Governments at every level are paying people to build small rental buildings — but the programs change fast, and plenty of pages online still advertise incentives that no longer exist. Here’s the 2026 state of play for Toronto multiplex projects: what’s real, what died, and roughly what each one is worth on a typical project.
1. Toronto’s development-charge waiver (worth tens of thousands per unit)
Development charges are the fee the city normally collects on each new unit — historically one of the largest single line items in a Toronto pro forma, often in the tens of thousands of dollars per unit. For multiplexes up to six units, Toronto has waived them. On a fourplex that can mean six figures of avoided fees; on a sixplex, more. This single policy is a big part of why multiplexes pencil in 2026 when they didn’t in 2019.
2. The federal GST rental rebate (100% back on new rental construction)
New purpose-built rental housing qualifies for a full rebate of the federal GST portion of HST — with buildings of four or more units generally eligible. On a seven-figure construction budget, five percent back is real money. It rewards exactly the buildings this city needs: new, self-contained rental units held for the long term.
3. Ontario’s new HST rebate — up to $80,000 per rental unit
The headline of 2026: Ontario’s spring budget introduced enhanced relief on the provincial portion of HST for new rental housing, worth up to $80,000 per eligible rental unit for construction starting on or after April 1, 2026. Stacked with the federal rebate, a new multiplex can now recover most of the HST embedded in its construction. This is new, the fine print matters (timing of construction start, eligibility criteria), and it is precisely the kind of detail we nail down in feasibility before you commit.
4. Removed parking minimums (the invisible incentive)
Not a cheque, but worth as much as one: Toronto no longer forces you to build parking stalls you don’t need for a multiplex. Underground or structured parking can cost more per stall than a car is worth — removing the requirement frees budget and site area for rentable space instead.
What’s dead: the $80k Secondary Suite Loan Program
You may still see sites promoting Canada’s Secondary Suite Loan Program — up to $80,000 at 2% over 15 years for adding a suite. It was announced in late 2024 and cancelled in the 2025 federal budget without ever taking applications. If a plan you’re reading relies on it, the plan is out of date. (City-level programs for garden and laneway suites have come and gone too — we verify what’s live for your address at the time you build.)
What it adds up to
- Development charges: waived on up to six units — often the single biggest saving.
- Federal GST rebate: ~5% of construction back on qualifying rental buildings.
- Ontario HST rebate: up to $80k per unit for construction starting April 2026 or later.
- No parking minimums: budget and lot area redirected into rentable space.
- Net effect: on a typical fourplex-to-sixplex project, incentives can offset a six-figure share of total cost — enough to move a marginal pro forma into a clearly viable one.
Incentives change — that’s the point of this article. Our free feasibility review prices the current programs into your project’s actual numbers, so you’re deciding on today’s math, not last year’s blog posts.
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