Open air burning is not permitted within the City of Toronto except with approval by the Toronto Fire Services Fire Prevention Division.

Open air burning shall not be permitted unless approved, or unless such burning consists of a small, confined fire, supervised at all times, and used to cook food on a grill or a barbecue.

The authority to approve open air burning is provided by the Fire Chief to Chief Officers of the Fire Prevention Division.

Open air burning shall meet a number of conditions. These fires shall be all of the following:

(a) Small.
(b) Confined.
(c) Supervised at all times.
(d) Food cooking on a grill or other TFS “approved” fires.
(e) Outdoor fireplaces are not approved.

Any open fire failing to meet all of the listed conditions shall be ordered extinguished by the Incident Commander. Failure to comply with open air burning regulations is an offense for which a person can be charged under the Fire Code.

Written requests for open air burning authorization should be sent to the attention of the applicable Fire Prevention Division District Chief as per the following: