Ontario has approved the majority of Toronto's Major Transit Station Areas (MTSAs), unlocking significant height near transit. On large sites in Mixed Use Areas, Apartment Neighbourhoods, or Regeneration Areas, buildings up to 30 storeys are permitted within 200 metres of a station and up to 20 storeys between 200 and 500 metres. In Neighbourhoods, up to 6-storey apartments are allowed within 200 metres or fronting a Major Street, and 4-storey multiplexes are permitted across the entire Station Area. New residential in MTSAs must set aside 5% of gross floor area for affordable housing.
Toronto just redrew the development map around 120 transit stations. The province approved most of the city's Major Transit Station Areas, and the practical result is that height and density near stations are no longer a rezoning fight in many cases. A parcel that was a low-rise site a year ago can now support a tower, but only if it meets the specific distance, form, and floor-space thresholds the new policy sets.
The MTSA framework ties permitted height to how close a site sits to the transit station and what designation it carries in the Official Plan. The headline numbers:
| Location | Permitted form | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Within 200m of a station (large sites) | Up to 30 storeys | Mixed Use, Apartment Neighbourhood, or Regeneration Area; site fits 3+ towers; FSI 8+ |
| 200m to 500m of a station | Up to 20 storeys | Same qualifying designations |
| Neighbourhoods within 200m or on a Major Street | Up to 6-storey apartments | In Neighbourhoods designation |
| Entire Station Area | Up to 4-storey multiplexes and apartments | As-of-right across the MTSA |
The 30-storey permission is not automatic on every parcel within 200 metres. It applies to large sites in the qualifying designations that can accommodate three or more towers and achieve a floor space index of eight or more. Smaller or oddly shaped parcels near a station may still support substantial height, but the 30-storey figure is the ceiling for consolidated, tower-scale sites.
Not sure which MTSA tier your Toronto site falls into? PreBuildIQ maps your address to its station-area rules and permitted form in 60 seconds.
Check my site →Height near transit comes with a condition. New residential development within the MTSAs must set aside 5% of the residential gross floor area as affordable housing through inclusionary zoning. This is a real cost input that belongs in the pro forma from day one, and it interacts with the separate inclusionary zoning timing rules the province set for Toronto.
A provincial regulation exempts Toronto development applications made before July 1, 2027 from inclusionary zoning requirements. Whether the 5% set-aside applies to your project depends on when your application is made. Confirm the current status before you model it.
The point of the MTSA framework is to move height from the discretionary rezoning process into the zoning by-law itself. Where a proposal fits the permitted MTSA form, it can proceed without a site-specific zoning by-law amendment, removing the single longest and riskiest step in a Toronto approval. Where a proposal exceeds the permitted form, a rezoning is still required, and the MTSA policy becomes the baseline the application is measured against.
City staff are bringing forward the implementing zoning for Council, so the exact mapped permissions for each station area are finalized in stages. A developer evaluating a site near a station should confirm whether the implementing zoning for that specific MTSA is in force yet, or whether the permission still requires an application under the interim framework.
A Major Transit Station Area is the land within roughly 500 to 800 metres, about a 10-minute walk, of a subway, GO, or LRT station. Toronto's 2026 MTSA framework increases permitted housing near about 120 stations, allowing taller buildings closer to transit through the zoning by-law rather than site-specific rezonings.
On large sites in Mixed Use Areas, Apartment Neighbourhoods, or Regeneration Areas, up to 30 storeys are permitted within 200 metres of a station and up to 20 storeys between 200 and 500 metres. The 30-storey permission requires a site that can fit three or more towers and achieve a floor space index of eight or more.
Yes. Across the entire Station Area, up to 4-storey multiplexes and apartment buildings are permitted as-of-right. In Neighbourhoods within 200 metres of a station or fronting a Major Street, up to 6-storey apartments are allowed. These lower forms do not require the large-site conditions attached to the 30-storey permission.
Yes. New residential development within the MTSAs must set aside 5% of the residential gross floor area as affordable housing through inclusionary zoning. However, a provincial regulation exempts applications made before July 1, 2027, so whether the set-aside applies depends on when your application is made.
Not if your proposal fits the permitted MTSA form. The framework moves height into the zoning by-law, so a compliant proposal can proceed without a site-specific zoning by-law amendment. A proposal that exceeds the permitted form still requires a rezoning, measured against the MTSA policy as the baseline.
PreBuildIQ maps any Toronto address to its Major Transit Station Area tier, permitted form, and required studies in 60 seconds, so you know whether height is as-of-right or needs a rezoning.
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