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With new “density” targets favouring multi-family housing, designated urban growth areas and tougher environmental rules, the 2006 plan sought to check urban sprawl while supporting the area’s further growth as North America’s major economic hub.

The market, though, did not follow that vision.

Detached homes are still most sought-after and their tight supply keeps prices high even as some condominiums and multi-family projects languish.

Developers say the growth plan, updated in 2017 with higher density targets, both created a demand-supply mismatch and added a layer of new municipal regulations.

“The growth plan has throttled growth severely,” said Matthew Cory, principal at planning consulting firm Malone Given Parsons.

Ryerson University economist Frank Clayton said part of the problem was the plan’s emphasis on protecting the environment and heritage sites at the expense of development.

“That superimposed more planning on a planning structure that was already bureaucratic-heavy,” he said in an interview.

Toronto’s troubles are of national concern given its role as Canada’s top financial and technology hub, which, together with surrounding towns, accounts for a fifth of the nation’s economy.

The growth plan has throttled growth severely Matthew Cory

The city, alongside Vancouver, Canada’s third-largest city, is also among top North American destinations for international property investors and a major draw for Chinese capital.

So far, the authorities have sought to cool what they call speculative demand with stricter lending rules and by taxing foreign buyers. Now they also begin to look at supply bottlenecks as a driver for prices that have risen by 43 per cent in Toronto and 63 per cent in Vancouver just over the past three years.