Planners

Unlocking the Missing Middle: Proven Practices for Affordable, Higher-Density Housing

The School of Cities, University of Toronto, presents a comprehensive report on enabling “Missing Middle” (MM) housing development—a key solution to Canada’s housing affordability and density challenges. This report explores proven and promising practices from Canada, the U.S., and New Zealand, offering actionable insights to overcome barriers and enhance reforms for MM housing.

What is Missing Middle Housing?

MM housing bridges the gap between single-family homes and high-rise buildings, encompassing:

• Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs): Small detached or attached homes.
• Multiplexes: Multi-unit conversions of existing homes or purpose-built flats.
• Small Apartment Buildings: Developments up to four storeys, often on a single lot.

Designed for households earning 51–120% of the area median household income (AMHI), MM also includes affordable options for low-income households through ADUs, rooming houses, and nonmarket housing. MM housing was once a staple of North American cities, offering compact, diverse housing types in central, well-serviced locations before exclusionary zoning and gentrification limited its availability.

Why Missing Middle Housing Matters

The benefits of MM housing are transformative:

• Affordability: Smaller homes at moderate price points.
• Diversity: A range of home sizes, from studio ADUs to four-bedroom apartments.
• Accessibility: Proximity to public transit, amenities, and employment hubs.
• Sustainability: Energy-efficient designs and reduced travel distances.

The Road Ahead

The report outlines barriers to MM development—legislative, administrative, and financial—and identifies enablers to support its growth. Drawing from case studies in Auckland and other cities, it demonstrates how increasing MM housing supply can reduce housing costs and improve access for low-income tenants.

📖 Discover how Missing Middle housing can reshape Canadian cities. Read the full report now to explore proven practices, global success stories, and actionable strategies to bring MM housing to life.

Scaling Up Modular Housing: A Blueprint for Success

The School of Cities, University of Toronto, has published a comprehensive report on the future of modular housing in Canada. This in-depth analysis explores how modular construction can be scaled up to address housing needs, with a particular focus on overcoming barriers through stronger collaboration between developers, manufacturers, and construction companies.

The report is divided into four key sections:

1. Overview – Learn about modular construction methods, where factory-produced components are assembled on-site, offering adaptable, efficient solutions for diverse environments.
2. Barriers and Enablers – Discover the challenges that limit modular housing adoption, from project-level constraints to industry-wide hurdles, and explore actionable solutions tailored to Canada’s housing landscape.
3. Case Studies – Explore real-world examples showcasing how communities overcame obstacles to deliver successful modular housing projects.
4. Recommendations – Gain insights into strategies for scaling modular housing, including organizational changes, industry collaboration, and policy advocacy.

Unlock the potential of modular housing to transform Canada’s housing market. Dive into actionable strategies, real-life examples, and expert recommendations that pave the way for scalable, sustainable solutions.

Read the full report now to explore how modular housing can reshape housing affordability and innovation.

Explore how cities across Canada are embracing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) with the School of Cities, University of Toronto’s interactive ADU Tracker. Dive into charts and interactive maps that reveal the take-up of detached and attached ADUs in 16 major urban centres, alongside summaries of municipal and provincial policies shaping this housing innovation.

With federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) investments boosting housing supply to address population growth and affordability, this tool offers insights into ADU trends, permitting data from 2014–2023, and policy analysis. From Toronto to Calgary, see how ADUs are shaping the future of housing—and learn how your city can do the same.

Developed by Ahmad Al-Musa, Priya Perwani, Muhammad Khalis Bin Samion, & Jeff Allen.

Unlocking Alberta’s Middle Housing Potential

In partnership with the Canadian Urban Institute and mddl, and funded by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation, this report dives into the transformative possibilities of middle housing in Alberta. From innovative strategies to overcome barriers to scaling production, to practical solutions for unlocking gentle density across the province, this collaboration is a must-read for anyone passionate about housing solutions. Curious about how middle housing could reshape Alberta’s communities?

Click through to discover the findings and recommendations shaping the future of attainable, diverse housing options!

Launched by the Community Planning Collaborative (CPC) in August 2024, the California ADU Plans Gallery is an innovative web application showcasing an array of prefabricated and traditional site-built designs. While tailored to U.S. jurisdictions, this gallery offers valuable insights for Canadian audiences, particularly for municipalities and planners exploring accessory dwelling units (ADUs) as a way to expand housing supply. Examples such as prefabricated designs and statewide pre-approvals can serve as inspiration for Canadian local governments considering ADU implementation in their communities. The site also includes a demo, offering local governments a preview for launching a similar custom tool.

“The California ADU Plans Gallery gives local governments a place to demonstrate what’s possible for their communities while providing a publicly accessible database of prefabricated plans approved for use statewide,” said David Driskell, principal at CPC, in a press release announcing the launch. “Digital tools like the ADU Plans Gallery help local governments assist their residents through the challenging ADU process and expand housing supply in their existing neighborhoods.”

Explore the California ADU Plans Gallery here.

Our friends at Happy Cities have crafted a one-of-a-kind toolkit designed to enhance social well-being through thoughtful multi-unit housing designs, supporting diverse individuals of all ages, backgrounds, abilities, household sizes, and incomes. As they describe it:

“Over 2023 and 2024, Happy Cities, Hey Neighbour Collective, and researchers from Simon Fraser University worked together with five local municipalities and one First Nation to co-create new policies to encourage sociable multi-unit housing design.

“Building on the learnings from this project—and nearly a decade of prior research—Happy Cities and Hey Neighbour Collective have published a new design toolkit of evidence-based strategies to nurture social wellbeing multi-unit housing. The design principles and actions equip policy makers, planners, designers, and community members to build and advocate for more socially connected, inclusive communities, drawing on long-term research and engagement with residents and housing industry actors—including non-profit housing providers, city planners, architects, and market developers.

“In the face of growing challenges—including an acute housing affordability crisis, extreme weather, social isolation, and an aging population—our social connections are one of the strongest resources we have to chart a more sustainable, resilient path forward.”

Download the Toolkit.