Toronto Waived Development Charges on Six Units. Here’s What That’s Worth.
Development charges used to add six figures to a small multiplex. Toronto now waives them on the first six units, if you stay inside the rules.
For years, development charges were the quiet deal-killer in small-scale Toronto development, a six-figure fee that could turn a promising fourplex into a marginal one. That math has changed, and it’s one of the most under-appreciated shifts in the market.
What changed
Toronto now waives development charges on the first six units of a multiplex, and recent provincial measures rolled back charge increases on additional residential units. On a project that would otherwise pay roughly $40,000–$55,000 per unit, that’s a saving in the order of $160,000–$270,000, money that goes straight to your project’s viability.
A fee that once decided whether a deal worked is now, for most small multiplexes, simply gone.
Where charges can still apply
The waiver is generous but specific. Go beyond six units, choose certain configurations, or miss a permitting step, and charges can re-enter the picture. The saving rewards projects that are deliberately designed to fit inside the rules, which is exactly where planning earns its keep.
It doesn’t travel alone
The development-charge waiver stacks with the other 2026 incentives: the effective removal of HST on qualifying purpose-built rental, and CMHC MLI Select financing. Individually each helps; together they’re the reason a well-structured multiplex can pencil today in a way it couldn’t a few years ago.
See what it means for your project
We’ll model the incentives against your actual lot and unit count, so you know what you’ll save and where the boundaries are. Get in touch or start with The Reside Guide.