Severance finder · Toronto
Can your lot be split into two?
A severance divides one lot into two (or more) that can be sold and built on separately. Check a Toronto address: we compare the lot with its zone's minimum frontage and area and look for severances the Committee of Adjustment has approved nearby.
What is a severance in Toronto?
In Ontario a severance is a consent to divide land under section 53 of the Planning Act. In Toronto it is decided by the Committee of Adjustment, the same citizen panel that hears minor variances, at a public hearing for your part of the city (Etobicoke York, North York, Toronto and East York, or Scarborough). Since 2017 the Committee has decided several thousand consent applications; the City publishes them as open data.
Our screen asks two questions. Is the lot big enough? Each new lot should meet the minimum frontage (“f”) and area (“a”) in the zone label, so the lot needs about twice both. Has it been done nearby? An approved severance within 500 m suggests the Committee has accepted smaller lots in the area.
- Likely: at least 2× both minimums, and an approved severance within 500 m.
- Possible: at least 2× the published minimums, but no approved severance within 500 m, or only one minimum published, or the frontage is just under 2× within our estimate's margin.
- Unlikely: under 2× a minimum, a condominium parcel, or not a low-rise residential zone.
Turn on Layers → Planning → Severance potential (Toronto) on the map to see likely and possible lots from zoom 15.
How a severance works, step by step
- Check the zone's minimums. Toronto's Zoning By-law 569-2013 writes the minimum lot frontage and lot area into most low-rise residential zone labels: in "RD (f15.0; a550)", every lot needs at least 15 m of frontage and 550 m² of area. Two new lots each need to meet them, or the Committee must approve variances for the shortfall.
- Look at what's been approved nearby. The Committee of Adjustment weighs whether new lots fit the existing pattern of the neighbourhood. Approved severances on your street or nearby are the best sign that a split could fit; a street of uniform wide lots with none is a harder case.
- Apply for consent (and usually minor variances). A severance is a "consent" under section 53 of the Planning Act, decided by the Committee of Adjustment at a public hearing. Most applications also ask for minor variances for the new houses (frontage, area, setbacks, floor area). The City circulates the application to its divisions and notifies neighbours.
- Meet the conditions, then register. Consents are usually approved with conditions (a survey and reference plan, fees, servicing and tree requirements, sometimes parkland dedication). The conditions must be met within one year of the notice of decision, and the decision can be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal in the 20-day appeal period. Then the City issues the certificate and the new lot can be registered.
Sources: Planning Act, s. 53 (consents); City of Toronto: Committee of Adjustment; Zoning By-law 569-2013; Committee of Adjustment Applications (open data) (Open Government Licence – Toronto).
Questions people ask
What does "likely" mean here?
That the lot's estimated frontage and area are each at least twice the minimums in its zone label, and the Committee of Adjustment has approved at least one severance within 500 m since 2017. It is a screen from open data, not a planning opinion: severance needs Committee of Adjustment approval.
What does "possible" mean?
The lot clears twice the published minimums but there is no approved severance within 500 m in the City's records, or the zone publishes only one of the two minimums, or the frontage is just under twice the minimum, within the margin of our estimate.
Why "unlikely"?
The lot is under twice the zone's minimum frontage or area, so the new lots would need variances for lot size, which the Committee grants less readily; or it is a condominium parcel; or the zone is not a low-rise residential zone (R, RD, RS, RT or RM).
How accurate is the frontage?
It is estimated from the City's property boundary data: the short side of the smallest rectangle that fits around the lot. Irregular, corner and pie-shaped lots can be off by a few metres. A surveyor's measurement governs.
Does this cover York Region?
Not yet. Toronto publishes its zoning minimums and Committee of Adjustment decisions as open data; York Region municipalities publish decisions as PDF agendas and minutes only, which we don't read.
What else should I check?
Heritage designation, ravine and natural feature protection, conservation authority regulated areas, trees protected by by-law, easements and servicing connections. The free property report shows most of these from public records.
Needs Committee of Adjustment approval; not a planning opinion. A screening from public data; confirm with a planner and the City before you buy, design or apply.