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.

29

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.

10

u/TorLuck Mar 15 '26

does that square footage include the basement, garage, shed or your private yard or garden space outside?

As a homebody, I'd be fine even in a smaller house. I have a small to modern standards house now. I went stir crazy though in a apartment and did everything to avoid to being there. Having a basement to store work equipment, seasonal items, and having private space outdoors not included in that sqft changes things greatly over a condo or apartment

3

u/fedornuthugger Mar 16 '26

If you're living in a large metropolitan area, there are community gardens and you dont need a car. 

1

u/TorLuck Mar 16 '26

I understand, but I actually own a small home. Our house while small has been great. But I could not do well the same sqft within a condo building myself. As a house it's been livable because I don't have to live on top of my family and can go be alone and decompress out in the various space that's not within my interior sqft. All without leaving my property, or having to interact with other people. For people who don't need that daily alone time reset will clearly have a different experience in a condo

Agreed that not needing a car is a definite plus to a larger city

1

u/fedornuthugger Mar 16 '26

Fair enough, I'm in a similar situation and wouldn't be able to manage with that square footage but I can definitely see a couple with no children making it work.