The Short Answer
Markham has more purpose-built rental in the pipeline than at any point in decades. The largest approved project is 7115 Yonge Street and Grandview Avenue, two towers of 49 and 46 storeys with 873 rental units, approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal in November 2025. In review are a 46-storey, 504-unit proposal at 7015 and 7027 Yonge Street, and a 33-storey, roughly 425-unit first phase of Saint Mark's Village on Steeles at Ferrier. Meanwhile the market has shifted in renters' favour: GTHA purpose-built vacancy reached 6.8% in Q2 2026, asking rents have fallen for 23 consecutive months nationally, and 64% of GTHA projects are offering incentives averaging $377 a month.
Want this applied to your own property? Call the Kaizen Real Estate Team at (647) 370-8885.
Why Purpose-Built Rental Is Different
Most rental housing in Markham is a condominium unit owned by an individual investor. Purpose-built rental is a building constructed and operated as rental by a single owner. That difference is not academic for a tenant.
- No own-use eviction. A corporate owner does not move into the unit or move a family member in, which is the single most common cause of an unwanted move in the condominium rental market.
- The building is not sold out from under you one unit at a time.
- Maintenance is centralized. One owner, one management office, one responsibility.
- Amenities are designed for renters rather than inherited from a condominium corporation.
The trade-off is usually price. Purpose-built rental in new buildings is not typically cheaper than a condominium unit. What it offers is stability, and for a household that has been moved on twice in four years, that is worth something concrete.
Michael John Lau, a REALTORĀ® with the Kaizen Real Estate Team in Markham, Ontario and a two-time eXp ICON Agent, raises this distinction with renters deciding whether to keep renting or buy, because the security of tenure question changes the maths on how long renting stays sensible.
Questions About Your Situation?
Every Markham property and every timeline is different. Call the Kaizen Real Estate Team at (647) 370-8885 and speak to a REALTORĀ® who works this market daily.
What Is Actually Coming
Project | Location | Scale | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
7115 Yonge St and Grandview Ave, TerraBona | Thornhill, Yonge and Steeles corridor | 49 and 46 storeys, 873 rental units | Approved, Ontario Land Tribunal, November 2025 |
7015 and 7027 Yonge St, Times 7015 LP | Northeast corner Yonge and Steeles | 46 storeys, 504 rental units, 0.891 ha | Complete application July 2026, PLAN 26 125327, in review |
455 Ferrier St, Saint Mark's Village Phase 1 | North side Steeles at Ferrier and Acadia, 4.82 ha | 33 storeys, approximately 425 rental units, plus daycare and banquet facility, church retained | Public meeting April 2026, PLAN 26 112050, in review |
Remington, Markham Rd and 14th Ave | Beside Aaniin Community Centre, Ward 7 | 3 mid-rise rental buildings plus 34 townhouses; 30% of units at 10% below market | Public meeting February 2025, in review |
South Unionville rental tower | South Unionville | 39 storeys, details unconfirmed | Revised plans submitted January 2026 |
36 to 48 Steeles Ave E, Zonix | Markham and Toronto border | Possible third tower of 23 storeys, roughly 250 rental units | Pre-consultation June 2025 |
Box Grove community housing, York Region | 14th Ave and Donald Cousens Pkwy | Community housing, unit count not published | Permit application in progress, target 2028 |
Unionville Commons | 4310 Highway 7 East | 265 affordable seniors apartments | Completed, seniors hub opening 2026 |
Two observations a renter should take from that table. First, the Yonge and Steeles corridor is where most of it is concentrated. Second, almost all of it is in review rather than under construction, which means the relief it represents arrives in years rather than months.
Neeraj Moolchandani on Negotiating in a Soft Rental Market
Neeraj Moolchandani, REALTORĀ® at Kaizen Real Estate, tells renters plainly that the advertised rent is a starting position. With 64 percent of Greater Toronto and Hamilton area projects offering incentives averaging $377 a month, a renter who does not ask is leaving money behind.
The follow-up question Neeraj insists on is what the incentive does at renewal. A month free lowers year one and can make year two look like a sharp increase. Understanding that before signing is the difference between a good deal and a surprise.
The City Is Actively Encouraging This
Markham Council approved a Long-Term Rental Housing Incentive Program allowing qualifying rental developments to defer up to 50% of city-wide soft development charges, with the building permit deadline extended to 31 December 2027.
Staff identified two pipeline projects totalling roughly 1,000 purpose-built rental units, about 270 of them affordable, that could qualify for the maximum deferral, worth around $8 million in deferred charges, rising to roughly $13 million if three more projects qualify.
The debate at Council was not unanimous, and the dissent is worth reporting rather than omitting. Councillor Reid McAlpine said of the programme: "There are social benefits here. But in the process, we are bailing out the development industry."
That tension is genuine. Deferred development charges reduce what the City collects toward the infrastructure new residents will use. Whether the rental supply is worth that trade is a legitimate policy question, and residents are entitled to see both sides of it.
The policy backdrop is Housing Choices, Markham's affordable and rental housing strategy approved in July 2021, which set out 35 actions and found that one in three Markham households has an affordability issue.
Deciding Whether to Keep Renting?
Security of tenure is worth something real. The Kaizen Real Estate Team will give you an honest comparison, including when renting wins.
The Market Renters Are Actually Standing In
This is the part that matters more to a renter this year than any tower approved for 2029.
Measure | Latest figure |
|---|---|
National average asking rent, August 2026 | $2,035, down 4.8% year over year |
Consecutive months of national decline | 23 |
Toronto average asking rent, August 2026 | $2,571, down 1.8% year over year |
GTHA purpose-built vacancy, Q2 2026, stabilized | 6.8%, up from 5.5% a year earlier |
GTHA vacancy including lease-up stock | 12.4% |
GTHA projects offering incentives | 64%, averaging $377 per month |
Purpose-built units under construction, GTHA | 31,645 across 102 projects |
Two nuances worth knowing, because they explain why a renter may read conflicting headlines.
Larger units are moving differently. While Toronto's overall average asking rent fell, two-bedroom units were roughly flat and three-bedroom units rose about 3.5%. Families needing space are not experiencing the same market as a single tenant looking for a one-bedroom.
Asking rents and existing rents are different measures. Surveys of occupied purpose-built stock have shown increases, because sitting tenants' rents move up under rent control rules. Asking rents on units coming to market today are falling. Both are accurate; they measure different things. A renter about to sign a new lease is in the falling market.
One further note specific to Markham: the national housing agency suppresses the vacancy rate for the Markham zone on confidentiality and reliability grounds, so there is no published Markham-specific vacancy figure to quote. The GTHA and Toronto numbers are the closest available proxies.
What Michael Tells Renters Right Now
- Negotiate. With 64% of GTHA projects offering incentives averaging $377 a month, the advertised rent is a starting position. A renter who does not ask is leaving money on the table.
- Ask what the incentive does at renewal. A month free on a twelve-month lease lowers year one. Understand what year two looks like before signing.
- Weigh security of tenure honestly. If being moved on has cost you twice, a purpose-built building is worth paying something for.
- If you need three bedrooms, act differently. That segment is tightening while the rest loosens.
- Do not wait for the new supply. Almost everything above is in review. The relief is real and it is years away.