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Who helps with a home, town by town

Pick a town for its home team: every kind of business a home needs, by moment, and the town's own rules the work runs into, each with its source and the date we checked it. Listing is free for any business that serves the town.

65 towns. Page reviewed 30 Oct 2026.

Property tax, town by town

The 2026 residential rate each municipality publishes, as a share of the assessed value (not the asking price), highest first. Rounded to two decimals; each town's page has the full line, its source and the date we checked it.

Homes a lot may hold, town by town

The most homes on one lot (the main home and its extra units), as each town's extra-units line puts it. Zones, services and lot size can narrow it; each town's page has the full line, its by-law and the date we checked it. Towns whose line sets no single number are on their own pages.

The trunk size that needs a permit

The trunk across, measured about 1.4 m up, at which a private tree on an ordinary lot needs the town's permit, as each town's tree line puts it. Circles are drawn to scale. Some towns add conditions (lot size, the urban area); each town's page has the full line.

Other rules (the permit turns on more than the trunk, such as the lot's size, a woodland or a mapped area, or there is none for a private tree on an ordinary lot): Ajax, Aurora, Barrie, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Brantford, Brockville, Clarington, Collingwood, Grimsby, Halton Hills, Hamilton, Innisfil, Kawartha Lakes, King, Kingston, Kitchener, LaSalle, Milton, Niagara Falls, Norfolk County, Orillia, Oshawa, Pickering, St. Catharines, Waterloo, Welland, Whitby, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Windsor, Woodstock.

Short-term rentals, town by town

Each town's short-term rental line, sorted by what it says: a licence, permit or registration; only a home someone lives in (the operator's principal residence, owner-occupied, or a resident on the property); a yearly cap. Hover a town for its own words; its page has the full line, the by-law and the date we checked it.

A licence, permit or registration is needed33 towns

Only a home someone lives in18 towns

No short-term rental licence on the town's pages5 towns

Not permitted in any zone1 town

Lakeshore

A yearly capthe filled part of each year is the cap

180 a year

275 a year

Waterloo

Other rules (the line sets conditions this picture doesn't sort): Ajax, Chatham-Kent, Cornwall, Quinte West, Tecumseh. Every town's full line, its by-law and the date we checked it are on its page.

Rental licences and registered units, town by town

Each town's rental licensing line, sorted by what it says: a licence for rented homes across the city, a licence for some rented homes only, and extra units that must be registered. Hover a town for its own words; its page has the full line and the date we checked it.

A licence for rented homes across the city3 towns

A licence for some rented homes (by area, size or type)6 towns

Extra units must be registered13 towns

Other rules (the line sets conditions this picture doesn't sort): North Bay. Every town's full line, its by-law and the date we checked it are on its page.

A business run from home, town by town

Each town's home business line, sorted by the share of the home's floor area it allows (filled squares, out of 100) and by how many people from outside the household may work there. Many lines also cap the area in square metres or limit clients and types of business; the town's page has the full line, the by-law and the date we checked it. Hover a town for its own words.

Share of the home's floor areathe filled squares are the share

People from outside the householddark: the household; blue: from outside

None: only the household13 towns

2 from outside5 towns

Other rules (the line sets the limits by zone or area): Ottawa.

Water and sewer bills, town by town

Each town's water and sewer line, sorted by what it says: how often the bill comes, a stormwater charge of its own, and a price per m³ that changes after a first block of use. Prices aren't compared here: towns set them too differently (combined or separate rates, fixed charges, meter sizes). Hover a town for its own words; its page has the full line and the date we checked it.

A stormwater charge of its own16 towns

A different price per m³ after a first block of use19 towns

How often the bill comesan envelope for each bill in a year

A bill every month

A bill every two months

A bill every three months

Other rules (the line sets conditions this picture doesn't sort): Ajax, Belleville, Clarington, Fort Erie, Greater Sudbury, Kawartha Lakes, Lincoln, New Tecumseth, Norfolk County, North Bay, Oshawa, Pickering, Quinte West, St. Catharines, Tecumseh, Toronto, Whitby, Woodstock. Every town's full line, its by-law and the date we checked it are on its page.

Hamilton and Niagara

Southwestern Ontario

Central Ontario

Eastern Ontario

Northern Ontario

Public-record information, not legal, financial, insurance or inspection advice. A listing on OfferDue is not a recommendation; check licences and references yourself.