Missing middle refers to housing that is intended to fill the gap between single-unit dwellings and high-density multi-unit apartments or mixed-use residential buildings. This type of housing hasn’t been built much in recent years which is why it is considered “missing”.

Examples include:

• townhouses
• two, three and four unit dwellings
• cluster housing and small multi-unit housing (five to eight unit dwellings)

Gentle density refers to low density forms of missing middle housing that have minimal impact on a neighborhood's existing look and feel.

Examples include:

• backyard suites
• basement suites
• converted single unit homes

Residential infill development refers to dwellings being developed on a lot located within an existing neighbourhood block, instead of expanding into undeveloped land. Infill development is important because it helps to direct development away from natural areas, reduces the need for costly new infrastructure and services and supports vibrant and accessible neighbourhoods.

The Established Residential zones are meant to keep the overall look and scale of existing low‑rise neighbourhoods while providing additional housing options.

The ER-2 zone applies to areas that are proposed Heritage Conservation Districts and registered heritage properties. To preserve the historic character of these neighbourhoods, the ER-2 Zone allows:

• Single-unit and two-unit dwellings for new construction
• Internal conversion to three-unit, four-unit, and multi-unit dwellings

The ER-3 zone is applied broadly to existing neighbourhoods across the Regional Centre. It allows a range of low-rise residential uses, including:

• Low-density dwellings (1-4 units)
• Townhouses (up to 8 units)
• Multi-unit dwellings (5-8 units, or more through internal conversion or rear addition)

The Established Residential (ER) regulations for the Regional Centre were updated to allow a broader range of housing types in the ER-2 and ER-3 zones through the Urgent Changes to Planning Documents for Housing. These new rules have been successful in allowing a wide variety of housing types in ER neighbourhoods, including new four to eight unit dwellings, internal conversions of existing dwellings, and rear additions.

Recent development trends and initial community feedback suggest that there is room to improve the current standards for missing middle developments. Some key observations include:

• New development tends to be taller and larger than existing housing in ER-3 neighbourhoods. This has allowed more units to be achieved but has also led to concerns from neighbours about privacy and neighborhood compatibility.
• Where several exemptions (non-conforming setbacks, additional height permissions) and encroachments (balconies, staircases or bay windows that are allowed to project into the required setback) are used together, new developments can achieve a scale that is significantly larger than neighbouring properties.
• The 2024 changes increased the maximum lot coverage by 10 per cent for dwellings with more than one unit. This has made it harder to include soft landscaping, which affects how well stormwater is absorbed and impacts the appearance of a property.

Stronger design and built form rules will promote buildings that are more compatible with the look and feel of the surrounding neighbourhood and align with the pedestrian first, human-scale objectives of the Centre Plan. Staff are not recommending changes to the number of units permitted through new construction at this time but will consider introducing unit maximums for rear additions and internal conversions.

Some examples of changes that will be explored include:

• applying more built form requirements to the upper storeys of buildings that exceed 11 metres to reduce the visual impact on surrounding low-rise homes;
• reducing lot coverage maximums, which currently allow dwellings with more than one unit to achieve up to 50-60 per cent lot coverage;
• reviewing setback requirements to better accommodate the transition between private property and the street;
• limiting non-conforming setback permissions for larger multi-unit buildings and reducing permitted encroachments in required side and front yards;
• considering the inclusion of common space in new multi-unit dwellings;
• increasing requirements for soft landscaping (water-permeable material or vegetation, including grass, shrubs or soil) and limiting hard landscaping (solid or impermeable material such as gravel or concrete) on a lot;
• permitting accessory parking lots (5 or more parking spaces to support the main use) in the ER-3 zone; and
• a broad review of design requirements including minimum glazing, façade articulation, ground-oriented entrances, balconies, materials and more.

In May 2024, Regional Council approved updates to planning documents to help increase housing supply, speed up approvals, enable more types of housing and support a wider range of construction methods. Read more about these amendments.

In the Regional Centre, these changes built on the Centre Plan framework to enable more opportunities for gentle density, missing middle housing and residential conversions in low-rise Established Residential (ER) areas. The changes included:

• Replacing the ER-1 zone with the ER-2 zone, which now applies to registered heritage properties and proposed heritage conservation districts. The ER-2 zone now allows new dwellings with up to 2 units, backyard suites, rear additions, and internal conversions.
• Applying the ER-3 zone to all remaining lands in the ER designation. The ER-3 zone now permits new construction of 4-8 units per lot depending on lot size and 8 or more units in rear additions and internal conversions subject to built form restrictions.
  • Maintaining the existing 11 metre height limit, but adding a three metre exemption for a sloped roof or attic unit
  • Requiring at least one entrance along the street and a minimum amount of glazing (windows)
  • Increasing lot coverage for dwellings that are not single-unit dwellings
  • Limiting multi-unit dwellings to 20 metres in width and 30 metres in depth
  • Requiring parking to be in the rear yard for multi-unit dwellings
  • Requiring outdoor solid waste to be screened for buildings with more than four units
  • Introducing articulation standards for multi-unit dwellings

New built form and design rules were added to encourage new development to fit into existing communities. Some of these rules apply to all new development in the ER-3 zone and some apply only to multi-unit (more than five unit) dwellings. These new rules include: