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Fixed-fee land use planning across the City of Toronto, from minor variances at the Committee of Adjustment to rezonings at City Council. Every file reviewed and signed by a Registered Professional Planner.
Toronto is the most complex planning environment in Ontario, and the one where a small mistake costs the most time. We work across the whole city, from a single-lot variance to a full rezoning, with a fixed fee confirmed before any work begins.
What follows is a plain-language guide to how planning approvals work in Toronto, the bodies that decide them, and the applications we handle here.
Minor variances and consents in Toronto are decided by the Committee of Adjustment, which sits as four panels covering Toronto and East York, North York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke York. Which panel hears your application depends on where the property is. Each panel hears applications on its own cycle.
Larger applications, rezonings and Official Plan Amendments, are decided by City Council, with the relevant Community Council and City Planning staff involved along the way. These follow the full Planning Act process: pre-application consultation, required studies, a Planning Justification Report, a statutory public meeting, and a council decision.
Site Plan Control applies to most larger developments and governs the detailed design before a building permit issues. Toronto also has its own zoning by-law, 569-2013, which applies across the amalgamated city alongside the former municipal by-laws still in force in places.
Beyond the standard applications, Toronto has its own tools and rules that come up often. Rental housing demolition and replacement is controlled under Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act, and applies to the demolition or conversion of buildings with six or more rental units. Toronto also runs its own permit systems for tree removal and front yard parking pads, each with strict eligibility rules.
Recent provincial and city changes have opened up gentle density across Toronto: laneway suites, garden suites, and multiplex permissions now allow more units on lots that were formerly restricted to detached houses. Whether your project is as-of-right or needs relief depends on the specifics, which is exactly what a quick review confirms.
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Tell us your Toronto address and what you want to do. We will confirm the right application, the right Committee of Adjustment panel where relevant, and a fixed fee. No commitment, no hourly clock.
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