Fourplexes don't have to be ugly — and these students are helping Mississauga prove it
Sheridan College students dream up new designs as city looks to encourage more builds
As Mississauga looks to fourplexes to help ease a growing housing crisis, a group of college students is helping to challenge misconceptions about the structures sometimes considered ugly and blocky.
The city has teamed up with Sheridan College to create an assignment for students in its architectural technology and technician program.
The challenge: Design a real-world fourplex to inspire builders to construct more of them and residents to welcome them in their neighbourhoods.
Usually, people think single-family homes and private residences are superior, says architectural technology student Darren Shum, whose design includes a community courtyard and shared kitchen area —spaces where residents can gather and socialize.
"A fourplex is a great way to kind of bring that social interaction back to our community," Shum told CBC Toronto. "I hope that people can change their minds about sharing space with other people. It's not necessarily a bad thing."
Other students saw an opportunity to take a modern design approach, including first-year architectural technician student Kaden Burton, who used a combination of stone veneer, stucco and cedarwood for the exterior of his design.
"Many people traditionally view fourplexes as large boxy buildings, right? This is our opportunity to kind of change that public opinion," Burton said, calling the chance to work on a real-world project exciting.
In Mississauga, like much of the Greater Toronto Area, there's a housing crisis — not only is housing stock low, but there are few affordable options. Four-unit residences were only legalized by the city in December 2023 following pushback from some residents and councillors. Ultimately, the mayor overrode council's rejection of the motion to get fourplexes passed.
Since then, between Jan. 1, 2024 and April 1, 2025, only four applications for fourplex builds have been submitted, the city says.
There's hope that the project could help move the needle and spur infill, especially at a time when residents are moving away for better housing options, says Andrew Whittemore, the city's commissioner of planning and building.
"Mississauga's neighbourhoods are shrinking in population and so we know we need to make a change," he said.
"What we're looking to [do] through this project is to really help us educate the public, let them see how all these projects can fit into their neighbourhoods with harmony."
The project will be posted online for people to see, and the city hopes to have students present their designs in more depth, Whittemore says.
Project has benefits, but more action needed: advocate
One of the common misconceptions regarding fourplexes is that "they're all tantamount to rooming houses, which couldn't be farther from the truth," says Kelly Singh, executive director of More Homes Mississauga, a volunteer-led advocacy group.
The project could have a significant impact, she says, not only in showing the benefits of fourplexes, but encouraging future architectural technologists and technicians to think about building multiplexes.
"This is one of those long-term investments," Singh said. "You invest in that education and then down the line you start to see the fruits of it."
However, in the immediate future, the city has to play a bigger role in actively encouraging fourplex developments, she says.
Recently, the city approved financial incentives and programs for property owners looking to build a four-unit residence, Whittemore says, and hopefully, with the students' work, more people will consider it, especially since it could fit the needs of many different kinds of people.
"It could be a young family, it could be a retired couple that is downsizing, it could be a senior," he said.
"All of those people coming together in one [place] is a really fantastic community building exercise."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
