Newmarket 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 · Newmarket’s term: “detached additional residential unit (DARU)”

By-law 2026-10, enacted March 30, 2026, replaced s.4.5 of By-law 2010-40. It permits one detached additional residential unit in an ancillary building on a lot with a detached, semi-detached, link, row house or townhouse dwelling, with up to two additional units in total. The lot needs full municipal water and sewer, or proof that adequate private servicing is available. [1][2]

Number allowed: Max 2 additional units per lot: two attached, or one attached plus one detached [3]
Maximum size: 10% of lot area or 75 m² (one-storey), whichever is less; 10% of lot area or 100 m² (two-storey or above a detached garage), whichever is less [3]
Maximum height: Lesser of the primary dwelling height or 5.5 m pitched / 3.5 m flat roof (one-storey); lesser of the primary dwelling height or 6.5 m pitched / 5.5 m flat roof (two-storey or above garage) [3]
Setbacks: Side and rear yard minimum 1.8 m (one-storey) or 2.4 m (two-storey or above garage); interior side or rear yard only [3]
Separation from house: Minimum 3.0 m from the primary dwelling [3]
Parking: 1 exterior parking space per additional residential unit [3]
Servicing: Full municipal water and sewer, or the owner demonstrates adequate private servicing [3]
Where allowed: Primary entrance no more than 60 m from the street curb along the path of travel; not in the OS-EP zone, LSRCA floodplain, condominium common elements, or the Oak Ridges Moraine zones of By-law 1979-50 [3]

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. [4][5][6]

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 · Newmarket’s term: “detached dwelling”

The residential zone standards in By-law 2010-40 set no minimum dwelling unit floor area. The only 55 m² minimum found applies to residential units in the commercial zones. [2]

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. [4][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Tiny home on wheels or park model

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

Not allowed · Newmarket’s term: “mobile home / trailer”

Section 4.19.3 (Human Habitation Not Within Main Buildings) states that no truck, bus, coach, street car body, railway car, mobile home, trailer or other vehicle shall be used for human habitation, whether on wheels or on foundations. No zone in By-law 2010-40 permits mobile homes, and the by-law has no garden suite provision. [2]

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. [12][7][4][9][8]

Bunkie or sleeping cabin

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

Not allowed · Newmarket’s term: “residential accessory structure”

By-law 2010-40 defines residential accessory structures as structures 'not used for human habitation'. It has no bunkie or sleeping cabin provision, so sleeping space outside the main building is possible only as a full detached additional residential unit. [2]

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. [9][7][4][13]

Official links

Last confirmed October 2026.

Notes and caveats

The August 2025 consolidation of 2010-40 still shows the old s.4.5 (one accessory unit, inside the main dwelling only). By-law 2026-10 (enacted March 30, 2026, linked from the ARU page) replaces it and allows detached units; the backyard_suite answer relies on 2026-10. Whether 2026-10 was appealed was not confirmed. Under s.1.9, lands under Oak Ridges Moraine By-law 2003-121 and a few described parcels remain under By-law 1979-50, and the Urban Centres are under By-law 2019-06 (consolidated Aug 2025), which was not reviewed in detail.

Sources

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Newmarket 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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