How to draw a site plan for a Toronto permit.
A site plan is a to-scale drawing of your lot seen from above: the lot lines with their lengths, the buildings already there, the new shed, deck or garage with its size, and the distance from it to every lot line and building. Here is how to draw one, step by step, from what the City’s permit guides ask for.
From the City of Toronto’s permit guides as of November 2, 2026.
Before you start
- Check that you need a permit. In Toronto a shed of 15 m² or more, a deck more than 60 cm above the ground, or a garage or other accessory building over 10 m² needs one. Check yours.
- Find your survey. The City asks for lot lines and easements referenced to a current survey, and most owners got one when they bought. City map data is “not a substitute for a plan of survey”, in the City’s own words.
- Find your zone. Your zone label, such as RD (f12.0; a370; d0.6), tells you which rules apply. Look up your lot and zone.
Step by step
- 1. Pick a scale and a sheet
Use a metric scale that fits a standard sheet. At 1:250 a 37 m deep lot is 148 mm long, so a typical Toronto house lot fits on letter paper. Add a scale bar and a north arrow.
- 2. Draw the lot lines
Copy each lot line and its length from your survey, and write the lot area. Copy any easement or right-of-way from the survey too.
- 3. Draw what is already there
The house, a garage, other sheds or decks, each with its overall size.
- 4. Draw the new structure
Its outline to scale, labelled with its width, depth and height.
- 5. Measure the setbacks
From each side of the new structure to each lot line, and to the nearest building on the lot. These are the numbers the zoning review checks first.
- 6. Fill in the zoning summary
Permitted and proposed, side by side: lot area, building area (gross floor area), lot coverage, and grade elevations to confirm the height. The permitted numbers come from Zoning By-law 569-2013 for your zone; the shed and garage rules and the deck rules have them for the common cases.
- 7. Add the driveway, parking and landscaping
Dimensioned parking areas and driveways, paved areas, lawn and planting.
- 8. Sign, date and send
Sign and date the sheet and save it as a PDF, with no personal information such as your name or phone number on it. Apply online through Toronto Building’s portal. An attached garage or carport goes by email instead (see the Garages and Carports guide).
Or start from your address
lotmara draws the lot, the buildings already there, your new structure, every setback and the driveway to scale from City of Toronto open data. You check each lot line against your survey, and add easements, grade elevations and landscaping by hand. You see a free preview before you pay.
Make your site plan from your address
The checklist marks each City item as on the PDF, partly on it, or yours to add.
Sources
- Decks and Porches, toronto.ca, last modified August 27, 2026
- Accessory Structures (Sheds, Cabanas and other residential accessory buildings), toronto.ca, last modified August 27, 2026
- Garages and Carports, toronto.ca, last modified August 27, 2026
- When Do I Need a Building Permit?, toronto.ca, last modified July 21, 2026
- Property Boundaries, City of Toronto open data: the dataset’s notes on accuracy.
lotmara isn’t made by or connected to the City of Toronto. Rules change: check the source before you build.