Scarborough: what can a house lot hold in the former City of Scarborough?

Key takeaways

• By-law 654-2025 allows fiveplexes and sixplexes in the area bounded by Steeles Avenue, Neilson Road and the Rouge River, Highway 401 and Midland Avenue. The Ward 23 ward polygon covers 16.17% of Scarborough. The rest of Scarborough is held to four homes in one building.
• An exception number sits on 99.99% of Scarborough's RD land, and 66.45% of that land carries a label with no frontage, lot area or floor space value at all. The exception text sets those rules instead.
• 49.84% of Scarborough's RD land must follow exception 1462, a floor space index that slides from 0.6 to 0.4 as the lot gets bigger.
• The City counts 34 community zoning by-laws and 1 employment district by-law in the old Scarborough system. They still matter where By-law 569-2013 does not apply.
• Ward 23 had 0 issued permits for a new building of three or more units to November 1, 2026, and 1 still in review. Ward 20 had 27 issued.
• Scarborough holds 42.509 square kilometres of ravine protection land, 38.31% of the city's total. Ward 25 alone holds 27.287 of it.
• Every Scarborough application for a minor variance or a lot split goes to the Scarborough panel at the Scarborough Civic Centre, which lists 12 hearing dates for 2026.

Why Scarborough gets its own guide

Scarborough is the eastern end of Toronto, and it holds Wards 20 to 25. A builder and a home owner both start with the same question here: how many homes can this lot hold? In Scarborough the answer depends on two things that change from street to street. The first is whether the lot sits inside the Ward 23 sixplex area. The second is the exception number on the lot's zone label, which on most Scarborough lots holds the rules that matter.

This guide gives the facts that are particular to Scarborough. The city-wide multiplex rules, such as depth, bedrooms and building height, are in my multiplex zoning guide, and I do not repeat them here.

I read the City sources on November 1, 2026, and the TTC station pages on November 2, 2026. Where my team measured a number ourselves from City map files, permit files or census tables, a short note in the text or under the table says how.

Four dates from the City Archives

The City of Toronto Archives give these dates for Scarborough:

• January 1, 1850: Scarborough was incorporated as a township.
• April 15, 1953: it became one of the 13 members of Metropolitan Toronto.
• January 1, 1967: it was incorporated as a borough.
• January 1, 1998: it joined the amalgamated City of Toronto.

The Archives page gives no date for the change from borough to city, so I leave that date out. At amalgamation each former city brought its own zoning rules with it. The City counts 34 community zoning by-laws for Scarborough, and a section below covers them.

Size, wards and neighbourhoods

My team measured the Scarborough polygon in the City's file of former municipality boundaries at 188.271 square kilometres. That is 29.35% of the 641.566 square kilometres the six former cities cover, the largest share of the six. The polygon may include some water inside the boundary, and the file does not separate it.

Six wards make up Scarborough. Each has 99.54% or more of its land inside it.

All six wards form the Scarborough Community Council, one of the City's four community councils. My team found 99.94% of Scarborough inside that council's boundary and 0.04% inside the Toronto and East York boundary. A share that small may come from the two files drawing the same line a little differently, and we did not check it further.

30 official neighbourhoods

For its statistics, the City splits Toronto into 158 neighbourhoods. My team laid that file over the Scarborough boundary and found 30 with half or more of their land inside. A second overlay gives the wards: each ward that holds 1% or more of a neighbourhood is listed.

The label column comes from the City's Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy of 2020. A blank cell means the file gives neither label. Nine Scarborough neighbourhoods carry the label Neighbourhood Improvement Area and six carry Emerging Neighbourhood. Scarborough Village has the smallest share inside Scarborough, 98.15%. Every other neighbourhood in the list has 98.72% or more inside.

The Ward 23 sixplex area

By-law 654-2025 was enacted on June 26, 2025. It allows a detached building to hold five or six homes on two pieces of Toronto. One is the Toronto and East York Community Council area as it stood that day. The other is in Scarborough, and the by-law describes it this way: "the lands generally bounded by Steeles Avenue to the north, Neilson Road and Rouge River to the east, Highway 401 to the south and Midland Avenue to the west". Its Diagram 1 outlines that land with a heavy black line and gives it the title Scarborough North (23) Ward Area.

Scarborough North is also the name of Ward 23. My team measured the Ward 23 polygon in the City's ward file at 30.438 square kilometres, 16.17% of Scarborough, lying fully inside it. That figure measures the ward. The by-law's legal line is the heavy black line on Diagram 1, and my team compared the two by eye on the PDF only. We made no digital overlay of the diagram. A lot near one of the five edges, Steeles, Neilson Road, the Rouge River, Highway 401 or Midland, needs a check against the diagram itself.

Ward 23 got these rules first. The City's sixplex report says Council adopted six-unit permissions for Ward 23 on February 5, 2025, as Item PH18.4. By-law 654-2025 repealed that earlier by-law, number 47-2025, and set one rule for both areas.

What the by-law allows in the Ward 23 area

I read the by-law text. Inside the area it covers:

• A detached houseplex, a building on one lot with at least one home above another, may hold up to six homes. Where a zone label caps homes with a u value under 6, the cap becomes 6.
• The building can reach 10.5 metres in height if its lowest level holds a home, and if over at least 80% of that level the ceiling is at least 2.4 metres high and the bottom of the ceiling joists sits 1.0 to 1.5 metres above grade.
• An existing detached house can become a fiveplex or sixplex if the new homes fit inside the building as it lawfully stood the day before the permit.
• No part of a semi-detached house, a semi-detached houseplex or a townhouse may be converted into a fiveplex or sixplex.

Semi-detached and townhouse zones cover more of Ward 23 than of any other Scarborough ward. My team found 11.296 square kilometres of residential zoned land in Ward 23. RS, the semi-detached zone, covers 19.38% of it, and RT, the townhouse zone, covers 9.53%. Both shares are the highest of the six Scarborough wards.

What the City's Ward 23 study counted

The City studied Ward 23 lots with the research group ReHousing before Council voted. Its decision report, dated January 7, 2025, gives these figures, which the report itself calls approximate:

• 16,107 parcels zoned RD, RS or RT in Ward 23. Corner lots and RM lots were left out.
• 6,629 lots, 41% of residential lots, could fit a sixplex with two parking spaces under the four-unit building standards.
• 9,886 lots, 61%, could fit one with no parking.

One case study lot in that report was "only 0.2 metres short of being identified as a deep lot". Depth decides how long a multiplex may be, so a builder measures the lot before counting homes.

Four homes on the rest of Scarborough

Outside the Diagram 1 area, a Scarborough lot follows the city-wide four-unit rules. A duplex, triplex or fourplex can replace a detached house when the building meets its zone's rules, and a garden suite can be added behind it where the suite's own rules are met. A fifth or sixth home in one building there needs a City approval for that lot alone.

Which zones cover Scarborough's house lots

Toronto's Zoning By-law 569-2013 has five residential zones: R, RD, RS, RT and RM. My team measured them inside Scarborough. Together they cover 79.428 square kilometres, 42.19% of all its land.

The largest other zone is ON, natural open space, at 30.162 square kilometres. Employment zone E covers 11.683.

The zone mix changes from ward to ward.

The six ward rows add up to 79.389 square kilometres. The other 0.039 lies in small pieces at the edge of Scarborough. Wards 21 and 24 are more than 90% RD. Ward 22 has the largest RM share. Ward 23 has the lowest RD share of the six.

My multiplex zoning guide explains what each zone permits, and my Major Streets guide covers lots that face a Major Street.

An exception number on 99.99% of RD land

Each lot on the City's zoning map carries a label. In most of Toronto, the RD label looks like RD (f13.5; a510; d0.45). Inside the brackets, f is the minimum lot frontage in metres, a is the minimum lot area in square metres, and d is the maximum floor space index, which is the building's floor area divided by the lot area. A number such as (x101) at the end points to an exception: extra rules in Chapter 900 of the by-law, written for that piece of land.

Scarborough's RD labels follow a different pattern. My team grouped all 63.245 square kilometres of Scarborough RD land by label and found 1,031 different labels and 921 different exception numbers.

• 99.99% of Scarborough's RD land has an exception number. The land with none adds up to 0.009 square kilometres.
• 66.45% carries a label with no f, a or d value, such as RD (x101). On that land, the exception text sets the lot and building rules.
• The most common labels with numbers are RD (f12.0; a464), on 6.5% of the RD land, and RD (f15.0; a696), on 3.25%, counted with or without an exception.

I read the exceptions in the City's office consolidation, which includes city-wide amendments up to April 30, 2026. My team then matched each exception number to its text and added up the land.

By-law 569-2013 was enacted on May 9, 2013. Read as written, the first two rules fix the minimum frontage and area of each lot at what it had on that day. A plan to split such a lot into two narrower lots needs a City approval for each lot that falls short.

Exception 1462: a floor space index that slides with lot size

Half of Scarborough's RD land points to exception RD 1462. It sets the maximum floor space index for a lot with a home on it:

• the lesser of 0.6 times the lot area or 204 square metres, if the lot is under 408 square metres;
• the lesser of 0.5 times the lot area or 279 square metres, if the lot is 408 to 697 square metres;
• 0.4 times the lot area, if the lot is over 697 square metres.

On a 697 square metre lot, that is 279 square metres of floor area at most, and on a 700 square metre lot it is 280. Clause 10.20.40.40(1)(C) of the RD rules says the floor space index taken from the label's d value does not apply to a detached houseplex. Exception 1462 is written separately from the label, so ask the City how the two rules sit together before you size a multiplex on one of these lots.

The share varies by ward. In Ward 23, 79.71% of the RD land points to exception 1462 and 72.06% has the existing frontage rule. In Ward 21, my team found no RD land pointing to it.

Exceptions that name roads and old by-laws

Some exceptions name roads and old by-laws. RD 101, for example, sets a building setback of 22.0 metres from the original centreline of two named roads and 30.0 metres from the centreline of Markham Road. It also keeps a schedule from former City of Scarborough by-law 9510 in force for a short list of named lots. Read the full exception for any lot before you trust the label.

The 34 community by-laws

The City's Scarborough Zoning Information page says the Scarborough District has 34 community zoning by-laws and 1 employment district by-law. Each community by-law has a name and a number. The page gives two examples: Woburn, By-law 9510, and Bendale, By-law 9350. The employment district by-law, number 24982, covers several communities.

Each community by-law has two maps. Schedule "A" shows the zone and the performance standards, a string of numbers after the zone letter that sets lot size, yards and floor area. The page gives S, for single family residential, as an example of a zone letter. Schedule "C" shows the exceptions. The City says the old by-laws and maps are kept at the Scarborough district counter of Toronto Building, and it warns that the counter copies may miss recent amendments.

The City's zoning page says most properties are now under By-law 569-2013, and some may still be affected by a former by-law, in whole or in part. My team found a 569-2013 zone on 160.638 square kilometres of Scarborough, 85.32% of its land. The other 27.633 square kilometres, 14.68%, has no zone in the open data file. That remainder holds streets and water, and it can also hold land still under an old community by-law. The file does not separate them.

Before you count homes on a Scarborough lot, ask Toronto Building at 416-397-5330 which by-law applies. My guide to checking your lot shows how to read the zoning map.

Garden suites, and the few lanes Scarborough has

A garden suite is a small separate home in the back yard. A laneway suite is the same kind of home on a lot whose back line meets a public lane. Council allowed laneway suites in the R, RD, RS, RT and RM zones across the city on July 16, 2019.

My team measured 6.94 km of public laneway in Scarborough in the City's street centreline file, 2.02% of the 343.48 km in Toronto. That is 0.037 km of lane for each square kilometre, the lowest of the six former cities. Scarborough has 822.88 km of local streets, so it has 0.84 km of lane for every 100 km of local street. Ward 20 holds 4.19 km of the lanes, 60.37% of them. Ward 23 holds 0.11 km. A laneway suite needs a public lane behind the lot, so on any lot without one the back yard option is a garden suite.

City staff spoke to a consultant, GPA, on September 23, 2024. The notes for Scarborough say "Most applications originate from Wards 20 and 21; designs range from garage conversions to new builds", and that applicants are generally informed, often with an architect. The notes also record "an increased perception in proposed multi-unit projects in neighbourhoods in Scarborough with some potential interest in multi-unit garden suites".

Suite permits by year and by ward

My team counted building permits for a new garden or laneway suite in the City's active and cleared permit files. Each permit was placed in Scarborough through an exact match of its address ID to the City's address file. The permit field does not separate garden suites from laneway suites.

Of the 308 permits, 210 were issued, 44 were applied for and not yet issued, and 54 were cancelled, refused or abandoned. City-wide, 1,938 issued suite permits could be placed in a former city, so Scarborough has 10.84% of them. The cleared file starts in 2017, so a suite permitted and closed before then is missing from the count.

Multiplex permits, ward by ward

The City's Multiplex Monitoring report counted 452 issued permits for buildings of two to four homes from May 12, 2023 to November 2024. Its Figure 10 counts whole wards. The six Scarborough wards had 49 of them: Ward 20 had 16, Ward 21 had 12, Ward 24 had 10, Ward 23 had 6, Ward 25 had 3 and Ward 22 had 2. The report names Wards 22 and 25 among the five least active wards in the city. It held one session in each district in March 2025, and the Scarborough session drew 5 participants.

The report stops in November 2024. My team counted later permits for new buildings with three or more units, placed in Scarborough by the same exact address match.

Of the 89 permits, 49 were issued, 19 were not yet issued and 21 were cancelled, refused or abandoned. Scarborough has 11.09% of the 442 issued permits of this kind that could be placed in a former city. A house converted into a multiplex is filed as a small residential project and is left out of this count.

The six ward rows add up to the Scarborough totals: 210 issued suites and 49 issued three-plus unit buildings. Ward 20 has 55.1% of those buildings on 14.91% of Scarborough's land. Ward 23 shares its name with the title of the by-law's Diagram 1, and to November 1, 2026 it had one permit application for a new building of three or more units and no issued permit. A conversion of an existing house into a sixplex would be filed under a different permit type and would not show here.

Ravines, heritage districts and secondary plans

The City's Ravine and Natural Feature Protection by-law covers land in and next to valleys, and work inside that area needs extra City permits. My team measured 42.509 square kilometres of Scarborough inside it, 22.58% of Scarborough's land. That is 38.31% of all the ravine protection land in Toronto.

The ward rows add up to 42.435 square kilometres. The other 0.074 lies in small pieces at the edge. Ward 25 holds 64.19% of Scarborough's ravine land. The file is from 2019, so the City's current map may differ. My site screening guide covers what to check on a lot near a valley.

My team found no heritage conservation district with half or more of its area in Scarborough, in the City's file dated June 23, 2026. A single house can still be listed or designated on its own, so check the City's heritage register for the property.

A secondary plan is a detailed City plan for one area, with extra policies on top of the Official Plan. Seven have half or more of their area in Scarborough.

The file leaves the status blank for six plans and does not explain a blank. Read the current plan text on the City's site before you rely on any policy in it.

Line 3, the busway and the subway extension

Line 3 Scarborough was a 6.4 kilometre rapid transit line that opened in 1985. The TTC says its board approved closing it in 2023, and in July 2023 the TTC ended train service and started replacement buses. Those buses run until the province opens the Scarborough Subway Extension.

The TTC's Line 3 page carries an update dated September 2026. It says a 4 kilometre Scarborough Busway on the old Line 3 route opens on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Buses start at Kennedy Station and stop at Tara Avenue and Mooregate Avenue, Lawrence East Station and Ellesmere Station, then use the priority bus lanes on Ellesmere Road to reach Scarborough Town Centre. I found no later TTC notice about the first day of service.

Metrolinx describes the Scarborough Subway Extension as 7.8 km long, with three stations, from Kennedy Station to Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road. Tunnelling began in January 2023. The Metrolinx page gives no opening date.

Eleven station areas on Line 2, Line 5 and GO

The province has approved 120 areas around subway, GO and LRT stations where the City must plan for more homes. The City's page describes each one as the land within 500 to 800 metres of a station, a 10 minute walk, and calls it a Major Transit Station Area, or MTSA. A Protected Major Transit Station Area, or PMTSA, is the type where the City may require some affordable homes in new buildings. Ontario Regulation 15/26 pauses that requirement in Toronto until July 1, 2027.

My team found 11 station areas with 1% or more of their land in Scarborough. They cover 8.963 square kilometres together, 4.76% of Scarborough, and the protected type covers 7.063 square kilometres, 3.75%. 3.034 square kilometres of Scarborough's residential zoned land is inside a station area, 3.82% of that land.

The City's file does not name a line. I read the TTC page for each TTC station on November 1 and 2, 2026. The six Eglinton stop pages list trains eastbound toward Kennedy and westbound toward Mount Dennis. The Warden and Victoria Park pages list Line 2 platforms. The Kennedy page lists a Line 2 platform, a Line 5 platform and a passage to Kennedy GO Station on the Stouffville line.

Line 5 Eglinton ends in the east at Kennedy Station. The TTC began an introductory service period on Sunday, February 8, 2026, and ran trains later from April 5, 2026 as its next step toward full service. Agincourt is the one station area in Scarborough of the plain MTSA type. It is also the one that reaches into the Ward 23 polygon: my team measured 0.183 of its 1.9 square kilometres there, 9.63%. My team found no station area for the Scarborough Subway Extension in the City's January 2026 file.

What the City says will change near stations

For land the Official Plan calls Neighbourhoods inside a station area, the City's page says the zoning must allow homes in buildings of up to 6 storeys within 200 metres of a station and on Major Streets, and up to 4 storeys in the rest of the area. On the page date, June 30, 2026, the zoning by-law did not yet contain those permissions. The City says it will set a timeline after staff finish an updated work plan, following Bill 98, which received Royal Assent on June 2, 2026.

One change is already in force. Since August 15, 2025, minimum parking rules no longer apply inside station areas of either type. Accessible parking is still required.

Who lives in Scarborough

The 2021 Census can describe Scarborough two ways. The first adds the City's Neighbourhood Profiles for the 30 neighbourhoods listed above. The sum follows neighbourhood lines, which differ from the old city line where a neighbourhood is split.

The 30 neighbourhoods held 623,840 people, 22.59% of the 2,761,290 people in all 158 neighbourhoods. Compared with the city, Scarborough had more detached houses, more row houses and more homes in duplexes. It had fewer homes in apartment buildings under five storeys: 5.8% against 13.98%.

The second way uses the City's Ward Profiles, which count whole wards. Each Scarborough ward lies 99.54% or more inside Scarborough, so the two ways come close.

Ward 20 and Ward 21 have the oldest homes: 40.2% and 35.7% were built in 1960 or before. Ward 23 has the youngest, with 4.8% built by 1960, and the largest households in Scarborough, 3.18 people on average. Ward 25 has the most detached houses, 54.7% of its homes, and the highest median household income, $105,000. Wards 23 and 25 both had 79.4% owners.

The Scarborough panel

The Committee of Adjustment is the City panel that decides minor variances, which are small exceptions to the zoning, and consents, which split a lot or move a property line. Every Scarborough ward goes to the Scarborough panel, and that panel hears no other wards.

• Where: Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Drive, Toronto, M1P 4N7. Hearings are in the Council Chambers, with Webex for people who join online.
• 2026 dates: 12 hearings, one each month, from January 14 to December 2. After November 1, the dates left were November 4 and December 2.
• District office: 416-396-3223, coa.sc@toronto.ca.

Twelve hearings is the shortest 2026 schedule of the four panels. Toronto and East York lists 35, and Etobicoke York and North York list 23 each.

To comment on an application, send written comments by 4:30 p.m. five business days before the hearing. To speak by phone or Webex, register online by 4:30 p.m. two business days before. An applicant has five minutes to present and five to reply. City-wide, the Multiplex Monitoring report found 290 minor variance applications for duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes from May 2023 to April 2025, and 72% were approved. My severance and minor variance guide explains the tests and the appeal steps.

If you own a house in Scarborough

Find four facts first: whether the lot is inside the Diagram 1 area, the full zone label, the exception number, and the frontage and depth. A lot inside the Ward 23 area with a detached house on it can be counted at six homes in one building, if the building rules fit. A lot outside it is counted at four, plus a garden suite.

Then read the exception. If it points to exception 1462, a builder will check how the sliding floor space index applies to a multiplex on your lot size. If it fixes the frontage at what existed in 2013, a plan to split the lot will need a variance. If your street sits near a ravine, part of the lot may be inside the protection area.

A family buyer prices your house. A builder prices the lot, the label, the exception and the number of homes they can build on it. Know both views before you choose how to sell. My guides on how builders price land, offers and conditions and selling with your neighbours explain the next steps.

If you build in Scarborough

Start with the Diagram 1 line. In Ward 23, the City's own study found 41% of residential lots could fit a sixplex with two parking spaces, yet the ward had no issued permit for a new three-plus unit building by November 1, 2026. Outside it, count four homes and a garden suite.

Then read the exception text before you run numbers. Two thirds of Scarborough's RD land carries a label with no f, a or d value, and half points to exception 1462. Ward 20 has had the most activity: 27 of the 49 issued three-plus unit permits, 74 of the 210 issued suites, and 60.37% of the lanes. Check the old community by-law, the secondary plan and the ravine edge, then run the numbers in my feasibility guide and add the City charges from my fees guide. The North York guide covers the former city on Scarborough's western side.

Questions to ask about a Scarborough lot

• Is the lot inside the heavy black line on Diagram 1 of By-law 654-2025?
• What is the full zone label, and what does its exception text say about frontage, lot area and floor space?
• Does the exception point to exception 1462?
• Is the lot still under one of the 34 community by-laws or the employment district by-law?
• Is it a semi-detached house or a townhouse, which cannot be converted to five or six homes?
• Is it inside a station area, a secondary plan or the ravine protection area?

Before you ask what the bungalow down the street sold for, ask a better question: what could your Scarborough lot become?

Frequently asked questions

Can a Scarborough house lot hold a sixplex?

Only inside the area By-law 654-2025 draws on its Diagram 1, which it describes as bounded by Steeles Avenue, Neilson Road and the Rouge River, Highway 401 and Midland Avenue. There, a detached building can hold five or six homes if it meets the zone rules. On every other Scarborough lot, one building holds up to four homes, and a garden suite can be added where its own rules are met. Check a lot near the edge against the diagram.

Is the Scarborough sixplex area the same as Ward 23?

The by-law titles its diagram Scarborough North (23) Ward Area, and the ward has the same name. My team measured the Ward 23 polygon in the City's ward file at 30.438 square kilometres, 16.17% of Scarborough. We compared the by-law's diagram with that polygon by eye only and did not overlay them digitally. For a lot close to Steeles, Midland, Highway 401, Neilson Road or the Rouge River, read the diagram itself.

Why does 99.99% of Scarborough RD land carry an exception number?

My team found an exception number on 99.99% of Scarborough's RD land in the City's zoning file. In Etobicoke, by comparison, 70.66% of RD land has no exception number. 66.45% of Scarborough's RD land carries a plain label such as RD (x101), with no frontage, lot area or floor space value. The exception, in Chapter 900 of By-law 569-2013, then sets those rules, such as side yards, setbacks from named roads and floor space.

What does exception 1462 mean for a Scarborough RD lot?

Exception RD 1462 sets a floor space index that depends on lot area: the lesser of 0.6 times the lot area or 204 square metres under 408 square metres, the lesser of 0.5 times the lot area or 279 square metres from 408 to 697, and 0.4 above 697. My team found other exceptions pointing to it on 49.84% of Scarborough's RD land. Ask the City how it sits beside the houseplex clause.

Do the old Scarborough community zoning by-laws still apply?

The City says most properties are under By-law 569-2013, and former by-laws still affect some, in whole or in part. Scarborough had 34 community zoning by-laws and 1 employment district by-law, number 24982. Woburn is By-law 9510 and Bendale is By-law 9350. My team found no 569-2013 zone on 14.68% of Scarborough, land that includes streets and water as well. Toronto Building at 416-397-5330 can say which by-law covers a lot.

How many Ward 23 lots in Scarborough could fit a sixplex?

The City's Ward 23 Multiplex Study, dated January 7, 2025, counted 16,107 parcels zoned RD, RS and RT in Ward 23 and calls the figure approximate. It found 6,629 lots, 41% of residential lots, could fit a sixplex with two parking spaces under the four-unit standards, and 9,886, or 61%, with no parking. Corner lots and RM lots were left out of that count.

How many garden and laneway suite permits has Scarborough had?

My team counted 308 building permits for a new garden or laneway suite in Scarborough to November 1, 2026. 210 were issued, 44 were in review and 54 were cancelled, refused or abandoned. Applications grew from 11 in 2022 to 106 in 2025, with 79 in 2026 by November 1. Ward 20 had 74 of the issued permits. The City's permit field does not separate the two suite types.

How many new three-plus unit buildings has Scarborough had permits for?

To November 1, 2026, my team counted 89 permits for a new building with three or more units in Scarborough: 49 issued, 19 in review and 21 cancelled, refused or abandoned. 57 were applied for in 2026 and 26 in 2025. Ward 20 had 27 of the 49 issued permits, and Ward 23 had none issued. A house converted into a multiplex is filed under a different permit type and is left out.

What replaced Line 3 in Scarborough?

The TTC says the 6.4 kilometre Line 3, opened in 1985, was approved for decommissioning in 2023, and buses have replaced it since. Its page, updated September 2026, says a 4 kilometre busway on the old Line 3 route opens on September 30, 2026, with stops at Kennedy, Tara Avenue and Mooregate Avenue, Lawrence East and Ellesmere. The buses then use Ellesmere Road lanes to Scarborough Town Centre.

Which station areas reach into Scarborough?

My team found 11 station areas with 1% or more of their land in Scarborough. Six are Line 5 Eglinton stops from O'Connor to Ionview, three are Line 2 stations from Victoria Park to Kennedy, and two are named Eglinton GO and Agincourt in the City's file. Together they cover 4.76% of Scarborough. My team found no station area for the Scarborough Subway Extension in that file.

How much of Scarborough is ravine protection land?

My team measured 42.509 square kilometres of Scarborough inside the City's Ravine and Natural Feature Protection by-law area, 22.58% of its land and 38.31% of all such land in Toronto. Ward 25, Scarborough-Rouge Park, holds 27.287 square kilometres of it, 50.53% of that ward. The open data file dates from 2019, so check the City's current map for a lot near a valley.

Where does the Scarborough Committee of Adjustment meet?

The Scarborough panel meets at the Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Drive, in the Council Chambers, with Webex for people who join online. It hears Wards 20 to 25. Its 2026 schedule lists 12 hearings, one each month from January 14 to December 2. After November 1, the dates left were November 4 and December 2. The district office answers at 416-396-3223 and coa.sc@toronto.ca.

Who lives in Scarborough, by the 2021 Census?

The 30 Scarborough neighbourhoods held 623,840 people in 219,015 occupied homes, by my team's sum of the City's Neighbourhood Profiles. 37.2% of the homes were detached houses and 9.6% row houses, against 23.29% and 5.44% across Toronto. 64.1% of households owned their home. The sum follows neighbourhood lines, which differ from the old city line where a neighbourhood is split.

Sources

1. Resources on Former Municipalities. City of Toronto Archives. Updated October 22, 2025; read November 1, 2026.
2. Zoning By-laws. City of Toronto. No date shown; read November 1, 2026.
3. Former Municipal Zoning By-laws. City of Toronto. Updated April 21, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
4. Scarborough Zoning Information. City of Toronto. Updated October 12, 2021; read November 1, 2026.
5. By-law 654-2025, fiveplexes and sixplexes. City of Toronto. Enacted June 26, 2025; read November 1, 2026.
6. Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods, Ward 23 Multiplex Study, Decision Report. City of Toronto, City Planning. Dated January 7, 2025; read November 1, 2026.
7. Housing Accelerator Fund: Expanding Permissions in Neighbourhoods for Low-Rise Sixplexes, Final Report. City of Toronto, City Planning. Dated May 28, 2025; read November 1, 2026.
8. Zoning By-law 569-2013, Article 10.20 Residential Detached Zone (RD) (office consolidation). City of Toronto. Version date July 31, 2024, with city-wide amendments up to April 30, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
9. Zoning By-law 569-2013, Article 900.3 Exceptions for the RD Zone (office consolidation). City of Toronto. Version date July 31, 2024, with city-wide amendments up to April 30, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
10. Former Municipality Boundaries (open data). City of Toronto. Updated February 20, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
11. City Wards, 25-ward model (open data). City of Toronto. Updated February 20, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
12. Community Council Boundaries (open data). City of Toronto. Updated February 20, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
13. Community Council Area Profiles. City of Toronto, City Planning. No date shown; read November 1, 2026.
14. Neighbourhoods, 158 model (open data). City of Toronto. Updated February 20, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
15. Zoning By-law, Zoning Area layer (open data). City of Toronto. Updated February 20, 2026, with amendments up to June 18, 2023; read November 1, 2026.
16. Ravine and Natural Feature Protection Area (open data). City of Toronto. Updated July 23, 2019; read November 1, 2026.
17. Heritage Conservation Districts (open data). City of Toronto. File dated June 23, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
18. Secondary Plans (open data). City of Toronto. Updated March 16, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
19. Toronto Centreline (TCL), Version 2 (open data). City of Toronto. Updated October 30, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
20. Changing Lanes: Laneway Suites in Toronto. City of Toronto. Updated February 29, 2024; read November 1, 2026.
21. Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods: Garden Suites Monitoring Program, Final Report. City of Toronto, City Planning. Dated June 27, 2025; read November 1, 2026.
22. Garden Suites Monitoring, consultant report (GPA). City of Toronto, City Planning. Dated May 2025; read November 1, 2026.
23. Building Permits, Active Permits (open data). City of Toronto. Updated November 1, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
24. Building Permits, Cleared Permits since 2017 (open data). City of Toronto. Updated November 1, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
25. Address Points (Municipal), Toronto One Address Repository (open data). City of Toronto. Updated October 30, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
26. Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods: Multiplex Monitoring Program, Final Report. City of Toronto, City Planning. Dated May 29, 2025; read November 1, 2026.
27. Multiplex Monitoring, Attachment 4: Data, Figures, and Findings. City of Toronto, City Planning. 2025; read November 1, 2026.
28. Minister-Approved Major Transit Station Areas (open data). City of Toronto. File dated January 2026, updated February 3, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
29. Zoning for Major Transit Station Areas. City of Toronto. Updated June 30, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
30. The future of TTC's Line 3 Scarborough (SRT). Toronto Transit Commission. Update dated September 2026; read November 1, 2026.
31. Scarborough Subway Extension. Metrolinx. No date shown; read November 1, 2026.
32. TTC to begin phased start to service on Line 5 Eglinton. Toronto Transit Commission. Dated February 3, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
33. Line 5 Eglinton train service to run later starting Sunday. Toronto Transit Commission. Dated April 3, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
34. Line 5 Eglinton now open. Metrolinx. Dated February 9, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
35. Kennedy Station. Toronto Transit Commission. No date shown; read November 2, 2026.
36. Warden Station. Toronto Transit Commission. No date shown; read November 2, 2026.
37. Victoria Park Station. Toronto Transit Commission. No date shown; read November 2, 2026.
38. Pharmacy Station. Toronto Transit Commission. No date shown; read November 2, 2026.
39. Hakimi Lebovic Station. Toronto Transit Commission. No date shown; read November 2, 2026.
40. Golden Mile Station. Toronto Transit Commission. No date shown; read November 2, 2026.
41. Birchmount Station. Toronto Transit Commission. No date shown; read November 2, 2026.
42. Ionview Station. Toronto Transit Commission. No date shown; read November 2, 2026.
43. O'Connor Station. Toronto Transit Commission. No date shown; read November 1, 2026.
44. Ward Profiles (25-Ward Model), 2021 Census (open data). City of Toronto, City Planning, from Statistics Canada. Prepared December 2023, updated July 22, 2024; read November 1, 2026.
45. Neighbourhood Profiles, 2021 Census (open data). City of Toronto, from Statistics Canada. Updated May 27, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
46. Committee of Adjustment. City of Toronto. No date shown; read November 1, 2026.
47. Committee of Adjustment: Scarborough Schedule. City of Toronto. Updated October 8, 2026; read November 1, 2026.
48. Committee of Adjustment contact information. City of Toronto. No date shown; read November 1, 2026.
49. Participate at a Hearing. City of Toronto. Updated December 3, 2025; read November 1, 2026.

Planning and development potential is property-specific and subject to zoning, approvals, site conditions, municipal review and other due diligence. This guide gives general information. For legal, tax or financial advice, ask your own lawyer and accountant.