and a permit shortcut.

Individually, each of those was a modest change. Together, they have quietly made the east end one of the more interesting places in the city to own a lot.

Most homeowners out here have no idea their property’s potential changed. That information gap is the opportunity, and it will not stay open forever.

If you own in the east end and you are curious what your lot could actually hold — or you are shopping out here and want to look at listings through this lens — let’s talk. I would rather walk you through the real numbers on your specific property than have you find out from a neighbour’s sold sign.