{"built":"2026-10-23","city_comparison_cmhc_2026":{"montreal_note":"Montreal has no general per-unit development charge in these tables. CMHC's December 2025 survey put Montreal's total developer fees at $30,597 for a detached home, against $180,600 in Toronto on the same all-in basis.","rows":[{"apartment_2bed":116081,"city":"Markham","detached":179391},{"apartment_2bed":102176,"city":"Brampton","detached":154121},{"apartment_2bed":97887,"city":"Oakville (greenfield)","detached":150374},{"apartment_2bed":120461,"city":"Newmarket","detached":145587},{"apartment_2bed":84583,"city":"Toronto","detached":141739},{"apartment_2bed":99056,"city":"Mississauga","detached":137725},{"apartment_2bed":75240,"city":"Ajax","detached":126892},{"apartment_2bed":31870,"city":"Ottawa (inside Greenbelt)","detached":57827},{"apartment_2bed":30307,"city":"London (inside urban growth area)","detached":50564}],"source":"CMHC Development Charges data tables, June 3, 2026. Total development charges per unit including education and regional charges where they apply. Extracted by this project into dc-comparison-cmhc2026.csv."},"counterfactual":{"affordable_multiple_range":[3,4],"income":{"label":"Median household income, Toronto CMA, 2020","source":"Statistics Canada, 2021 Census","value":121200},"resale_benchmark_source":"TRREB MLS Home Price Index, City of Toronto composite benchmark, September 2026: $908,200. Detached benchmark $1,417,600 (11.7 times median income).","rows":[{"label":"New detached, with all government charges","multiple":12.4,"price":1500000},{"label":"New detached, every government charge removed","multiple":8.9,"price":1080750},{"label":"New condo, with all government charges","multiple":6.6,"price":800000},{"label":"New condo, every government charge removed","multiple":4.6,"price":560150},{"label":"Resale benchmark, City of Toronto (about 3 percent tax)","multiple":7.5,"price":908200}]},"data_gaps_and_fixes":[{"fix":"This project republishes the charge schedules as data. The revenue series still needs rebuilding from the City's annual treasurer statements, which are PDFs.","gap":"Toronto's Open Data dataset for development charge revenues is retired. Last refreshed May 17, 2024."},{"fix":"The history table on this page is the start of that series: every rate with its source document.","gap":"Toronto's DC rates exist only in bylaw PDFs and rate notices. No CSV, no API, no history."},{"fix":"Publish the stack in layers: bylaw charges, then land-value charges (parkland, community benefits), then fees, then transaction taxes. This site uses that order everywhere.","gap":"CMHC had to build the first national DC dataset by scraping municipal websites with a 50-person team. Its all-in Toronto total ($180,600, December 2025) and its bylaw-only total ($141,739, June 2026) differ by about $39,000 with no published reconciliation."},{"fix":"Estimate each project's bill from the rate in force at its permit date and its unit mix, and publish the estimate with the method. Not yet built.","gap":"Toronto building permits data lists estimated construction value but not the charges paid, so no permit can be matched to its government bill."},{"fix":"Every total on this page is a model built from public schedules, labelled with its sources. It is not a measurement of any single home.","gap":"What a buyer actually paid in charges sits in the builder's purchase agreement and closing statement. None of it is public."}],"dc_history_detached_toronto":{"growth_1999_2024_multiple":28.7,"growth_2011_2023_percent":592,"growth_note":"Toronto DCs rose 592 percent from 2011 to 2023 while consumer prices rose 31.7 percent (BILD/OHBA State of DCs in Ontario, via Missing Middle Initiative).","points":[{"rate":4795,"source":"City of Toronto council comparison table, 1999 (proposed Toronto rate vs GTA average $15,285)","year":1999},{"rate":12910,"source":"Toronto DC per single-family home, 2010, as compiled in the research for this project from City schedules and the BILD/OHBA State of DCs series","year":2010},{"rate":137846,"source":"City of Toronto rate notice, Development Charge Rates Effective June 6, 2024, By-law 1137-2022. Rate frozen through 2025 and 2026 (indexing forgone)","year":2024},{"label":"2026 discounted rate","rate":55138,"source":"City of Toronto, Implementation of the Development Charges Reduction Program, July 22, 2026, Table 2. 60 percent cut, for projects whose first building permit is issued on or after March 30, 2026","year":2026}],"unit":"City of Toronto development charge per single or semi-detached home, CAD","weighted_average_paid_2024":{"note":"Weighted-average DC actually paid per residential unit in 2024, City of Toronto Annual Development Charges Statement (Treasurer). The headline rate is for a detached house; most units are apartments, and multiplexes up to six units pay $0.","value":61477}},"experiment_2026":{"policies":[{"date":"March 30, 2026","what":"Toronto development charges cut 40 to 60 percent for projects whose first building permit is issued on or after this date, under the $1.5B Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build. Detached rate falls from $137,846 to $55,138. Indexing paused through 2029. Parkland and community benefits charges not cut."},{"date":"April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027","what":"Ontario enhanced HST rebate for all buyers of new homes (not only first-time buyers): full 13 percent removed under $1M, flat $130,000 of relief from $1M to $1.5M. Construction must begin by December 31, 2028."},{"date":"March 13, 2026","what":"Federal first-time home buyers GST/HST rebate becomes law (Bill C-4, royal assent): 100 percent of the 5 percent federal part up to $1M."}],"predictions_on_record":[{"from":"The strong tax claim","prediction":"If tax was the problem, cutting it this much should visibly restart housing starts and pull new-home prices down by mid-2027."},{"from":"CMHC Housing Development Viability Analyzer (data as of January 2026)","prediction":"Cutting DCs 50 to 60 percent makes about 5 percent more Toronto projects viable. Eliminating them entirely: about 10.7 percent more viable projects and 10,000 to 16,250 extra homes a year, against a gap of 31,511 homes a year to restore 2019 affordability."}],"title":"The 2026 test: governments cut the tax. Watch what happens.","what_to_measure":["Housing starts in Toronto (CMHC, monthly)","New-home prices (StatCan NHPI, Toronto)","Building permits issued after March 30, 2026 at the discounted DC rate (City of Toronto)"]},"nhpi_context":{"house_only_change_1981_sep2026_percent":348,"land_only_change_1981_sep2026_percent":187,"note":"The price series that rose for 45 years is measured before sales tax. Development charges were $12,910 per single-family home in 2010, too small to explain the growth from 1981 to 2010.","source":"Statistics Canada table 18-10-0205-01, New Housing Price Index, Toronto. Selling prices exclude GST/HST by StatCan's methodology."},"project":"canada-tax-stack","question":"Toronto: affordability problem, or tax problem?","sources":["City of Toronto, Implementation of the Development Charges Reduction Program, July 22, 2026 (current and discounted rates, Table 2)","City of Toronto rate notice, Development Charge Rates Effective June 6, 2024 (By-law 1137-2022)","CMHC, Development Charges data tables, June 3, 2026 (Excel, 35 municipalities)","CMHC, We built this city on development charges, December 4, 2025, and CMHC, Development charges: cities aren't created equally, June 3, 2026","CHBA Municipal Benchmarking Study 2024 (Altus Group): Toronto municipal charges $195,300 low-rise blended, $134,900 high-rise, highest of 23 cities","CRA, Excise and GST/HST News No. 122, April 2026; Ontario Budget 2026 (enhanced HST rebate)","Statistics Canada, table 18-10-0205-01 (NHPI Toronto) and 2021 Census (median household income, Toronto CMA)","TRREB MLS Home Price Index public tables, September 2026","City of Toronto Open Data, Development Charge Revenues (retired dataset page)"],"tax_stack_prototypes":{"condo_2bed":{"full_rates_2024_25":[{"amount":134900,"component":"Municipal charges (CHBA high-rise basket, incl. community benefits and parkland)"},{"amount":80000,"component":"HST 13 percent, net of the legacy Ontario rebate of $24,000"},{"amount":24950,"component":"Land transfer tax, Ontario plus Toronto"}],"full_rates_share_percent":30.0,"full_rates_total":239850,"label":"New two-bedroom condo, Toronto","price_pre_hst":800000,"relief_share_percent":13.9,"relief_total":111450,"relief_window_2026":[{"amount":86500,"component":"Municipal charges (DC cut of $48,414 applied)"},{"amount":0,"component":"HST after the 2026 enhanced rebate (fully removed under $1M in the window)"},{"amount":24950,"component":"Land transfer tax, Ontario plus Toronto (unchanged)"}]},"detached":{"full_rates_2024_25":[{"amount":195300,"component":"Municipal charges (CHBA basket: DCs, parkland, community benefits, planning and permit fees)"},{"amount":171000,"component":"HST 13 percent, net of the legacy Ontario rebate of $24,000"},{"amount":52950,"component":"Land transfer tax, Ontario plus Toronto"}],"full_rates_share_percent":28.0,"full_rates_total":419250,"label":"New detached house, Toronto","price_pre_hst":1500000,"relief_share_percent":15.4,"relief_total":230550,"relief_window_2026":[{"amount":112600,"component":"Municipal charges (DC cut of $82,708 applied; parkland and community benefits unchanged)"},{"amount":65000,"component":"HST after the 2026 enhanced rebate (flat $130,000 relief at this price)"},{"amount":52950,"component":"Land transfer tax, Ontario plus Toronto (unchanged)"}]},"note":"Worked examples built line by line from the City of Toronto DC schedule, the CHBA Municipal Benchmarking Study 2024 (Altus Group) municipal basket for Toronto, CRA HST rebate rules and Ontario Budget 2026, and Ontario plus Toronto land transfer tax brackets. Prices are pre-HST. Percentages are of the pre-HST price. Municipal basket already contains the DC; do not add them together."},"toronto_dc_detail_cmhc_2026":{"education_dc":3893,"largest_components_detached":[{"amount":57565,"service":"Transit (incl. Spadina subway extension)"},{"amount":20250,"service":"Parks and recreation"},{"amount":29278,"service":"Roads and related"},{"amount":11193,"service":"Sanitary sewer"},{"amount":5335,"service":"Storm water management"},{"amount":4549,"service":"Water"}],"municipal_only":{"apartment_1_bed":52676,"apartment_2plus_bed":80690,"single_semi_detached":137846},"non_rental_totals":{"apartment_1_bed":56569,"apartment_2plus_bed":84583,"dwelling_room":41249,"multiples_1_bed_bachelor":61046,"multiples_2plus_bed":117831,"single_semi_detached":141739},"source":"CMHC Development Charges data tables, June 3, 2026, Table 7.0 City of Toronto. Data collected April 27 to May 8, 2026. Municipal DC plus education DC (Toronto Catholic District School Board only; the Toronto District School Board levies $0). Community benefits charges and parkland are extra and depend on land value."},"verdict":"A tax problem inside an affordability problem. Government charges were about 25 to 30 percent of a new Toronto home's price at the 2024/2025 peak. Remove every one of them and a new detached house still costs about 9 times a median household income, against an affordable range of 3 to 4 times.","wedge_new_vs_resale":{"new_home_government_share_percent":30,"note":"Same city, same kind of home. A resale home pays no HST (resale is HST-exempt) and no development charges at purchase. Its only transaction tax is land transfer tax.","resale_example":"Toronto condo at $640,248 (City of Toronto average condo price, September 2026, TRREB): combined land transfer tax $18,560, or 2.9 percent.","resale_government_share_percent":3}}