Eligibility (Explained)

The property must be located in neighbourhoods that have an established laneway network within Toronto, East York, North York, Scarborough and/or Etobicoke.

R = residential. The property must be located within R, RD, RS, RT, RM zones - spaces allowing for residential building and activity. 

The property must have enough space to fit a laneway suite. The requirements are as follows: 

Setback (space between laneway and property line): 3.5m-5.0m

Width: 4.75m-8.0m

Depth: 6.75m-8.0m

The property must have enough space for emergency services to reach the laneway suite. Emergency services require the 0.9m alongside the primary (front) property, or 45m from the nearest established street. 

The potential buildable space must be clear of municipally protected trees. Some tree demolition and compensation efforts may be allowed - you will need to consult an arborist to discover the conditions of this requirement.

Connect with a local laneway housing developer. You will need to contact a specialized laneway housing developer that can provide you with a detailed property analysis, create drawings and other supporting documents. 

Gather supporting documents from your laneway housing developer, and apply for a building permit. As mentioned above, your laneway developer will take care of the logistics. You will need to apply for a building permit with the City of Toronto and include these supporting documents. 

Sit tight, and wait for City approval. The City will review your application, determine conditions and/or permissibility of the overall concept. This step typically involves a bit of back-and-forth. Thankfully, our mapping system greatly reduces this timeline as it is capable of flagging potential barriers and/or conditions of permissibility, informing your application before it is even submitted. Once cleared in a preliminary hearing, you will have to post Public Notice signage to inform your neighbours on what cool things are happening! 

Get your official building permit, and start building! Once your application circulates and is granted approval by the Zoning, Building, Forestry, Engineering, Municipal Numbering Departments, you can then begin construction.