Thinking about buying a half-duplex, a plex, or adding a basement or garage suite for rental income? This page covers the small-scale investment properties I work with most: what the numbers look like, what Edmonton's zoning rules allow, and how financing changes once you're past a single-family home.

• Half-duplexes and side-by-side duplexes — two homes, sometimes two titles, each on its own or a shared lot

• Plexes — purpose-built duplex, triplex, or fourplex-style homes, up to 4 units total

• Basement suites — a self-contained secondary suite added to an existing or new single-family home

• Garage suites — a secondary suite built above or beside a detached garage (the City now calls this "backyard housing")

Edmonton's zoning bylaw permits up to 8 units as-of-right on most RS-zoned lots, and Council held that line in the most recent round of amendments — effective August 1, 2026, which lowered the height limit in mature neighbourhoods to 9.5 m rather than capping units (we wrote about this change on our own blog). This page deliberately stays well under that ceiling and under your 5-unit financing threshold — everything above tops out at 4 units.

• Both a development permit and a building permit are required

• Garage/garden suites ("backyard housing"): max height 6.8 m (4.3 m where the rear lot line borders a lower-height residential zone), max 20% site coverage, max floor area 60 m² (70 m² with inclusive design features), plus setback requirements

• Only one secondary suite is permitted per principal dwelling or per backyard house unit

• Rules and permit requirements can change — always confirm current requirements with the City of Edmonton before buying with a suite (existing or planned) in mind

1. Buy a half-duplex or plex and rent out the other unit(s)

2. Add a basement suite as a mortgage helper

3. Build a garage suite for extra rental income or multigenerational living

4. Buy-and-hold for steady, moderate appreciation over time

This is the practical reason to stay at or under 4 units — it's a different financing world:

• 1 to 4 units: standard residential mortgage rules apply. The lender qualifies you — income, credit, the stress test — not the property. Minimum 20% down for a non-owner-occupied property; if you'll live in one unit, CMHC's owner-occupied program allows as little as 5% down on the first $500,000 of price (10% on the portion from $500,001–$999,999), which is genuinely usable here given Edmonton's benchmark price above. Amortization tops out at 25 years.

• 5 or more units: the property moves into commercial multi-unit financing. The lender qualifies the building's income (net operating income, a minimum 1.10x debt service coverage ratio), amortizations can stretch to 50 years, and CMHC's MLI Select program — which requires a minimum of 5 units — becomes available. That's a different process aimed at larger multi-family purchases, and not what this page is about.

Market, financing, and zoning/permit information above can change, and past performance doesn't guarantee future returns. Figures are sourced from CMHC and third-party market reports as cited below, current as of September 2026. Zoning, bylaw, and permit details are subject to change — always confirm current requirements directly with the City of Edmonton before purchasing. Mary Bark and David Szusz are REALTORS®, not financial, tax, legal, or mortgage advisors — please consult your own accountant, financial planner, or mortgage professional before making an investment decision.

Sources:

• WOWA Edmonton Housing Market Report
• CMHC Rental Market Survey, October 2025
• City of Edmonton — Backyard Housing
• Our blog: "Edmonton Just Changed the Infill Rules Again"
• VanPlex — The 5-Unit Threshold and Multiplex Financing