From the City permit register
Toronto files more suites than multiplexes, and almost nobody counts them
Coverage of Toronto's missing middle reports new multiplex buildings. Since Jan 1, 2024 the City's register holds 1511 laneway and garden suite projects against 850 new multiplex buildings. The rear-yard route is doing more of the work.
Garden suites won
Toronto permitted laneway suites city-wide in 2019 and garden suites in 2022. The later permission is the one being used: 1065 garden suite projects against 446 laneway suite projects, about 2.4 to 1.
The reason is geometric. A laneway suite needs the lot to abut a public lane, and most Toronto lots do not have one. A garden suite sits in the rear yard and needs no lane, so it reaches far more properties. If you are working out which one your lot can take, the question is simply whether a lane runs behind it, and the laneway suite and garden suite pages take it from there.
The areas building suites are not the areas building multiplexes
Old Toronto files the most suites in the city, 566 of them, at 3.43 suites for every new multiplex. On new multiplex buildings it ranks 3 of 6, behind North York.
The old street grid was laid out with public lanes and narrow lots, where a full rebuild is hard and a rear-yard suite is not. The postwar suburbs have deeper lots and far fewer lanes, so owners there rebuild instead. Two different routes to the same goal, chosen by the shape of the street.
Suites and multiplexes by area
Projects filed since Jan 1, 2024, by former municipality. The ratio is suite projects per new multiplex building.
| Area | Suite projects | New multiplexes | Suites per multiplex |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Toronto | 566 | 165 | 3.43 |
| York | 184 | 92 | 2.00 |
| Etobicoke | 167 | 128 | 1.30 |
| East York | 81 | 63 | 1.29 |
| Scarborough | 235 | 184 | 1.28 |
| North York | 278 | 218 | 1.28 |
What the register will not tell you
The most common question about a garden suite is what one costs. This dataset cannot answer it, and the honest thing is to say so rather than publish a median that looks like an answer.
Outcomes the register does record: 1061 of the 1511 projects have been issued, 196 are under review, and 254 were refused or cancelled, which is 16.8 percent against 14.1 percent for new multiplex buildings. The City does not publish a reason alongside either outcome, and an application withdrawn by its own applicant is not separated from one the City turned down.
Filings by year
By the year the application was filed. 2026 is a partial year: this snapshot was taken Aug 27, 2026, so it holds part of 2026 and cannot be compared with a full year.
A suite stacks on top of what the main building allows
Before the rear yard, the question is what the main building can hold. PlexCheck reads the City zoning at your address and the City parcel area, and shows the unit ceiling that follows from both.
Free. City-stamped zoning and CMHC survey rents. Takes about 30 seconds.
Questions people ask
Are there more laneway and garden suites than multiplexes in Toronto? +
Yes, by a wide margin. Since Jan 1, 2024 the City's register holds 1511 laneway and garden suite projects at 1411 addresses, against 850 new multiplex building projects at 743 addresses. That is 1.78 suite projects for every new multiplex. The two are counted separately because the City classifies them as different kinds of building, and most coverage of Toronto's missing middle reports only the multiplex number.
Which is more common in Toronto, a laneway suite or a garden suite? +
Garden suites, by a long way: 1065 projects against 446 laneway suite projects, roughly 2.4 to 1. A laneway suite needs the lot to abut a public lane, and most Toronto lots do not. A garden suite sits in the rear yard with no lane required, which is why the permission that came later is the one being used more.
Where in Toronto are suites being built? +
Old Toronto leads with 566 suite projects, and files 3.43 suites for every new multiplex. It ranks 3 of 6 on new multiplex buildings, so the areas building the most suites are not the areas building the most multiplexes. The old street grid has public lanes and small lots where a full rebuild is hard; the postwar suburbs have larger lots and fewer lanes, and rebuild instead.
How long does a Toronto laneway or garden suite permit take? +
A median of 73 days from application to issue, across the 1116 projects the City has issued. 395 are still under review and are not counted in that median. For comparison, new multiplex buildings run a median of 81 days.
What does a garden suite cost to build in Toronto? +
This register cannot answer that honestly. Only 41 of the 1511 suite projects state a declared construction value, which is 2.7 percent of them. A median drawn from that many, out of that many, describes those 41 applications and nothing more. Get quotes for your own project rather than budgeting from a figure like that.
How many suite applications get refused or cancelled? +
254 of 1511, or 16.8 percent, against 14.1 percent for new multiplex buildings. The City's register does not record a reason, so this counts outcomes and does not explain them. An application can also be cancelled by the applicant rather than refused by the City, and the register does not separate the two.
Read next
Source: City of Toronto Open Data, Building Permits (Active and Cleared), joined to the City's One Address Repository on the City's own address point id. Suite projects are those the City classifies under its Laneway / Rear Yard Suite structure type; new multiplex buildings are counted separately and are the subject of the rest of this tracker. Data refreshed Aug 27, 2026. VanPlex is a British Columbia builder and does not operate in Toronto.