Minimum Required Side setbacks in Toronto Area

Side Yard Setbacks in an R Zone

Setback Requirements:

0.9 meters:

• Detached house
• Semi-detached house
• Townhouse (if all dwelling units front directly on a street)

1.2 meters:

• Duplex
• Triplex
• Fourplex
• Apartment building (height of 12.0 meters or less)

7.5 meters:

• Townhouse (if any dwelling unit does not front directly on a street)
• Apartment building (height of more than 12.0 meters)
• Non-residential building

Side Yard Setbacks for Additions to Lawfully Existing Buildings on Narrow Lots

If the Lot Has a Frontage of 9.0 Meters or Less:

Additions to the Rear or Side:

• An addition to the rear or side of a lawfully existing building can maintain the same side yard setbacks as the existing building.
• Example: If the existing building has a side yard setback of 1.0 meters (even if the current requirement is 1.5 meters), the addition can also have a 1.0 meter side yard setback.

Additions Above the Existing Building:

• An addition above a lawfully existing building can maintain the same front, rear, and side yard setbacks as the existing building.

This means that additions to or above a lawfully existing building on a narrow lot can adhere to the setbacks of the original structure, even if those setbacks are less than the current requirements