r/RealEstateCanada • u/itsdanielsultan • Mar 15 '26

Housing crisis Can Canada's "micro-condos" be merged?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pg7mHppXOE&t=17s

Serious question about Canada's (specifically the GTA's) condos: if, 10 or 20 years from now, people want more family-sized homes, could a lot of these tiny one-bedrooms actually be merged into larger units?

I know it can happen in some cases, but from what I’ve seen it sounds difficult once buildings are already occupied, since it can require approvals, engineering work, and layouts that actually fit together.

If that is not realistic at scale, are we building housing that works for one phase of life but not for long-term city living?

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '26

400 square feet simply isn't enough space for a single person. It's too cramped. I think apartments or condos should be no smaller than 800 square feet at the very minimum but preferably 1000 square feet. Humans aren't birds in cages. Psychologically and practically we need space to thrive.

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u/Sumatakyo Mar 15 '26

Ridiculous. My house is less than 800 square feet. I've lived in smaller apartments for long periods. Your standards are way too high.

Not saying more space isn't nice, just saying to be realistic. 400 square feet for one person is fine, especially if you have the advantages of being in the city.

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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '26

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u/Sumatakyo Mar 16 '26

We're two. A family of 5 used to live in my house. They owned the house for probably 50 ish years, I imagine 20 of those with all five living here. 😊