Ontario’s building code is quietly blocking the housing zoning reforms were meant to unlock. A new report for Neptis Foundation by Jack Keays and Conrad Speckert, who worked alongside Dr. Nik Luka on BSH’s Concerted Action on the Missing Middle project, finds that most urban lots (25–50 feet wide) could easily support triplexes, fourplexes, and low-rise apartments—but outdated code provisions make this “missing middle” housing awkward and often financially unviable to build.
A steep feasibility cliff between three and four storeys pushes development toward extremes instead: stacked townhouses with limited accessibility, or large apartment buildings requiring land assembly and lengthy approvals. Low-rise provisions haven’t been meaningfully updated since the mid-1990s, and well-intentioned safety requirements are inadvertently discouraging the housing types they should enable.
Drawing on other jurisdictions and past OBC studies, the report offers eight targeted code recommendations including, mezzanines, rooftop enclosures, sidewalls, exits, and elevators, that could be implemented without lowering safety standards. Combined, these recommendations could unlock over $1 million in development value for a typical small rental project.
Zoning reform alone isn’t enough. Building codes need to catch up too.
