City of Toronto Survey: Neighbourhood Retail & Services

The City of Toronto wants to hear from you! The City of Toronto is proposing zoning changes to make it easier to open small, local businesses in and around residential neighbourhoods.

Learn what’s proposed and provide your feedback on building connected, vibrant communities.

• Major Streets: On major streets, the proposed changes would allow a wide range of options, including small stores, cafes, medical offices, after-school programs, cleaners, barbers and professional offices.
• Neighbourhood Interior: In the interior of neighbourhoods, off the major streets, permissions would be limited to a small retail store with the option for a cafe within the store. These would be permitted on corner lots or next to schools, parks or commercial sites.
• Home-Based Businesses: Updated permissions would allow home-based businesses (called “home occupations” in the Zoning By-law) to hire up to two employees, operate from detached garages or laneway buildings and, depending on the business, to see clients on-site. This would help more residents start or grow a business from home.
• Minimizing Adverse Impacts: The zoning updates are designed to minimize impacts on neighbours by setting clear size limits, requiring garbage to be stored indoors and limiting most businesses to the ground floor.
• Other By-Laws: Impact on neighbours is also controlled through various existing city by-laws dealing with things like noise, waste, property standards and patios.
• Growing Demand: These changes respond to growing demand for nearby shops and services – particularly as more people work from home and new housing is added to low-rise areas through the City’s housing initiatives.
• Monitoring: The City will monitor how these changes are used over the next two years and report back with any recommended refinements to support implementation.  Multiple divisions will coordinate on this.