Petrolia zoning for small homes
Town of Petrolia, in the County of Lambton. Population 6,013 (2021 census).
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
The posted zoning by-law (September 2021 consolidation) has no rules for a detached additional unit and bars living in accessory buildings, but the Town's 2024 Official Plan permits a unit in an accessory building. Ontario's Planning Act (s. 35.1) overrides zoning provisions that would prohibit one unit in a building ancillary to a house on serviced urban land. [1][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. [2][3][4]
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 with limits · Petrolia’s term: “single detached dwelling”
The zoning by-law sets a minimum gross floor area for single detached dwellings in the residential zones, 80 m² for a one-storey house in the R1 and R2 zones. [5]
- Minimum dwelling size
- R1 and R2 zones: 80 square metres for a one-storey single detached dwelling; 70 square metres on the ground floor for a single detached dwelling with more than one storey (s. 5.2, s. 6.2) [1]
- Where allowed
- Single detached dwellings are permitted in the R1 and R2 zones; the definition of single-detached dwelling excludes single wide and double wide mobile homes [1]
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. [2][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Tiny home on wheels or park model
Living full-time in a tiny home on wheels or a park model home.
Not allowed · Petrolia’s term: “travel trailer / mobile home”
The by-law states that trailers and mobile home units shall not be used as accessory buildings or dwellings, and it has no mobile home park zone. Travel trailers and motor homes may not be used for living or sleeping in a residential zone for more than 30 days in any ten consecutive months.
- Where allowed
- s. 4.3.1(d): "trailers and mobile home units shall not be used as accessory buildings or dwellings"; the zone list (R1, R2, R3, I, C1, C2, M1, M2, M3, PD, OS, EP, FD) has no mobile home or trailer park zone [1]
- Temporary garden suite
- Not addressed in the zoning by-law. Official Plan s. 22.2 allows Council to pass temporary use by-laws (up to ten years for garden suites) and lists temporary use of a mobile home as a dwelling unit outside a mobile home park as an example [12]
- Approvals
- s. 4.14: no travel trailer, truck camper or motor home shall be used for living, sleeping or eating accommodation within any residential zone for more than thirty days in any period of ten consecutive months; no truck, coach or streetcar body shall be used for human occupancy [1]
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. [11][6][2][8][7]
Bunkie or sleeping cabin
A small sleeping building with no kitchen, usually beside a cottage or house.
Not allowed · Petrolia’s term: “accessory building”
Accessory uses may not include any building used for human habitation, so a detached sleeping cabin is not permitted. Petrolia is an urban town with no rural or waterfront residential zones.
- Where allowed
- s. 4.3.1: permitted accessory uses "shall not include ... (b) any building used for human habitation" [1]
- Maximum size
- All detached accessory buildings in a residential zone: total lot coverage no more than 10% of lot area to a maximum of 67 square metres (s. 4.3.4) [1]
- Maximum height
- 4.5 metres for a detached accessory building (s. 4.3.4) [1]
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. [8][6][2][13]
Official links
Last confirmed October 2026.
Notes and caveats
Sources
- Comprehensive Zoning By-law 63 of 2017
- Planning Act (Ontario e-Laws)
- O. Reg. 299/19: Additional residential units (Ontario e-Laws)
- Development Charges Act, 1997 (Ontario e-Laws)
- Town of Petrolia web page (town.petrolia.on.ca)
- Government of Ontario PDF
- Build or buy a tiny home: Building Code requirements (Government of Ontario)
- Building Code Act, 1992 (Ontario e-Laws)
- O. Reg. 163/24: Ontario Building Code (Ontario e-Laws)
- 2024 Ontario Building Code (Government of Ontario)
- Build or buy a tiny home: permits and inspections (Government of Ontario)
- Town of Petrolia PDF (town.petrolia.on.ca)
- Building Code updates (Government of Ontario)
Not legal advice
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