Ontario’s New Deal will bring ready-to-assemble homes to Coxwell and Gerrard
The modular mid-rise will occupy a once-overgrown lot sandwiched between Little India and the Woodbine Corridor
Canada’s trendiest housing innovation is headed for the city’s east end in the form of a 33-unit modular development. Last week, construction broke ground on 355 Coxwell, a future tower sandwiched between Little India and the Woodbine Corridor. It’s a co-production by the city and Habitat for Humanity GTA and was made possible by Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Olivia Chow’s $1.2-billion New Deal, which, among broader aims, includes locating and investing in city-owned sites suitable for “below-market, attainable modular homes.”
Related: Mayor Olivia Chow wants this tower off Coxwell to be Toronto’s new standard for affordable housing
Modular homes use pre-fabricated sections, or modules, created in a factory and then assembled like Lego on-site. The tech is cheaper, faster to build and better for the environment than traditional methods—and Prime Minister Mark Carney has made it a pillar of his national housing strategy in the face of the current crisis. For 355 Coxwell, the province is investing $10 million and the city is throwing in $4.8 million.
The building’s location, on the northeast corner of Coxwell and Gerrard, is a good fit too. Habitat for Humanity has described the neighbourhood as “welcoming and family-friendly,” with robust public transit, green spaces like Monarch Park and the Williamson Park Ravine, good schools, flourishing retail, and community centres.
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Home prices here will reflect the income of Torontonians in the 60th and 70th percentiles. In other words: middle-class workers. The units will be sold at fair market value, and the maximum purchaser contribution ($500,000 in 2025) will be indexed to future inflation levels. Once complete, the mid-rise will contain one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with 22 of them being family-sized.
“Ontario is continuing to take action to...help people find a home that meets their needs and their budgets,” said Rob Flack, minister of municipal affairs and housing, in a release. “This innovative project will help drive forward our plans to...make use of surplus government lands to get more shovels in the ground.”
Anyone interested in calling one of these modular units home can sign up for email updates with Habitat for Humanity, which is in charge of fielding applications. Sales are expected to open in early 2026, with occupancy forecasted for mid-2027.
Teagan Sliz covers Ontario real estate for Toronto Life and Storeys. She also writes for Cottage Life and has reported on everything from hidden-gem restaurants to Canadian wildlife and forest fires. She graduated from Queen’s University with a bachelor’s in history and art history and from Centennial College, where she studied Canadian publishing.
