BSH ResearchMoving Forward on the ‘Missing Middle’

Moving Forward on the ‘Missing Middle’

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This project crowdsources the attitudes toward neighbourhood densification for affordability, choice, and diversity in four major Canadian metropolitan regions.

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What does density look like across Canada’s urban centres?

This project advances ‘missing middle’ housing as a critical response to affordability challenges in Canadian cities, examining how regulatory, design, and policy barriers limit the development of mid-density housing forms, such as small multi-unit buildings, and exploring how reforms to planning and building frameworks can enable more flexible, affordable, and context-sensitive housing options. The project extends prior work in Montreal and Toronto to incorporate the Vancouver and Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan areas, with the focus on generating empirical knowledge and mobilizing why innovative land practices matter.

Project Lead(s):

Nik Luka

Home Organization:

McGill University

Community Partner:

Ottawa Climate Action Fund / Fonds d’action climatique d’Ottawa

Funding Stream:

Comparative Project

Project Status:

Ongoing

Background

‘Missing middle’ housing, including small multi-unit and mid-density forms, has been increasingly recognized as a key solution to housing affordability challenges in Canadian cities. However, its development is often constrained by zoning regulations, building codes, and approval processes that favour either low-density single-family housing or large-scale developments. This creates a gap in housing supply that limits diverse and affordable options within established neighbourhoods.
This project examines these barriers to opportunities for reform that would enable the expansion of missing middle housing.

Methodology

First, this project engages residents to assess attitudes toward infill and development in mature neighbourhoods in Montreal and Toronto, alongside workshops with public-sector actors, particularly in Ottawa, where a new Official Plan with significant densification targets is being implemented.


Second, this project builds on prior work by expanding and deepening analysis of public perceptions of ‘soft densification’ through collaboration with civil society and industry partners, integrating case studies from Vancouver to enable cross-city comparison of responses to different densification scenarios.

Results

This project is currently ongoing and has generated a growing evidence base on the regulatory frameworks, particularly building code requirements and zoning restrictions, that constrain missing middle housing development in Canada. Outputs include journal articles, policy reports, magazine articles, blog posts, a workshop presentation, and a podcast episode.

Research Outputs

Existing reports, presentation materials, podcasts, webinar recordings, and research summaries.