Fourteen. That is the number that has stayed with me through the whole fourplex argument. Between the fall of 2022, when the province allowed three units on most residential lots, and last September, Markham's planning department received fourteen applications from homeowners who wanted to build the maximum on one property. Four were approved. In a city of roughly 375,000 people, that is the demand behind the "shantytown" speeches at the public meetings, and it is worth keeping in mind this week, with online voting already open and the final voting day set for Sunday, October 26.
The road to this ballot started in March 2024, when Markham signed a Housing Accelerator Fund agreement with Ottawa worth $58.8 million, tied to 1,640 fast-tracked homes over three years. One of the seven commitments in the city's action plan was to permit four units as-of-right on lots zoned for detached, semi-detached and townhouse homes. Since the province already allowed three, the change amounted to one more unit per lot, each with its own entrance, kitchen and bathroom (Government of Canada news release, March 12, 2024).
The bylaw then took most of a year to reach a vote. Public meetings in September and October 2025 drew the familiar worries about parking, sewers and the look of the street, along with the mayor's remark that the city has "enough issues with pool cabanas and gazebos." The item came off the October agenda, was deferred in November and again in December, and skipped January. Council finally passed it 7 to 6 in late February 2026. In March, Mayor Scarpitti used his strong mayor powers to revoke it, citing pressure on city services, transportation and parking, and noting that Markham already has more than 220,000 units in the planning pipeline. In April the federal housing minister announced Markham would lose $7.36 million of its expected funding for missing the commitment, and said Ottawa expects the city to propose how it will make that up.
So where does that leave someone standing in the driveway of a sixty-foot lot on Wootten Way or a bungalow on an older Thornhill street? Exactly where they were. Three units remain legal across Ontario on most residential lots, so a basement apartment plus a garden suite behind a detached house is still within reach in Markham without a rezoning. What the veto removed was the fourth unit, and judging by those fourteen applications, the people who would have built it could fit in my office. I have walked a lot of wide lots with sellers over the years, and I tell all of them the same thing: the value in that lot comes from what a buyer believes they will be allowed to do with it, and a mayor who overrules his own council over one extra door tells buyers something about how the next application will be received.
That is the part this election decides. A 7 to 6 vote means a single seat changes the arithmetic, and several seats are open this time. Ward 3 and Ward 6 have no incumbent running, Deputy Mayor Michael Chan's regional seat is open, and eleven people are competing for the four regional councillor positions (hello markham, October 15, 2026). I am not going to tell you who to vote for. I have clients on both sides of the fourplex question, and some of the most thoughtful people I know in Unionville are in the camp that wanted the veto. What I will say is that the question deserves a plain answer from anyone asking for your vote, and most of the campaign material in my mailbox talks about traffic and "responsible growth" without saying what either one means for the lot next door.
If a candidate knocks this week, I would ask them this: would you vote to bring four units as-of-right back, and if not, how do you plan to recover the $7.36 million and protect the rest of the $58.8 million? Their answer, either way, tells you how your street is likely to look in ten years, and whether Ottawa helps pay for the roads and pipes that everyone at those public meetings said they were worried about.
A word on the day-to-day as well, because the election will come and go and the listings will not. The province's three-unit rule is not going anywhere, buyers of deep lots have been paying a premium for the garden suite option for two years now, and the pre-2024 zoning shown on a lot of older listings is stale either way, something I wrote about in August. If you are selling a property with a deep lot in Markham Village, Thornhill or on the older streets of Unionville, the honest pitch is three units, documented and drawn, rather than a fourth that may or may not return after October 26.
Online voting runs through October 26, in-person voting is October 23 to 26, and your voter information letter should have arrived earlier this month (City of Markham). Vote with your house in mind.