Inclusionary Zoning In Effect In Toronto After Minister's Approval Of PMTSAs

On August 15, 2025, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (the "Minister") issued decisions about six official plan amendments for the City of Toronto (the "City") relating to protected major transit station areas ("PMTSAs") and major transit station areas ("MTSAs"). The Minister's decisions are final and not subject to appeal. This post includes an Overview of Inclusionary Zoning, an Overview of PMTSAs, a list of Approved PMTSAs, links to the City's By-laws and Minister's Decisions, and Additional Background information.

Overview of Inclusionary Zoning

The Minister's decisions have the effect of bringing an inclusionary zoning framework into force within the geographic areas of the City delineated as PMTSAs. Inclusionary zoning requires affordable housing in new residential developments. While the Minister's decisions might initially seem straightforward, the application of inclusionary zoning is complex. First, inclusionary zoning regulates the minimum amount of affordable housing, maximum rent that can be charged, and the duration of affordability within a new development. Second, there are transition provisions that govern whether inclusionary zoning will apply to a particular site. Third, the City's inclusionary zoning by-law includes phase-in provisions for, among other things, purpose-built rental housing. Finally, there are exemptions for some buildings based on size and use.

Overview of PMTSAs

In addition to triggering inclusionary zoning, PMTSAs and MTSAs¹ have implications for the location of new density in the City. The Planning Act requires that official plan polices identifying a PMTSA also identify the minimum densities and authorized uses of land within the PMTSA's proposed boundary. Once a municipality adopts PMTSA policies, the official plan amendment must be approved by the Minister before coming into effect.

We anticipate that the City will pass zoning by-law amendments implementing the development standards in PMTSAs in the next year. The Planning Act provides that such by-laws may not be appealed if passed by the City within a year of PMTSAs coming into effect.

Approved PMTSAs

The Minister's decisions reserved approval of some of the MTSAs and PMTSAs delineated by the City. The Minister's decision also modified portions of the City's official plan amendments. Accordingly, inclusionary zoning requirements may be triggered if a property is located within any of the following PMTSAs:

Bathurst Station, Bay Station, Birchmount (as modified), Bloor GO Station, Bloor-Lansdowne GO Station, Bloor-Yonge Station, Broadview Station, Caledonia, Castle Frank Station, Chester Station, Christie Station, College Station, Corktown, Coxwell Station, Danforth GO Station, Davisville, Donlands Station, Driftwood, Dufferin Station, Duncanwoods, Dundas Station, Dundas West Station, Dupont, Greenwood Station, Eglinton, Eglinton GO, Eglinton West, Emery, Fairbank, Finch, Forest Hill, Front-Spadina, Golden Mile (as modified), Hakimi Lebovic, High Park Station, Ionview (as modified), Islington (as modified), Jane Station, Jane and Finch, Keele Station, Keelesdale (as modified), Kennedy (as modified), King-Bathurst, King-Liberty, King Station, Kipling, Lansdowne Station, Lawrence, Lawrence West, Leaside, Leslieville (as modified), Main Street Station, Milvan Rumike, Mimico, Moss Park, Mount Pleasant, Museum Station, Norfinch Oakdale, North York Centre, Oakwood, O'Connor, Old Mill Station, Osgoode Station, Ossington Station, Pape Station, Park Lawn (as modified), Pearldale, Pharmacy, Pioneer Village Station, Queen-Spadina, Queen Station, Queen's Park Station, Rosedale, Rowntree Mills Stop, Runnymede Station, Sheppard-Yonge, Sherbourne Station, Signet Arrow, Spadina Station, St. Andrew Station, St Clair, St. Clair-Old Weston Station, St Clair West, St. George Station, St. Patrick Station, Summerhill, Tobermory Stop, Union Station, Victoria Park Station, Warden, Wellesley Station, Woodbine Station, Yorkdale, York Mills Station (as modified), and York University Station.

City's By-laws and Minister's Decisions

The six official plan amendments (with links to the by-laws adopted by the City and the Minister's decisions) delineating PMTSAs include:

OPA 524 (by-law, decision), which delineates sixteen (16) PMTSAs within downtown Toronto;
OPA 537 (by-law, decision), which introduces the Keele-St. Clair Secondary Plan and delineates its associated PMTSA;
OPA 540 (by-law, decision), which delineates twenty-three (23) PMTSAs along the Bloor-Danforth subway line;
OPA 544 (by-law, decision), which delineates six (6) PMTSAs and three (3) MTSAs in Etobicoke and North York;
OPA 570 (by-law, decision), which delineates forty-nine (49) PMTSAs across the City; and
OPA 575 (by-law, decision), which delineates twenty-two (22) MTSAs along the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

Additional Background

On April 11, 2018, the Province of Ontario filed O. Reg 232/18: "Inclusionary Zoning" (the "Inclusionary Zoning Regulation") and proclaimed into force the inclusionary zoning provisions of the Planning Act as amended by the Promoting Affordable Housing Act, 2016. The Inclusionary Zoning Regulation came into effect on April 12, 2018. At this time, the Planning Act did not geographically restrict a municipality's use of inclusionary zoning to PMTSAs.
On June 6, 2019, Bill 108 (the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019) received Royal Assent, and amended the inclusionary zoning provisions in the Planning Act, restricting the use of inclusionary zoning to PMTSAs.
On November 9-12, 2021, the City of Toronto adopted its inclusionary zoning official plan amendment ("OPA 557") and an amendment to the City-wide Zoning By-law No. 569-2013 (the "Inclusionary Zoning By-law") as By-law No. 940-2021 and By-law No. 941-2021, respectively. As adopted, the inclusionary zoning policies in OPA 557 and in the Inclusionary Zoning By-law applied to lands located within both a PMTSA and an "inclusionary zoning market area" mapped in OPA 557. OPA 557 and the Inclusionary Zoning By-law set different minimum requirements for the provision of inclusionary zoning units dependent on which "inclusionary zoning market area" a property is located in, and provide for these minimum requirements to increase annually between 2025 and 2030. OPA 557 and the Inclusionary Zoning By-law also require inclusionary zoning units to be maintained as affordable housing units for 99 years.
On November 28, 2022, Bill 23 (the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022) received Royal Assent, amending the Development Charges Act, 1997, to exempt inclusionary zoning units from development charges, and amending the Planning Act to exempt inclusionary zoning units from community benefit charges and parkland conveyance requirements.
On May 12, 2025, O. Reg. 54/25: "Inclusionary Zoning" came into force, which amended the Inclusionary Zoning Regulation to establish a maximum 25-year period during which inclusionary zoning units must be maintained as affordable, and established an upper limit on the number of units or total gross floor area that can be required to be set aside for affordable units (set at 5% of the total number of units or 5% of the total gross floor area of the total residential units). This regulation has the effect of overriding the amount of affordable units and length of affordability requirements set out in OPA 557 and the Inclusionary Zoning By-law.

Footnote

^[1] As per the Provincial Planning Statement, 2024, municipalities are required to delineate the boundaries of MTSAs, which require the approval of the Minister. MTSAs are defined as the area within a 500- to 800-metre radius of an existing or planned higher-order transit station, stop, or major bus depot, and are intended to accommodate a portion of a municipality's intensification and higher-density mixed use development.

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