How to use this by-law

Updates to the Consolidation
How to find your zoning
Zone Codes – Explanation

Updates to the Consolidation

This Consolidation will be updated on a regular basis, subsequent to every Council meeting where zoning amendments are enacted by Ottawa City Council. The Consolidation’s Disclaimer, will be updated by indicating the last date that the Consolidation was revised.

The Consolidation’s Appendix B, the Amendment Schedule to the Zoning By-law and Interim Control By-laws, will be updated by adding those amending by-laws most recently enacted by Ottawa City Council. In part, the Appendix will identify the amending by-laws’ numbers, the status of each amendment, and provide links to the related Committee Reports and Council decisions, so that a user can obtain more information on each amendment.

The amending provisions of individual amending by-laws will be incorporated into the Consolidation’s text, schedules and zoning map, only upon an amendment coming into full force and effect, i.e. the amending by-law’s appeal period has expired and no appeals against the by-law have been received, or appeals were received and a decision to uphold the by-law has been received from the Ontario Municipal Board.

In the interim, if a property’s zoning is affected by an amendment, the property’s existing zone code, as indicated on the Consolidation’s zoning map, will be updated by adding a prefix to the code, by means of an asterisk and underscore, i.e. an “*_”, to indicate that the property is subject to an amendment. When viewing the zoning map, a user, moving their cursor over the affected property, will prompt a “pop up” to appear, which will identify the amending by-law affecting the property. Double clicking on the affected lands will link a user to Appendix B so that additional information can be obtained regarding the amending by-law. For properties subject to an interim control by-law, a similar prefix will be added to the properties’ zone codes, on the Consolidation’s zoning map, consisting of a circumflex accent and underscore, i.e. a “^_” .

If text within Parts 1 to 14 of the Consolidation is affected by an amending by-law the affected text will be highlighted (bolded and italicized) and a similarly highlighted annotation will be inserted after the affected text, to indicate that the text is subject to an amendment, i.e. (Subject to By-law 2008-###). Upon an amending by-law coming into effect, the by-law’s amending provisions will be incorporated into the affected text, the highlighting will be removed from both the text and annotation, and the annotation updated to note the amending by-law, i.e. (By-law 2008-###).

How to find your zoning

The following steps will lead you through the process for determining the zoning of your property. The City of Ottawa Zoning By-law is made available on the web site for information, however confirmation on the zoning provisions should be sought through the City’s development information officers (DIO), by contacting 311 and asking for the DIO for the geographic area in question.

To view the zoning designation for your property:

1. Click on the map button MAP.
2. Select - Address in the Search by drop-down field located on the Search panel on the left side of the screen.
3. Type the Street Number and Street Name in the appropriate field (do not include "street" or "avenue" etc.), or just type the first couple of letters of the street name and click on the Lookup button.
4. Click on the Search button. {Result: The Result table lists the matches found}.
5. Click on the Zoom to Address link to zoom to the location on the map.
6. Record the zoning code for future reference
7. Mouse over the zoning area until the selection pointer changes to a "pointing finger", double click and the link will bring you to your primary zone location in the zoning by-law.

Zone Codes – Explanation

Each property is designated by a zone code that is formed from one or more parts; a number of examples are provided below, however, for a more in-depth explanation of the parts of the zone code,refer to Part 1, Interpreting Zoning Information.

Example: R2B

R2 means this is the Primary Zone (in this case Residential, 2nd density). It is a land use category with specific permitted uses and regulations. The primary zones contain two characters, which are either two letters or one letter and one number.

B means this is a Subzone (in this case the B specifies specific minimum lot areas, lot width, heights and yards). A subzone is a sub-category of the primary zone, and are either a letter or a number. Subzones impose regulations to deal with the unique characteristics of an area while maintaining the purpose of a subzone. Subzones are indicated by either a letter or number added to the primary zone.

Example: MDS3H(30)

MD means this is the Primary Zone (in this case Mixed Use Downtown Zone).

Sch.23 means that there is a Schedule associated with this zone. A schedule is a document forming part of the by-law that contains detailed regulations or complex descriptions. Schedules are located under the Schedules section of the by-law. S23, means that it is found as the twenty-third document in the list of schedules.

H(30) means this is a Suffix to a zone. A suffix adds a single regulation to a zone (in this example “H” is height limit in metres; and in other instances “F” is the maximum floor space index permitted, “U” is the maximum number of units per hectare, “D” is the maximum number of dwelling units and “h” is a holding zone). The number in the brackets is the maximum number permitted (in this case a maximum height limit of 30 metres).

Example: VM2[53r]

VM means this is the Primary Zone (in this case Village Mainstreet).

2 means this is Subzone 2 (in this case reflecting a different character than the primary zone, or the VM1 zone).

[53r] means an Exception zone, with the “r” indicating it is a rural exception zone. This is a modification to the zoning of a site which cannot be reflected by using either suffixes or schedules. In this case, this is exception number 53r, and can be found in the section of the by-law containing the rural exceptions.

All exceptions can be found in Part 15 of the by-law. Urban exceptions are found in section 239 and those with an "r" are in the rural exceptions section 240.