There is plenty of "space;" Toronto, like many municipalities, just makes increasing the housing supply illegal: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/24/17896482/b.... When supply is restricted in the face of rising demand, prices rise. This is what existing owners want: http://cityobservatory.org/homevoters-v-the-growth-machine/ and that's why we're getting it. Baby boomers are, sometimes literally, forcing their own children out of the city.