Where a Fourplex Is Legal in Toronto and What the Zoning Requires

Yes: a fourplex is as-of-right on almost every residential lot in Toronto. The city's multiplex by-law, By-law 474-2023, made two-to-four-unit buildings as-of-right across the R, RD, RS, RT, and RM residential zone categories when it took effect May 12, 2023, not November 2023 as some sources repeat. The companion Official Plan Amendment, OPA 473-2023, took effect June 14, 2023.

As-of-right means you skip rezoning and the public planning meeting that goes with it. It does not mean no rules apply. Height, setbacks, lot coverage, and parking are still governed by specific numbers in Zoning By-law 569-2013, and a handful of zone categories sit outside the permission entirely. For the fuller picture of what changed across all multiplex unit counts and what still needs a separate approval, see Multiplex Zoning in Toronto: What's As-of-Right and What Still Needs Approval.

What Zones Does the Fourplex Permission Cover?

The as-of-right permission sits inside Chapter 10 of Zoning By-law 569-2013, the chapter covering low-rise residential zone categories: R, RD, RS, RT, and RM. That's the by-law language for the city's detached, semi-detached, and rowhouse housing stock, land that the Official Plan designates as Neighbourhoods.

That's also the boundary of the permission. Employment Industrial zoning sits in a different chapter of the same by-law (Chapter 60), and Open Space zoning sits in another (Chapter 90). The multiplex amendments edited Chapter 10 only, so they never touched those chapters, or any other zone category outside Chapter 10, such as Commercial Residential or institutional zoning. It's a structural fact about which chapters got amended, not a published exclusion list, so confirm the zone code on a specific lot rather than assuming it falls inside R, RD, RS, RT, or RM.

The Numeric Standards a Fourplex Must Meet

A fourplex doesn't get its own separate rulebook. Most of the numbers it has to hit are the same ones that apply to any house on the same lot, with a short list of specific carve-outs. The City lays these out on its Considerations When Building Multiplexes page.

Standard	What applies to a fourplex
Height	Exempt from the Height Overlay's storey-count limit. Where the overlay shows less than 10 metres, a fourplex can still build to 10 metres. Where it shows 10 metres or more, that higher figure governs.
Setbacks (front, rear, side)	No fourplex-specific rule. Same yard setbacks as any other residential building type in that zone under Chapter 10.
Lot coverage	Whatever already applies to the lot: the Lot Coverage Overlay figure, the Chapter 10 base standard, or a Chapter 900 site-specific exception.
Floor space index (FSI)	Not applicable to multiplexes, unless the property carries a Chapter 900 exception that sets its own FSI limit.
Parking	Zero spaces required for a duplex, triplex, or fourplex, a rule in force since February 3, 2022. Any parking provided voluntarily still has to meet standard Zoning By-law design rules.
Balconies and decks	Up to two per unit, one at the front and one at the rear; corner lots may add one on the side wall facing a street. Must be located at the second storey or above.
Porches	Permitted per unit; not subject to the second-storey rule that applies to balconies and decks.
Front entrances	Multiple entrances allowed per unit. By-law 474-2023 removed the older rule limiting a house with a secondary suite to one front entrance.

A few of these are worth sitting with. Setbacks and lot coverage didn't move at all when the multiplex by-law passed; a fourplex is bound by the exact same yard and coverage numbers a detached house on that lot would be. Height and FSI are where the multiplex by-law actually changed something: the FSI cap comes off, and height gets a 10-metre floor instead of a storey count, unless the property has its own Chapter 900 exception that sets a different figure.

When You Need Zero Parking Spaces, and When You Don't

A fourplex needs zero parking spaces anywhere the as-of-right permission applies. This rule predates the multiplex by-law itself: it's been in force since February 3, 2022, for duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes alike. If you choose to build parking anyway, that parking still has to meet the standard Zoning By-law design rules for dimensions, access, and layout. Skipping parking isn't a design shortcut; it's a separate rule that simply removes the minimum.

Where the Fourplex Permission Doesn't Apply

Three situations sit outside, or complicate, the as-of-right permission.

Land zoned Employment Industrial (Chapter 60) or Open Space (Chapter 90) is outside the permission entirely, along with any other zone category that falls outside Chapter 10's R, RD, RS, RT, and RM designations.

A property inside a Heritage Conservation District keeps its fourplex zoning permission. Multiplexes are named as one of the housing types the City says can continue to exist alongside an HCD designation. But an HCD adds a second approval track: new construction, alterations, and additions inside the boundary need a heritage permit in addition to zoning compliance, and the design has to meet the HCD Plan's own policies.

A property carrying a Chapter 900 site-specific exception can have its own lot coverage or FSI number written into that exception, overriding the citywide standard. Those exceptions bind the lot regardless of what the multiplex by-law otherwise allows.

The Line Between Four Units and Six

Five and six units aren't as-of-right the way a fourplex is. Under Official Plan Amendment 818 and By-law 654-2025, adopted June 25 and 26, 2025, a sixplex is as-of-right only as a detached houseplex, a building holding up to six units that sits entirely on one lot and isn't attached to a building on the neighbouring lot. And it's only as-of-right in nine wards: Parkdale-High Park, Davenport, Spadina-Fort York, University-Rosedale, Toronto-St. Paul's, Toronto Centre, Toronto-Danforth, and Beaches-East York, plus Scarborough North, which piloted the rule first. The other sixteen wards only get sixplex permission if their councillor requests an opt-in from the Chief Planner.

Semi-detached houseplexes stop at four units regardless of ward; the sixplex form exists only as a detached building under By-law 654-2025. Once a building holds seven units, it stops being a houseplex at all. By-law 654-2025 defines an apartment building in the Residential Zone Category as seven or more dwelling units on one lot, which puts it under a different set of zoning rules entirely.

When an As-Of-Right Fourplex Still Needs a Minor Variance

If a fourplex design can't meet the applicable height, setback, or lot coverage number, it needs a minor variance from the Committee of Adjustment before a building permit gets issued. The Committee runs every request through the same four-part test: does the variance maintain the general intent of the Official Plan, does it maintain the general intent of the Zoning By-law, is the proposal appropriate for the land and the building, and is the variance minor. All four have to hold for the variance to pass.

Three Ways People Misread "As-Of-Right"

Three misreadings show up often enough to cost people real time.

The first is assuming no application is needed at all. As-of-right removes rezoning and the Official Plan amendment process, not the building permit. City staff still check the design against the height, setback, coverage, and FSI rules before issuing anything.

The second is ignoring heritage overlays. An HCD designation doesn't cancel fourplex zoning: the City lists multiplexes as one of the housing types compatible with an HCD. But a property inside that boundary still needs a heritage permit alongside zoning compliance, and the design still has to satisfy the HCD Plan's own policies.

The third is assuming an existing non-conforming lot automatically qualifies. A property can hold Legal Non-Conforming status, meaning its current use predates the zoning that now prohibits it, and an owner can apply to the Committee of Adjustment to enlarge that structure. But the status alone doesn't convert an informally divided old house into a code-compliant fourplex. The building still has to independently meet current houseplex standards, or go through the non-conforming-use application process, before those extra units are legal.

Confirm the Zoning Before You Pay for Drawings

The numbers that decide one specific project (the Height Overlay figure, the Lot Coverage Overlay figure, any Chapter 900 exception on that parcel) live on the City's Interactive Zoning By-law Map, not in the citywide by-law text. The multiplex by-law sets the floor: as-of-right permission in the right zone category, no parking minimum, an FSI exemption. What sits on top of that floor for one specific lot only shows up once you pull the map for that address.