Ontario Premier Doug Ford is shutting down efforts to introduce fourplexes in neighbourhoods across the province, calling the policy a “massive mistake” that would raise the ire of residents living in traditional single-family suburbs.
At a housing-related announcement in Richmond Hill, Ford said the policy is “off the table” for his government after weeks of active discussions at Queen’s Park over whether to allow developers to build up to four units on a single property without municipal approval.
“I can assure you 1,000 per cent, you go into communities and start putting up four-storey, six-storey, eight-storey buildings right deep into communities, there’s going to be a lot of shouting and screaming,” Ford said.
“We are not going to go into communities and build four-storey or six-storey buildings beside residents.”
Housing Minister Paul Calandra said he didn’t “intend to be dictating how municipalities should be meeting their goals” but said he had no problem with municipalities allowing fourplexes.
“I’m certainly not getting in the way of municipalities doing whatever it is that they want,” he told reporters at Queen’s Park on Thursday.
“There are many municipalities, Toronto being one of them, that allow as-of-right four, we have as-of-right three (across Ontario).”
Calandra confirmed he “looked at” the policy while drafting his upcoming housing bill.
“Obviously, it was one of the things that was on the table for me,” he said, suggesting feedback from the Big City Mayors’ Caucus and reviewing adjacent federal policy led him to change his mind.
Calandra also echoed parts of Premier Ford’s comments from earlier in the day.
“I’m not going to be going into communities and micromanaging communities and saying that in the middle of a subdivision that was built in a certain way, that might not have the infrastructure to handle it, that you should be building a four-, six-storey apartment building in the middle a neighbourhood,” he said.
“I don’t think that is what will help solve our problem.”
The premier’s comments immediately led to criticism from political opponents who are accusing Ford of siding with NIMBYs (not in my backyard) who are often decried as a stumbling block to housing construction.
“This is a NIMBY government that only cares about looking out for their rich friends and well-connected insiders,” said Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie.
The fourplex policy comes directly from the province’s 2022 Housing Affordability Taskforce report, commissioned by the Ford government in the run-up to the last election.
The report found greenlighting four-unit buildings on a single residential lot as of right would “allow more kinds of housing that are accessible” to a wider range of people.
“It will get more housing built in existing neighbourhoods more quickly than any other measure,” the report said.
The policy is one the Ford government has not implemented, even as it struggles to meet its goal of 1.5 million new homes by 2031.
Ontario started 109,011 homes in 2023 — including long-term care beds and basement units — just below its target of 110,000 but well below the 150,000 annual average needed to make the final number.
A Progressive Conservative source previously told Global News mandating four-unit developments as of right has long been considered within the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing as a tool to potentially boost housing. The source said it had been weighed in previous housing supply laws but had not made the final draft.
The government has introduced four rounds of housing supply legislation and is in the final stages of finalizing the fifth iteration of its plan. Calandra has said it will be introduced sometime after the budget is tabled on March 26.
Ford is also facing criticism for outlining specific types of housing his government is looking to build.
“We’re going to build homes, single-dwelling homes townhomes, that’s what we’re going to focus on,” Ford said on Thursday.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles criticized Ford’s words.
“I think that the premier’s comments today about fourplexes are frankly outrageous and actually deeply insulting,” she said. “He’s sending a message to Ontarians that if you can’t afford a single detached family home, you’re not welcome in your community or your neighbourhood.”
Mike Moffatt, senior director of policy and innovation at the Smart Prosperity Institute, called the premier’s comments “exceptionally disappointing.”
“Why did the province set a unit target (which inexplicably counts a long-term care bed as a house), if they’re focused on these two housing types (which we’re building very few of?),” Moffatt said on social media.
“Ontario is not serious about the housing crisis,” Moffatt added.