Toronto Green Standard Tiers Explained (2026 Update)

The Toronto Green Standard (TGS) is Toronto's tiered green-building requirement for new development — Tier 1 is mandatory through the planning process, the higher tiers are voluntary — and as of June 2, 2026 it runs on interim checklists after Ontario's Bill 98 became law. If you're building in Toronto, the standard is part of your approvals, and in practice its energy targets are envelope targets. Here's the plain-English version.

This isn't a topic most window suppliers touch — it's municipal planning policy, it changes, and the details depend on your project type. But the standard's energy requirements are where windows get judged, so it's worth knowing where your window spec sits in the picture — and where the City itself says to check with your planner.

What is the Toronto Green Standard — and who does it apply to?

The TGS is Toronto's sustainable design and performance requirement for new private and City-owned development. It has applied to new developments since 2010, with Version 4 in effect since May 1, 2022 for new planning applications. Think of it as a layer the City adds on top of the Ontario Building Code: the Code sets the legal minimums, and the Green Standard sets additional performance requirements that flow through the planning approval process.

In practice, that means checklists and templates completed with your planning submission, covering energy and emissions, water quality and efficiency, ecology and biodiversity, and waste. Tier 1 is the mandatory level; the higher tiers are voluntary, with a financial incentive attached to verified performance. One honest caveat up front: this area changed in mid-2026, so which version of the checklist applies depends on your application date — confirm it with the City planner assigned to your file.

What are the tiers — and what changed on June 2, 2026?

The standard ranks performance into tiers. Tier 1 is the mandatory baseline, applied through planning approval. Tiers 2 through 4 are progressively higher voluntary levels — and eligible projects that verify them can pursue Development Charge refunds through the City's refund program.

Then came Bill 98 — the Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026 — which received Royal Assent on June 2, 2026 and changed how the standard is implemented. Applications submitted between May 1, 2022 and June 1, 2026 are required to meet Version 4's Tier 1 mandatory and interim voluntary performance measures. Applications received on or after June 2, 2026 are required to meet the mandatory measures identified in the Interim Version 4 checklists, and are encouraged to meet the voluntary Tier 1 measures. The Development Charge refund route for higher-tier projects continues, and requirements for City-owned facilities are unchanged.

If your project is already in the queue, the takeaway is simple: your application date decides which checklist you're judged against. Read the one that matches.

What does each tier require — low-rise homes vs. larger buildings?

Requirements split by building type, and this is where the numbers get real. Houses and low-rise residential — less than four storeys, where a Site Plan Control application applies — have their own pathway. Under Version 4, the Tier 1 energy requirement is to design, construct and label the building to at least ENERGY STAR for New Homes version 17.1 or R-2000, verified through NRCan-licensed service organisations and energy advisors. The voluntary Tier 2 level is the CHBA Net Zero Home Labelling Program or Passive House — with Passive House certification specifically encouraged and accepted as a way to meet it.

Apartment buildings four storeys and higher — along with all industrial, commercial and institutional development — are measured against hard numbers: a greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) limit, plus two energy-use targets, TEUI and TEDI. TEUI is total energy use intensity: every energy load in the building, per square metre, per year. TEDI is thermal energy demand intensity — the heating energy the building's design demands just to stay warm. Remember TEDI, because the envelope (walls, roof, airtightness and windows) has the most influence over it.

Source: City of Toronto — Toronto Green Standard, Version 4, Buildings Energy, Emissions & Resilience. GHGI limits are listed as voluntary for new applications submitted on or after June 2, 2026; confirm the current Interim Version 4 checklist for your project with your City planner.

Two more layers worth knowing: the City accepts the CaGBC Zero Carbon Building standard or Passive House certification as alternative compliance options for the energy and emissions measures (arranged in advance with the City's Environment & Energy Division) — and larger projects pursuing higher tiers include whole-building air-leakage testing, with Tier 2 targeting ≤ 2 L/s/m² at 75 Pa under the City's own testing protocol. Both routes run straight through the envelope.

Where do windows actually fit into all of this?

Here's the uncomfortable fact behind most energy-modelling conversations: in a typical wall assembly, the window is the weakest thermal element. You can insulate a wall heavily, but glass gives heat away many times faster than the wall around it — so your window specification moves TEDI and GHGI targets more than almost any other line on the drawings. That's why a window supplier pays attention to this standard: the numbers the City asks for are numbers the envelope has to deliver.

Three things we'd watch on any Toronto project chasing these targets. First, Uw — in writing: whole-window values, not glass-only Ug. The high-performance systems we supply hold Uw ≤ 0.80 W/m²·K on the PHI-certified lines, with certificate numbers you can look up in the Passive House Institute's component database. Second, the installation: a certified window installed loosely performs like a mediocre one — the frame-to-wall joint is where airtightness is won or lost, which is exactly the stage our construction-stage envelope support was built around. Third, the calendar: made-to-order European systems run 6–10 weeks manufacturing plus delivery, and energy modelling wants final window specifications earlier than most site schedules assume. The window decision isn't a finishing touch — it's a planning item.

And if your project is pursuing a certification pathway — Passive House as a Tier 2 low-rise route, or as an alternative-compliance option on a larger build — that's the world our PHI-certified window and door systems live in. If you're still sorting out which label means what, we've compared PHI versus Energy Star versus CSA separately.

FAQs About the Toronto Green Standard

Does the Toronto Green Standard still apply in 2026? Yes — with a change to how it is applied. Following Bill 98 (Royal Assent, June 2, 2026), applications received on or after that date must meet the mandatory measures in the City's Interim Version 4 checklists and are encouraged to meet the voluntary Tier 1 measures; applications from May 1, 2022 through June 1, 2026 follow the full Version 4 measures. The standard has applied to new development in Toronto since 2010 through the planning process, and requirements for City-owned facilities are unchanged. Because the checklists were updated in June, confirm the current version with the planner assigned to your file.

What are the four tiers of the Toronto Green Standard? Tier 1 is the mandatory baseline, applied through planning approval. Tiers 2, 3 and 4 are progressively higher voluntary levels — high performance, near-zero emissions and net-zero emissions — and eligible verified projects can pursue Development Charge refunds through the City's refund program. Requirements differ by project type: low-rise residential has its own checklist pathway, while buildings four storeys and up — plus all industrial, commercial and institutional development — are measured against specific energy and emissions targets.

What does Tier 1 require for a low-rise home in Toronto? Under Version 4, the Tier 1 energy requirement for low-rise residential is to design, construct and label the home to at least ENERGY STAR for New Homes version 17.1 or R-2000 — verified through NRCan-licensed service organisations and energy advisors. Passive House or CHBA Net Zero certification is the recognised path to the voluntary Tier 2 level. On a Toronto project, the home's energy performance is part of the conversation from the planning stage onward — which makes window and envelope decisions early ones, not finishing touches.

Can Passive House certification satisfy the Toronto Green Standard? In practice, yes — as the high-performance pathway. For low-rise residential, Passive House certification is encouraged and accepted to meet the Tier 2 energy requirement, and on larger projects the City accepts Passive House certification (or the CaGBC Zero Carbon Building standard) as an alternative compliance option for the energy and emissions targets, arranged in advance with the City's Environment & Energy Division. One distinction to keep straight: Passive House building certification is a whole-building process, while PHI window certificates are component-level — related, and both useful, but not the same thing.

How do windows affect Toronto Green Standard compliance? More than almost any other single specification — because TEDI, the thermal-demand target that anchors the energy requirements, is largely a measure of envelope performance: insulation, airtightness and windows. Windows are typically the weakest thermal element in a wall assembly, so whole-window U-values (the PHI-certified systems we supply hold Uw ≤ 0.80 W/m²·K), airtight frame-to-wall installation, and getting specifications to your energy modeller early are the levers that move those numbers most.

Where can I find the current TGS checklists? The City of Toronto's website hosts the Version 4 checklists, the interim templates and the energy modelling guidelines — look for the Toronto Green Standard pages under Planning & Development. For a specific project, the City directs applicants to the Community Planner assigned to the file; that's the fastest way to confirm which measures your application date requires. This article is our plain-language summary of the window and envelope side; the City's own documents govern.