What records explain additional dwelling units at an Orillia home?

Section 5.2 of the Zoning By-law permits up to three additional dwelling units on a lot containing a dwelling that is a permitted use there. Up to three can be inside a single-detached, semi-detached or townhouse dwelling when there is no additional unit in an accessory structure on the lot, and up to two can be on the ground floor or second storey of an accessory structure that is not a boathouse, sits on a permanent foundation and has no part of a unit below grade. A unit in an accessory structure is limited to a floor area of 75 m² on a lot of 460 m² or less, 100 m² on a lot under 1,000 m² and 140 m² on a larger lot, and the structure to a height of 6.5 m with a pitched roof or 5.0 m with a flat or mansard roof.

On a lot served by a private septic system, an additional unit is permitted only where the by-law's septic provisions and the Ontario Building Code can be met. The City's planning documents page calls its zoning map the most accurate source of zoning information. A general permission does not make an existing basement apartment lawful; the building permit and inspections are the records that do.

• Planning Documents: the City's page with the Official Plan, the Zoning By-law and the zoning map
• Zoning By-law 2014-44, consolidated July 27, 2026: section 5.2 on additional dwelling units (PDF)

Extra units allowed is in the free check as a summary of the City's rule, from our hand-kept table of city rules, and the full report reads the lot's zone where the City's zoning map is open data we can use; where it isn't, the report's line says where the City publishes it. Neither is confirmation that a particular unit holds a permit or may be occupied.

Free check: pick “Extra units allowed” See the sample report