Lanark Highlands zoning for small homes

Backyard suite

A separate home in the yard of a house: garden suite, laneway suite or coach house, including prefab, modular or container units used this way.

Allowed with limits · Lanark Highlands’s term: “additional residential unit (ARU) in an accessory structure”

By-law 2023-1841 permits additional residential units, including one in an accessory structure, as an accessory use in the RU, R1, R2, H, LD and GC zones, subject to lot, road-frontage, servicing and shoreline conditions. ARUs are not permitted on private roads, on seasonal properties, within 30 m of water or on hazard or EP-zoned lands. [1]

Where allowed: RU, R1, R2, H, LD and GC zones, where single detached, semi-detached, duplex, triplex, row or townhouse dwellings are permitted; lot must meet the zone's minimum lot area and frontage and front on an opened, year-round maintained public road (not private roads); principal residence only, not seasonal dwellings [2]
Maximum size: Footprint of the ARU may not exceed the total footprint of the principal residential use; total development may not exceed the zone's maximum lot coverage [2]
Maximum height: 6 m (19.7 ft) for an ARU within an accessory structure [2]
Number allowed: Maximum 3 ARUs per property; up to 2 within the existing dwelling; an ARU may be permitted within an accessory structure [2]
Parking: 1 parking space per ARU; ARU must use the existing driveway [2]
Servicing: ARU in an accessory structure may use the existing well and septic if they have capacity, or its own private well and septic; capacity must be shown at building permit; lots under 1 ha (2.45 ac) need a hydrogeological assessment [2]
Setbacks: ARUs and their septic systems are not permitted within the 30 m setback from water [2]

Ontario-wide rule

Ontario law stops municipalities from banning one residential unit in a building ancillary to a detached house, semi-detached house or rowhouse on a parcel of urban residential land, as long as the lot has no more than three units in total. Municipalities still set most other zoning rules, but provincial law limits parking requirements, minimum unit size, lot coverage and separation distances. These units are also exempt from development charges and parkland dedication. [3][4][5]

Tiny home on a foundation

A small house as the main home on its own lot. The key rule is any minimum dwelling size.

Allowed · Lanark Highlands’s term: “single detached dwelling”

The zone requirements for the Rural (RU), Residential Low Density (R1), Limited Service Rural (LSR) and Lakefront Development (LD) zones set lot area, frontage, yards, height and coverage but no minimum dwelling floor area. Some site-specific exception zones in Section 21 set minimum floor areas. [6][7]

Minimum dwelling size: None set in the RU, R1, LSR or LD zone requirements [6]
Minimum lot size: RU and LSR: 1 ha (2.47 ac) per dwelling unit, or as set through land division but not less than 0.5 ha (1 ac); LD: 1 ha (2.47 ac), not less than 0.5 ha [7]

Ontario-wide rule

Ontario law sets no minimum total size for a house that is the main dwelling. The Building Code sets minimum room areas, so the smallest compliant dwelling is roughly 17.5 m² by the Province's own estimate. Municipalities may still set minimum floor areas for main dwellings in their zoning by-laws. The provincial ban on minimum sizes covers only additional residential units. [3][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Tiny home on wheels or park model

Living full-time in a tiny home on wheels or a park model home.

Allowed with limits · Lanark Highlands’s term: “mobile home dwelling / recreational vehicle”

A mobile home dwelling built to CSA standards and the Building Code is a permitted dwelling in the RU, LSR, H and LD zones, but the definition excludes park model units, travel trailers and other trailers. Recreational vehicles may not be used for permanent or long-term accommodation unless they meet the Fire Code and Building Code, and in the RU zone one RV may be occupied by guests for up to 14 days in a calendar month. [14]

Where allowed: 'Dwelling, mobile home' is a permitted use in the RU, LSR, H and LD zones (not R1) [7]
Number allowed: RU zone: one recreational vehicle may be occupied on a lot for guests for no more than 14 days in a calendar month; up to 3 more on a vacant lot of at least 4 ha (10 ac) [6]
Temporary garden suite: Section 4.14: a garden suite is permitted only by a site-specific Temporary Use By-law under Section 39 of the Planning Act [15]
Approvals: Section 4.25: no truck, bus, recreational vehicle, coach or streetcar body may be used for permanent or long-term accommodation unless it meets all Fire Code and Building Code requirements [15]

Ontario-wide rule

Ontario has no single rule for living full-time in a tiny home on wheels. A unit on wheels can count as a 'building' that needs a permit and must meet the Building Code once it stays in one place, is hooked up to services or is anchored. Park model trailers are recognized only as seasonal recreational buildings. Municipalities may allow a portable garden suite under a temporary-use by-law for up to 20 years, with extensions of up to 3 years each. [13][8][3][10][9]

Bunkie or sleeping cabin

A small sleeping building with no kitchen, usually beside a cottage or house.

Allowed with limits · Lanark Highlands’s term: “sleep cabin”

A 'sleep cabin accessory to a main dwelling' is a listed permitted use in the Rural (RU) and Limited Service Rural (LSR) zones but is not listed in the Lakefront Development (LD) zone. A sleep cabin may have sanitary facilities but no cooking facilities; the by-law sets no specific size limit for it beyond the general accessory building rules. [7]

Where allowed: RU and LSR zones (listed permitted use); not listed in the LD zone [6]
Kitchen: Sanitary facilities may be provided but no cooking facilities [14]
Setbacks: RU and LSR accessory uses: 3 m (9.84 ft) rear and interior side yards; road setback same as main use [6]

Ontario-wide rule

Ontario law has no rule written specifically for bunkies or sleeping cabins. Whether one needs a building permit depends on the Building Code Act's definition of 'building' and the Code's shed exemption. That exemption covers only storage-use sheds, so it does not cover a structure used for sleeping. Municipal zoning rules for accessory buildings still apply. [10][8][3][16]

Official links

Last confirmed October 2026.

Notes and caveats

Researched from the November 18, 2003 text of By-law 2003-451 (section PDFs on the Township's zoning page) with the three amendments the Township posts applied: 2004-548 (map/rezoning changes only, 2005), 2007-785 (lot coverage and R1 accessory height changes, and deletion of 'Section 4.1.2') and 2023-1841 (ARUs, passed April 25, 2023). The amendments are scanned and were read by OCR. The posted section text is not an office consolidation; site-specific amendments are not posted, and the RU recreational-vehicle provisions in s.6.3(6) appear to have been inserted by an amendment, so other general amendments may exist. A comprehensive zoning by-law review is underway (https://www.lanarkhighlands.ca/community/news-public-notices/notice-of-public-meeting-for-the-comprehensive-zoning-by-law-review). Unconfirmed: sleep cabin size and height limits; whether 'Section 4.1.2' deleted by 2007-785 is the accessory floor-area cap in s.4.1(2).

Sources

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Lanark Highlands zoning for small homes

Backyard suite

Ontario-wide rule

Tiny home on a foundation

Ontario-wide rule

Tiny home on wheels or park model

Ontario-wide rule

Bunkie or sleeping cabin

Ontario-wide rule

Official links

Sources

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