Finding a place to park or build a tiny home can be a challenge in Canada, with different municipalities having different approaches. In Ottawa, there are two ways you can live in a tiny home, depending if you want to buy an empty lot or rent a space on someone else’s property. 

In both of these cases, we are talking about year-round living in a tiny home that is built to Ontario’s building code. Since it is not legal to live full-time in a recreational vehicle, we won’t be reviewing the rules surrounding RV parking in Ottawa. 

You’re buying a lot for a tiny house in Ottawa

Lucky you! If you’re thinking of buying a lot of your own in Ottawa, you should make sure it is zoned for the type of building you are planning to put on it. In this case, a tiny home. Start by contacting the municipality at 3-1-1 and ask to speak to a Development Information Officer (for pre-planning questions) or a Building Code Client Service Representative (for building permit related questions). 

You’ll need to show in your building permit application that your tiny home is compliant with zoning by-laws that regulate things like appropriate land use, setbacks from the edges of the lot, minimum and maximum width, height, emergency access, parking, etc. If your tiny home is on wheels, it will still be considered a building and will need to be secured/anchored appropriately. 

As with any articles on this website, or others, it’s best to check with the municipality to directly discuss the lot in question. We are finding that even the City of Ottawa website is written in non-final terms – i.e. you can’t read it and be 100% sure you will get your permit. 

You’re looking to rent a tiny house parking spot in Ottawa

Renting a parking spot for an existing tiny house on wheels is a tricky one. Ottawa allows for additional residential units (ARUs) to be built on existing properties. In fact, these additional residential units are encouraged, as they are meant to increase density of the city and improve availability of affordable housing. 

If you’re looking to put a tiny home on a property that already has an existing house, you will become familiar with the terms “coach house” and “garden suite”.

The Official Plan for Ottawa designated land uses and zoning by-laws make no mention of tiny houses. However, they do use these two terms for secondary buildings meant to house people:

Coach House means a separate dwelling unit that is subsidiary to and located on the same lot as an associated principal dwelling unit, but is contained in its own building. 

Garden Suite means a one-unit detached residential structure containing bathroom and kitchen facilities that is ancillary to an existing residential structure and that is designed to be portable. It is permitted only where a site-specific, temporary zoning by-law allows one.

OK, so both of these could be tiny houses. What’s the difference? In terms of tiny home parking, the difference is that adding a coach house is already allowed in the vast majority of Ottawa neighbourhoods. A garden suite is a temporary exception to the zoning – something you need to apply for and pay thousands of dollars in minor rezoning fees. The garden suite also seems to be intended in most Ontario municipalities to be used for family members. The verdict? Go for the coach house unless it’s specifically not permitted on the property you wish to live on. In that case, a garden suite application may get you in.

If you have a tiny home on wheels, technically, the land owner should be able to apply for a building permit to have a coach house (your tiny home) on their lot. We at Tiny Houses In Canada are still investigating this, but according to the written regulations, it seems that this is possible as long as the home abides by the regulations for coach houses: size limitations, connection to services from the main house, emergency access and parking, and is built to the Ontario building code. The home will need to be anchored and parked properly. 

Good news, since September 2020, there are no municipality fees associated with getting a coach house building permit. You can find the details on size and placement of coach houses on the City of Ottawa website. 

You’re looking to rent a tiny house in Ottawa

Again, in this case, you will likely need to find someone who has built an additional residential unit (ARU) on their property. There are a number of zoning regulations that surround the building of what the by-law calls a “Coach House”. These include appropriate size in relation to the main house on the lot, distance from other buildings, emergency access, and service hookups. The Coach House will be hooked up to the main house for water/sewer and hydro and you will have access to the street or public laneway. 

Overall, Ottawa is fairly friendly to tiny homes – and this is a recent thing! The municipality is clearly counting on secondary dwellings to provide people with a private market source of affordable housing. There are a few quirks though – it is not as easy as bringing your tiny house on wheels and parking it in someone’s backyard. They still need a building permit and the home must be built to Ontario’s building code and inspected. If you have a tiny house that is built by a certified builder of manufactured homes, you will have an easier time parking. You can also build the home right on the lot and have the scheduled inspections done during the process. Or, rent a tiny home from someone who has done that.