Ontario's building code makes it surprisingly difficult to build small apartment buildings. This study identifies the provisions that weigh most heavily on multiplex and small-apartment construction, from sidewall restrictions that keep buildings from sitting close together, to mezzanine rules that count an efficient layout as an extra storey. Each of its eight topics sets out the current requirement, what it prevents, and a recommended change, with draft code language to support further discussion. The recommendations draw on other jurisdictions and on a provincial study from the mid-1990s, and are offered to the public, and to the Province as it reviews the code.
Since 1997, the Neptis Foundation has brought independent research and analysis to the question of how Canadian cities grow.
