Ontario wanted ‘massive density’ around its transit projects. Then the plan vanished

It was supposed to be an announcement to supersize housing developments around the busiest transit corridors in the Greater Toronto Area but it never took place.

Earlier this year, Housing Minister Paul Calandra was scheduled to hold a news conference to unveil new legislation that would have allowed homebuilders to intensify development on land surrounding subway, light-rail and other transit stations.

“We have a housing crisis, we’re building billions of dollars worth of investments and along those corridors, we just expect that there will be even more density,” Calandra teased in December 2023, promising details “early on in the new year.”

While internal government documents suggest Calandra’s team circled March 12, 2024, as the date he planned to hold a “transit heights announcement,” the news conference never happened, after the Ford government shelved the policy.

Hundreds of pages of internal briefings and plans obtained by Global News hint at just how close the policy came to being announced and how it could have completely reshaped the skylines of Toronto, Mississauga and Ottawa, among other cities.

Global News sent a detailed list of questions to Calandra’s office based on the documents. In response, a spokesperson sent a one-sentence reply that did not address them.

In December 2023, Calandra was putting the finishing touches on his latest round of housing legislation — a law that would set the tone for how the construction sector in Ontario the following year.

Calandra even teased the plan at Queen’s Park and pledged to bring “massive amounts of density” along rail and subway lines in the province. Toronto and Peel Region were listed as two cities that could expect rapid intensification around major transit stops.

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“We’re making sure that we get it right,” Calandra said on Dec. 21, 2023. “We want to be able to have finalized it so we can show people: this is what we expect, this is what we’re doing and this is how we’re going to meet those very aggressive targets that we’ve set.”

Almost 900 pages of internal documents, obtained by Global News through freedom of information laws, show the government had done detailed work on minimum height requirements around subway and light-rail stops.

While the vast majority of the information was withheld by the government, a few snippets offer key insights into how the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing envisioned the now-abandoned policy, including station-by-station plans drawn up for minimum heights.

One page of the plans, for example, lists all the subway stops on Toronto’s Line 2 Bloor-Danforth route. Beside each station is space for three columns: “potential tier,” “min. Height” and “rationale.”

The same table was created for Toronto’s Line 1 Yonge-University, Line 4 Sheppard, Line 5 Eglinton Crosstown, Line 6 Finch West and Toronto’s planned subway expansions through the Ontario Line, Scarborough Subway Extension and Yonge North Subway Extension.

In total, across Ontario, the government calculated its “proposed framework” could apply to 111 subway and LRT stations that have already been built and a further 137 that are still under construction or have been planned.

The details of what was considered for each station were redacted, with the province citing advice to the government and the economic interests of Ontario as reasons to withhold them.

Another presentation slide shows just how detailed the work on the policy was.

The document set out to “confirm direction on stations in downtown Toronto, recognizing the complexity and diversity of station areas within downtown neighbourhoods.”

The stations considered the most complex included St. George, Union and Bathurst. The specific policy advice for each station remains unclear; it was also removed from the documents released to Global News.

The documents suggest that Ontario Premier Doug Ford as well as his cabinet of ministers were aware of the plans to add minimum heights around transit stations.

A slide dated Feb. 14, 2024, indicates Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his team were briefed.

“Proposed Transit Heights Framework: PO/CO Follow-up,” the slide at the start of an overwise redacted presentation reads, referring to the political shorthand for the premier’s office and cabinet office

Ontario NDP housing critic Jessica Bell said policies like minimum height were key to helping the province hit its targets and reduce the impact of the housing crisis.

“The Ontario government needs to make it cheaper and faster to build apartments in towns and cities, especially near transit stations,” she told Global News.

“Other provinces and states have moved forward with allowing larger buildings near transit stations — it’s a very good idea. It’s something that we (the NDP) would do and it is extremely disappointing that the Conservatives have not moved forward with this.”

Multiple sources told Global News that transit station density rules were supposed to be part of Bill 185, the housing bill that was eventually tabled in the spring.

The policy measure was put to cabinet but it ultimately didn’t make it into the version of the law that was released. While a sitting premier has ultimate decision-making power at cabinet, it isn’t clear why the policy disappeared.

Bell said the legislation, as presented, fell short.

“When this bill came out, I was pretty disappointed,” she said.

“It missed the mark (by not) moving forward with significant zoning reform by allowing more apartments and condos near transit stations.”

&© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.