TORONTO — The Ford government is proposing to dramatically increase the scale of planned residential towers in Toronto’s Liberty Village by using minister’s zoning orders (MZOs) to override the city’s planning rules.
Regulatory notices released by the Ministry of Infrastructure earlier this month show plans to nearly double or triple the heights of three towers originally proposed north of Exhibition GO Station, the future western terminal of the Ontario Line subway. Initial designs called for 19, 20, and 21-storey towers; the latest proposal would see them rise to 36, 54, and 44 storeys, increasing the number of residential units from 565 to 1,448.
The expanded development is part of the province’s transit-oriented community (TOC) initiative, which aims to integrate housing growth with major transit hubs. While the plan scales back retail and office space by about three-quarters of what was initially proposed, provincial officials argue the new configuration will deliver much-needed housing more efficiently.
MZOs give the provincial government authority to bypass municipal planning processes, including height restrictions and inclusionary zoning bylaws. In this case, the proposed orders would exempt the Liberty Village project from Toronto’s rules requiring five per cent of new units to be below-market housing. Regulatory notices state this exemption is intended to “better reflect evolving market conditions.”
Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma has defended the use of zoning orders, emphasizing their role in advancing the government’s housing agenda. “MZOs will allow us to deliver more transit-oriented communities across Ontario, along the GO, subway and transit lines, adding 340,000 new homes and 75,000 new jobs,” Surma said in June.
The province has also proposed an MZO for a mid-rise development near the East Harbour transit hub, expected to bring 160 additional residential units to the site east of the Don Valley Parkway.
While the Ford government argues these measures are essential to addressing Ontario’s housing crisis, critics have long raised concerns about the widespread use of MZOs, noting instances where projects benefiting from them have involved PC donors or politically connected groups. Before Ford’s election in 2018, MZOs were rarely used.
The Ministry of Infrastructure is accepting public feedback on the Liberty Village proposal until October 19.