After several quarters of lukewarm activities, the activity of the new development in Toronto seems to have a corner, whereby in the first quarter of 2025 application volumes and proposed soil areas have been heavily bounced off. Three new data records from urbantoronto highlight highlight highlight record sets, an increase in project art types and an increase in project types (GFA) and an growing diversity of project types and growth of project types and growth of projects and growth from Project types (GFA). Despite these indicators for renewed trust, a broader economic headwind – including uncertainty in trade relationships with the United States – provided doubts about the durability of this dynamic.
241 Yonge Street, a 67-story rental building that was proposed in January 2025. Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects for angel developments
In the first quarter of 2025, developers proposed 44 new projects in the city of Toronto, which included 66 buildings. These applications together make 25,598 residential units distributed to 12 condominiums, 16 rental projects and two office-inclusive buildings that highlight a variety of apartment options. Of the total apartments, 62% are units with a bedroom, 24% two bedrooms and 11% are a family size with three bedrooms or more, which is reflected in the developing needs of the population of Toronto. The proposed heights remain high, with the highest building reaching 221 meters (approx. 67 floors) and an average height of 86.7 meters (approx. 26 floors) and underlining a persistent emphasis on high -rise life. In total, the developers want to deliver 1,890,214 square meters (around 20.35 million square meters) of new gross bodies in the areas of residential, institutional and commercial sectors, which indicates a diverse growth approach in the city.
Figure 1. Summary of new development applications sent to the city of Toronto in the first quarter of 2025. Data from UtPro. ** The two projects under construction are stations on the Ontario line that have an atypical approval process.
In the first quarter of 2025, the highest number of residential units has been proposed in a single quarter in the past five years, whereby a jump of almost 60% was proposed compared to the 16,284 in the first quarter of 2021 when the Toronto pipeline had just returned to dynamism.
Interestingly, the average number of parking spaces per unit is relatively low in the first quarter of 2025 – 0.36 in the first quarter of 2025 – which reflects a continuous departure of strong parking spaces, since the minimal parking requirements were removed in 2021. The number of proposed parking units is not limited, and the number of proposed parking units reflects the expected future market trends better for the possession of the car. In the meantime, the bicycle parking spaces after a climax of 0.90 recorded around 0.70 per unit in the first quarter of 2023.
Figure 2. New applications against GFA. The number of new applications that proposed each year from 2021 to 2025 in the first quarter, and the entire GFA proposal per quarter. Data from UtPro.
This gradual new calibration has two effects: First, the declining parking lot per unit is reflected in the fact that the developers continue to respond to shift in travel habits and urban politics that aim to reduce the trust of the private vehicle, in particular in view of the most important changes to public transits that are currently taking place. And secondly, the decline in the bicycle park plan per unit that a larger part of new units is further away from the core of the city center.
Figure 3. Map of new development applications in the city of Toronto Wards, colored through the number of proposed apartments: The darkest purple represents projects with 1000 proposed units, while white is not living unit information. Data from UtPro.
In view of the latest trends, the new gross vode (GFA) proposed in the first quarter of 2025 has increased to a five -year high of 20.35 million foot in 2025, which has exceeded the grades of the previous year. The applications rose to 44, an increase from both 2023 and 2024.
This increase in the GFA not only shows buildings, but larger buildings. In combination with highly volume developments along the most important corridors, developers seem to rely on the long -term foundations of Toronto such as population growth, the creation of jobs and the increasing demand for central transit farmers.
Figure 3. In apartment against parking spaces: new residential units, parking spaces per unit and bicycle parking spaces per unit in the city of Toronto in the first quarter of 2021-2025. Data from UtPro.
Despite the encouraging figures, developers and investors stand with real concerns about the upcoming path. With Canada's largest trading partner, the United States, the signs of economic uncertainty and persistent tensions about trade policy, the material and capital flow could tighten. Possible tasks on building materials, disorders of the supply chain and currency fluctuations can put both costs as well as timetables under pressure-factors that can quickly dampen the optimism that complied in early 2025.
While Toronto's strong Q1 activity emphasizes the permanent attraction and resilient living requirement, it also serves as a memory: the global conditions are still important. Even if developers are progressing in the community, the city's growth thrust could be tested if wider economic forces bite.
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Urbantoronto Research and Data Service, Urbantoronto Pro, provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the greater Toronto-Hamilton-vom area until the end. We also offer immediate reports, downloadable snapshots based on the location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, which pursues projects from the first application.