New Custom Homes in Toronto

A building permit with architectural, structural, mechanical and energy-compliance drawings and a grading and servicing plan, plus any minor variance or conservation permit the lot triggers. Toronto Building issues the building permit and, at the end, the occupancy permit, and inspects the build in between. Toronto reviews lot grading through the building permit; a separate permit applies only inside ravine and natural feature protection areas.

If the lot is in a TRCA Regulated Area, yes, and we check TRCA’s own mapping when the survey comes in. Building anything in a TRCA Regulated Area takes a TRCA permit, and Toronto will not issue the building permit until it is in hand. TRCA asks for a pre-submission consultation, which we hold before the footprint is fixed. TRCA issues its permits in the owner’s name: the permit is yours, even though we prepare what it reviews. We confirm the issuing body when we apply, because TRCA is due to merge with the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority on February 1, 2027 or later.

It depends on the district. The first check is whether your lot is inside one. Toronto has Heritage Conservation Districts designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act. They include Blythwood Road, Cabbagetown (North, Northwest, Metcalfe and South), Cabbagetown Southwest, Draper Street, East Annex, Fort York, Garden District, Harbord Village, Historic Yonge Street, Kensington Market, King-Spadina, Kingswood Road South, Lyall Avenue, West Annex Phase 1: Madison Avenue, Parkdale Main Street, Queen Street West, Riverdale, Rosedale (South and North), St. Lawrence Neighbourhood, Teiaiagon-Baby Point, Union Station, Weston Phase 1, Wychwood Park and Yorkville - Hazelton. For a lot inside a district, we confirm with Toronto Building what it asks of a new house before the massing is drawn.

Yes. We take on new custom homes across Toronto, including North York and Scarborough, about half an hour from our Richmond Hill office. The first consultation is free, by phone or on site.

Three things to start: lot address and a survey, if you have one; your sketch, brief or a plan from another designer; and whether the lot is serviced or needs a well and septic. Send those and we tell you what Toronto Building will ask for before we quote.

Most Toronto lots are zoned under By-law 569-2013, while some remain under the by-law of a former municipality, so we confirm which one governs yours before the house is massed. Toronto Building treats a new house application as incomplete without a Zoning Applicable Law Certificate, so that zoning review is the first thing we apply for. If the design needs relief, the minor variance goes to the Committee of Adjustment before the building permit can be issued.

It can. Demolition, the basement dig and new service trenches all reach into roots, and Chapter 813 requires a permit before a private tree 30 cm or more in diameter at 1.4 m above ground is injured or removed. City street trees are protected at any size, so a new driveway or water service at the front is planned around them too. We plot both from the survey before the footprint is fixed, and apply for any tree permit while Toronto Building reviews the house.

Yes, where the lot qualifies. Toronto allows multiplexes of up to four units across the city and up to six in the Toronto and East York District and Ward 23, so a replacement house can go into its first permit set with its units, fire separations and services already designed. We check the unit count against By-law 569-2013 or the lot’s former by-law, and our broker can compare layouts on value before the plans go further.

Yes. Ontario’s Building Code Act requires a permit to demolish a building as well as to build one, and in Toronto both are issued by Toronto Building, whose inspectors check demolition work under its permit just as they check new construction. When an older house on a narrow lot comes down, we prepare the demolition application alongside the new house drawings so the two move together.

It is possible, but weigh it first. Ontario notes that homes built on existing footings or foundations may not be covered by the Tarion new home warranties, and the foundation under a prewar or postwar Toronto house was designed for that house, not for a new one. Our P.Eng checks what is there against the new loads, and Toronto Building reviews the result with the rest of the permit set.