From the City permit register
Toronto multiplex filing is still growing. The growth rate is not.
Counting the same window in every year, 1 January to 08 27, so the years can be set beside each other honestly.
New multiplex projects filed, 1 January to 08 27
Every bar covers the same number of days. Nothing here is projected or annualised.
Growth has slowed sharply. Filings rose 67.6 percent from 2024 to 2025, then 11.3 percent from 2025 to 2026. Both years are still up on the one before, so this is a slowing rate of increase rather than a decline. What the register does not record is why, and no reason should be read into it from these counts alone.
Which areas are driving it
Same window, split by former municipality. Ordered by the most recent year.
| Area | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Change 2024 to 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North York | 26 | 66 | 82 | +215% |
| Old Toronto | 38 | 35 | 47 | +24% |
| Scarborough | 22 | 66 | 45 | +105% |
| Etobicoke | 26 | 34 | 41 | +58% |
| York | 20 | 23 | 26 | +30% |
| East York | 10 | 14 | 24 | +140% |
A percentage change computed from a small base moves a long way on a few permits, so the change column is only described in the prose on this page for areas that filed at least 10 projects in 2024.
Calendar-year totals
The full-year counts, for reference. 2026 is a partial year and is marked as one: this snapshot was taken Aug 27, 2026.
The issued share falls with each newer year, and that is a measure of elapsed time rather than of how the City is deciding. A project filed in 2024 has had years to reach a decision; one filed last month has had weeks. Nothing about approval standards can be read from that column.
City-wide totals are met one lot at a time
These counts are other owners deciding their lot works. PlexCheck answers the same question for one address: the City-stamped zoning, the unit ceiling for that ward, and the rent and cost math behind it.
Free. City-stamped zoning and CMHC survey rents. Takes about 30 seconds.
Questions people ask
Is multiplex building in Toronto still increasing? +
Yes, on the most recent comparison. Counting the same window in each year, 1 January to 08 27, the City received 142 new multiplex projects in 2024, 238 new multiplex projects in 2025, 265 new multiplex projects in 2026. The change from 2025 to 2026 is up 11.3 percent. The rate has slowed: the first year-over-year change was 67.6 percent, the most recent 11.3 percent.
Why compare part-years instead of calendar years? +
Because this dataset is a snapshot taken on Aug 27, 2026, so 2026 holds under eight months of filings. Setting its total beside a full year would show a fall that is only a shorter counting period. Every figure in the headline comparison stops on 08 27 in every year, which makes the years comparable. Calendar-year totals appear further down with the partial year labelled.
Which part of Toronto is filing the most multiplex applications now? +
North York, with 82 projects filed between 1 January and 08 27 2026. The fastest growth over the window is in North York, up 215 percent from 26 to 82 projects.
Are recent applications less likely to be approved? +
The data cannot support that reading. 91 percent of 2024 filings have been issued, 79 percent of 2025 filings have been issued, 55 percent of 2026 filings have been issued, but that is what you would expect whether or not anything changed: an application filed three years ago has had three years to be issued, and one filed last month has had a month. Permit timing is on the by-type and area pages. Issuance share by cohort is a measure of how much time has passed, not of how the City is deciding.
What counts as a project in these numbers? +
A new multiplex building project, using the City's own classification: work the City records as a new building, on a building it classifies as a two-unit or three-or-more-unit house, detached or semi-detached. Conversions of existing houses, basement suites, additions and alterations are excluded, and laneway and garden suites are counted separately on their own page. Permits filed at the same address in the same year are grouped into one project, because a single build usually files separately for the structure, plumbing, drains and heating.
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. New-build multiplexes only. Counting starts Jan 1, 2024; Toronto's multiplex by-law took effect May 12, 2023, so the first seven months of the by-law are not in these totals. Data refreshed Aug 27, 2026. VanPlex is a British Columbia builder and does not operate in Toronto.