Inclusionary Zoning

What is Inclusionary Zoning?

Inclusionary Zoning is a policy tool that allows municipalities to require a certain percentage of affordable housing units within new residential developments. As newly constructed condominium and purpose-built rental units in the private market may not be delivered at affordable price points, Inclusionary Zoning can help increase the supply of affordable housing options in the Town, subject to demonstrated market viability.

Inclusionary Zoning can help create affordable housing through mixed-income developments, but it may also affect the financial viability of new housing projects. Its effectiveness depends on carefully balancing requirements with market conditions such as demand, construction costs, land values, and financing so that development remains feasible while still delivering affordable units.

Where can it be applied?

The Planning Act allows municipalities in Ontario to implement Inclusionary Zoning within new residential or mixed-use projects in PMTSAs. Ajax’s only PMTSA, as identified in the Durham Regional Official Plan and approved by the Province in September 2025, generally includes lands within 800-metres (10-minute) walking distance from the Ajax GO Transit Station. The map below identifies Ajax GO Transit PMTSA as the subject lands:

Inclusionary Zoning Assessment Report

The Assessment Report analyzes the existing Provincial and Municipal policy context; the development pipeline including proposed, under-construction, and recently constructed residential developments; the housing market; and housing needs and affordability gaps. The Assessment Report then applies a financial feasibility analysis to various building prototypes to analyse the impact of implementing Inclusionary Zoning.

The Assessment Report finds that, similar to other Ontario communities, Ajax is facing challenging housing market conditions and high construction costs, making Inclusionary Zoning not viable at this time.

As a result, staff and the consultant recommend implementing an Inclusionary Zoning framework with an initial 0% set-aside requirement, meaning no inclusionary zoning units would be required to be provided. However, as market conditions improve this rate could be re-examined and incrementally increased through further amendment.

This approach would allow the Town to work with the Region of Durham and other agencies to develop detailed implementation and operational frameworks, while signalling to the market that Inclusionary Zoning policies are forthcoming, allowing future development pro formas to account for Inclusionary Zoning in feasibility analyses.

The Assessment Report can be accessed through the ‘Documents’ section on this page for more details on the methodology, assessment, and findings.

An independent peer review of the Assessment Report was also conducted to fulfil statutory requirements and generally agreed with its findings. The Peer Review Report can also be accessed for review through the ‘Documents’ section on this page.

Draft Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment

The implementation of Inclusionary Zoning will require an Official Plan Amendment and a Zoning By-law Amendment, should Council choose to proceed with the recommendations. These draft amendments have been prepared and are available for review and comment and can be accessed through the ‘Documents’ section on this page.

Next steps

The Assessment Report, along with the draft Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment, will be presented to the Community Affairs and Planning Committee on June 1, 2026.

Statutory Public Meeting

A final Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment will be prepared following consultation and will incorporate feedback received through engagement activities and presented at a future Statutory Public Meeting.

How can you participate?

Public consultation will be conducted online through this page. Residents, landowners, and other interested parties are encouraged to review the materials on this page and are invited to submit comments and questions through the comments section below. Comments are requested to be submitted by Monday July 13, 2026.

Those who wish to be notified of future meetings or receive updates on this project can email Anuj Kathuria, at Anuj.Kathuria@Ajax.ca.