Policy & Zoning | EHON Program

Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods

Most of Toronto's recent low-rise housing reforms sit under one program: Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods, or EHON. It is the City's initiative to bring back the "missing middle" — duplexes through low-rise walk-ups — inside the areas the Official Plan designates Neighbourhoods. EHON has four priority projects: Multiplex, Garden Suites, Major Streets, and Local Retail. Here is what each one is.

Key Takeaways

✓EHON is the umbrella program for Toronto's low-rise missing-middle reforms, run by City Planning.
✓It has four priority projects: Multiplex, Garden Suites, Major Streets, and Local Retail.
✓The Multiplex project is the city-wide piece — up to four units as-of-right.
✓Sixplexes are not an EHON city-wide permission — they are a later, nine-ward expansion.

The Four Priority Projects

Multiplex

Up to 4 units city-wide

The multiplex by-law lets a residential lot hold up to four units as-of-right, in roughly the same building envelope as a detached house. Adopted May 2023. This is the centrepiece of EHON.

The multiplex by-law →

Garden Suites

+1 detached rear-yard unit

A garden suite is a detached home in the rear yard of a lot that does not back onto a lane. Permitted city-wide since 2022. It stacks on top of the units in the main house.

Garden suites →

Major Streets

Up to 6 storeys

On Neighbourhoods lots that front a major street, the reforms permit townhouses and small apartment buildings up to six storeys, city-wide. In force after a 2025 Ontario Land Tribunal decision.

Major Streets →

Local Retail

Small-scale neighbourhood stores

The retail project looks at permitting small-scale stores and services in residential neighbourhoods — the corner shop that pre-war zoning made hard to open. It rounds out the low-rise mix.

How the Pieces Fit Together

EHON is the planning initiative; the by-laws are what it produced. The Multiplex project gave Toronto its city-wide four-unit permission. Garden Suites added a detached rear-yard home on lots without a lane. Major Streets opened up to six storeys on lots fronting an avenue. Local Retail looks at small neighbourhood stores. None of these is a rezoning you apply for — they changed the base zoning, so a compliant project goes straight to a building permit.

One thing to keep straight: EHON's city-wide multiplex permission stops at four units. The sixplex expansion that followed in 2025 is a separate, narrower reform — six units as-of-right in nine wards only, not city-wide.

Best For

✓ Understanding which Toronto reform applies before scoping a low-rise project.
✓ Owners weighing a multiplex against adding a garden suite, or both together.
✓ Lots fronting a major street, where the six-storey permission may beat a fourplex.

Usually Fails When

✕ Treating "EHON" as a single permission rather than four distinct projects with different rules.
✕ Assuming the EHON multiplex permission allows six units city-wide — it stops at four.
✕ Expecting Local Retail or Major Streets rules to apply on a quiet interior lot where they do not.

What To Verify Before Spending Money

→ Which EHON project actually governs your lot — multiplex, garden suite, or major-street frontage.
→ The residential zone and Neighbourhoods designation for the parcel.
→ Whether your ward allows more than four units before you design for it.

Where to Go Next

The Multiplex By-law

The city-wide four-unit permission, in detail.

Major Streets

Six storeys on Neighbourhoods lots fronting an avenue.

Garden Suites

The detached rear-yard unit on lots without a lane.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods (EHON)? +

EHON is the City of Toronto's umbrella initiative to allow more low-rise housing — the "missing middle" between a single house and a tall tower — inside areas the Official Plan designates Neighbourhoods. It groups four priority projects: Multiplex (up to four units), Garden Suites, Major Streets, and Local Retail. Each one changed a specific set of rules; together they reopen forms that pre-war Toronto built routinely.

What are the four EHON priority projects? +

The four are: the Multiplex project (up to four units as-of-right on residential lots), Garden Suites (a detached rear-yard unit on lots without a lane), Major Streets (townhouses and small apartments up to six storeys on Neighbourhoods lots fronting a major street), and Local Retail (small-scale stores and services in residential areas). The Multiplex project is the one most builders work from day to day.

Does EHON make sixplexes legal across Toronto? +

No. The EHON multiplex permission is for up to four units city-wide. Sixplexes (five or six units) are a separate, later reform permitted as-of-right in only nine wards, with an opt-in path for the rest. EHON is the family of programs; the four-unit multiplex is the city-wide piece, and the sixplex is the limited expansion on top of it.

How is EHON different from the multiplex by-law? +

EHON is the program; the multiplex by-law is one output of it. EHON is the City's planning initiative for low-rise housing options. The 2023 multiplex by-law (the Official Plan and Zoning amendments) is the legal instrument that came out of the Multiplex project under EHON. So you build under the by-law, but the by-law exists because of EHON.

Who runs EHON and where is it documented? +

EHON is led by City Planning at the City of Toronto. The program page on toronto.ca lists the four priority projects and links to each study — the Multiplex Study, Garden Suites, the Major Streets Study, and the Local Retail work. Each project has its own staff reports, by-laws, and council items behind it.