The Condominium Act classifies five types of condominium corporations (alone or in combination). These are:
You will need to determine which type of condominium corporation you wish to establish before filing your application. You should also consider applying for Zoning Applicable Law Certificate Program (ZAP) review that will identify any features of your proposal that do not comply with the Zoning By-law.
The Condominium Act (Section 9(2)) states that an application for condominium is processed in the same way as a Plan of Subdivision under Section 51 of the Planning Act, with necessary modifications.
This Act grants the City the authority to regulate the division of land and/or buildings through Plans of Condominium. This authority is used to regulate division of land and/or buildings into parcels or units that may be sold as part of a condominium corporation. It is also used to ensure that the rights of future owners are protected and that any interests or obligations in favour of the City are transferred from you to the future owners.
To ensure the City’s interests are met and to appropriately assess the merits and technical aspects of your proposal, the City requires submission of a number of information items with your application(s), listed below.
In addition to the prescribed requirements of the Planning Act, the following information and material will be required under the Planning Act and the Official Plan, unless it is determined that certain studies, plans, drawings and reports are not applicable.
All submissions must include a covering memo listing all submitted materials along with the Submission Checklist.
The process for submitting a planning application to the City is as follows:
After receiving your submission (which includes all application requirements and payment), the City will circulate your application to City divisions and external agencies and issue a written decision as to whether the submission is complete or incomplete in accordance with the City’s minimum application requirements (refer to the Complete Application Decision section below).
The Toronto Official Plan provides the City the statutory authority to require information, studies and plans for submitting a complete application beyond the prescribed requirements of the Planning Act. The City will consider your application to be “complete” when it includes all of the minimum application requirements.
Within 30 days of making your submission (including payment), you will be advised in writing as to whether the submission is complete or incomplete.
Submitting a complete application to the City will allow for a more efficient and comprehensive review of all materials and will mark the beginning of time period under the Planning Act for the City to make a decision on the application.
The City will consider your application to be “incomplete” if it does not meet the minimum application requirements. Incomplete Application Notifications will be accompanied by a list of outstanding information and/or material that must be submitted for your submission to be determined to be complete.
If you disagree with the City’s determination of whether the submission is incomplete or if the City does not make a decision on the completeness of the submission within 30 days, the Planning Act allows you to file a motion for directions to request the Ontario Land Tribunal determine whether the information and material have in fact been provided; or whether a requirement was reasonable.
You are encouraged to submit all outstanding information and material as one comprehensive package. The application circulation and review process will only begin once a complete application is made to the City.
Your application will be circulated to a number of City Divisions and/or Agencies, Boards and Commissions for detailed technical review and comment.
Depending upon the circumstances of your property, external agencies may also be asked to comment on your proposal. Refer to the External Agencies, Boards and Commissions web page for a list of external agencies.
The planner assigned to your application will coordinate responses from the circulation. These responses will be forwarded for you to consider as you revise your proposal.
In response to the comments on your initial submission, you may be asked to revise your proposal and/or provide additional information and material. Revised and/or additional information and material should be discussed and co-ordinated with the planner and resubmitted through Toronto Building customer service staff.
You must include a covering letter with all resubmissions that clearly indicates how and where your proposal has been revised and, if appropriate, why any requested revisions were not made.
This step in the process involves:
These steps may be repeated until your application is finalized.
If no appeal is submitted, approval of your Plan of Condominium is deemed to be in effect on the day that it was passed. You can begin to satisfy the conditions of draft approval and work towards the registration of your Plan of Condominium.
A number of conditions may be imposed in the Notice of Decision for draft plan approval that must be cleared prior to the issuance of final approval.
The following are standard conditions and instructions on how they may be cleared.
After receiving your submission (which includes all application requirements and payment), the City will circulate your application to City divisions and external agencies and issue a written decision as to whether the submission is complete or incomplete in accordance with the City’s minimum application requirements (refer to the Complete Application Decision section below).
Within 14 days of submission, you will be required to post a sign on the subject property in accordance with the procedures outlined in the application form.
The Toronto Official Plan provides the City the statutory authority to require additional information, studies and plans for submitting a complete application beyond the prescribed requirements of the Planning Act. The City will consider your application to be “complete” when it includes all of the minimum application requirements.
Within 30 days of making your submission (including payment), you will be advised in writing as to whether the submission is complete or incomplete.
Submitting a complete application to the City will allow for a more efficient and comprehensive review of all materials and will mark the beginning of the time period under the Planning Act for the City to make a decision on the application.
For Vacant Land Draft Plan of Condominium applications, within 15 days of your submission being deemed complete, the City Clerk will also issue a formal Notice of Application to the public in the newspaper, in accordance with the Planning Act.
The City will consider your application to be “incomplete” if it does not meet the minimum application requirements. Incomplete Application Notifications will be accompanied by a list of outstanding information and/or material that must be submitted for your submission to be determined to be complete.
If you disagree with the City’s determination of whether the submission is incomplete or if the City does not make a decision on the completeness of the submission within 30 days, the Planning Act allow you to file a motion for directions to request the Ontario Land Tribunal determine whether the information and material have in fact been provided; or whether a requirement was reasonable.
You are encouraged to submit all outstanding information and material as one comprehensive package. The application circulation and review process will only begin once a complete application is made to the City.
Your application will be circulated to a number of City Divisions and/or Agencies, Boards and Commissions for detailed technical review and comment.
Depending upon the circumstances of your property, external agencies may also be asked to comment on your proposal. For example, if your property is close to a watercourse, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority will be asked for their input and/or approval (a service for which the TRCA charges). If your property is next to a rail line, the appropriate rail authority will be asked to comment. Refer to the External Agencies, Boards and Commissions web page for a list of external agencies that may be asked to comment on your application.
Although not required by the Planning Act, and it is rare for these applications, staff may hold a meeting with the local community on your Vacant Land Plan of Condominium application. The meeting is organized by City Planning staff and usually attended by the Ward Councillor.
The community consultation meeting:
Response to Applicant
The planner assigned to your application will co-ordinate responses from the circulation along with any comments received from the Ward Councillor and the local community. These responses will be forwarded for you to consider as you revise your proposal.
In response to the comments on your initial submission, you may be asked to revise your proposal and/or provide additional information and material. Revised and/or additional information and material should be discussed and co-ordinated with the planner and resubmitted through Toronto Building customer service staff.
You will be asked to include a covering letter with all resubmissions that clearly indicates how and where your proposal has been revised and, if appropriate, why any requested revisions were not made.
This step in the process involves:
These steps may be repeated until your application is finalized.
The Planning Act requires that the City to hold a public meeting when considering applications for Vacant Land Plan of Condominium. The public meeting takes place at the meeting of one of the four Community Councils considering your proposal
Once your application has been finalized, the City will issue a formal notice of the public meeting. The City also requires that you post the date and time of the public meeting on the sign erected on the property.
City staff will prepare and submit a Report with recommendations on your application to Community Council. At the public meeting, members of Council will consider the staff report and provide a public forum for debate on the merits of your application. You have an opportunity to present and respond to questions about your proposal and the public can write in or attend to make their views known before Community Council makes a recommendation on your application.
Community Council are empowered to make recommendations on your application to City Council. City Council has delegated the approval authority for Vacant Land Plans of Condominium to the Chief Planner and makes recommendations to the Chief Planner based on the input of the Community Council.
City Council has delegated approval authority for Plans of Condominium, with the exception of rental residential conversions, to the Chief Planner. The Chief Planner will issue draft approval of your application, with any appropriate conditions attached.
The Planning Act provides an appeal process once the City approves your Plan of Condominium. The City will issue a notice within 15 days of the Chief Planner’s draft approval. After this notice has been issued, there is a 20-day period within which a party can appeal this approval to the Ontario Land Tribunal. If no appeal is submitted, the approval is deemed to be in effect.
A similar appeal procedure applies should the City refuse your application.
This section outlines the steps the City will undertake to review your application to convert an existing rental property to condominium tenure. It also provides important milestones so you can monitor the progress of your application through the review process.
City Council has retained the authority to make decisions on Rental Residential Conversion applications involving buildings with six or more rental units and less than six rental units if requested by the Ward Councillor.
In addition to Plan of Condominium approval, these proposals may also require approval by City Council of both a Rental Housing Demolition and Conversion application under Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act and an Official Plan Amendment application.
In the interim, for further information on review procedures regarding Rental Housing Demolition and Conversion applications, please contact Community Policy staff at communitypolicy@toronto.ca.
You are strongly encouraged to schedule a Pre-Application Inquiry with City staff to discuss your proposal. Please contact the Planning Consultant at your local district for more information.
After receiving your submission (which includes all application requirements and payment), the City will circulate your application to City divisions and external agencies and issue a written decision as to whether the submission is complete or incomplete in accordance with the City’s minimum application requirements (refer to the Complete Application Decision section below).
The Toronto Official Plan provides the City the statutory authority to require information, studies and plans for submitting a complete application beyond the prescribed requirements of the Planning Act. The City will consider your application to be “complete” when it includes all of the minimum application requirements.
Within 30 days of making your submission (including payment), you will be advised in writing as to whether the submission is complete or incomplete.
Submitting a complete application to the City will allow for a more efficient and comprehensive review of all materials and will mark the beginning of time period under the Planning Act for the City to make a decision on the application.
The City will consider your application to be “incomplete” if it does not meet the minimum application requirements. Incomplete Application Notifications will be accompanied by a list of outstanding information and/or material that must be submitted for your submission to be determined to be complete.
If you disagree with the City’s determination of whether the submission is incomplete or if the City does not make a decision on the completeness of the submission within 30 days, the Planning Act allows you to file a motion for directions to request the Ontario Land Tribunal determine whether the information and material have in fact been provided; or whether a requirement was reasonable.
You are encouraged to submit all outstanding information and material as one comprehensive package. The application circulation and review process will only begin once a complete application is made to the City.
Your application will be circulated to a number of City Divisions and/or Agencies, Boards and Commissions for detailed technical review and comment.
Depending upon the circumstances of your property, external agencies may also be asked to comment on your proposal. Refer to the External Agencies, Boards and Commissions web page for a list of external agencies.
City Council has directed that the local community, including existing tenants, be consulted on Rental Residential Conversion applications involving buildings with six or more rental units and less than six rental units if requested by the Ward Councillor. This meeting is organized by City Planning staff and usually attended by the Ward Councillor.
The City will, at least 14 days before the meeting, issue notice of the meeting to tenants of the subject building by mail and to the general public by placing an advertisement in the local community newspaper. You will be requested to pay for the cost of providing notice of the meeting.
The community consultation meeting:
The planner assigned to your application(s) co-ordinates responses from the circulation along with any comments received from the Ward Councillor and local community. These responses will be forwarded for you to consider as you revise your proposal.
In response to the comments on your initial submission, you may be asked to revise your proposal and/or provide additional information and material. Revised and/or additional information and material should be discussed and co-ordinated with the planner and resubmitted through Toronto Building customer service staff.
You will be asked to include a covering letter with all resubmissions that clearly indicates how and where your proposal has been revised and, if appropriate, why any requested revisions were not made.
This step in the process involves:
These steps may be repeated until your application is finalized.
City Council has retained the authority to make decisions on Rental Residential Conversion applications involving buildings with six or more rental units and less than six rental units if requested by the Ward Councillor. City Council has also directed that a public meeting be held to consider all such applications. This meeting is usually held at the appropriate Community Council or, if the application has City-wide significance, the Planning and Housing Committee. Once your application has been finalized, the City will issue the notice of the public meeting.
City staff will prepare and submit a Report with recommendations on your application(s) to Community Council. At the public meeting, members of Council will consider the staff report and provide a public forum for debate on the merits of your application(s). You have an opportunity to present and respond to questions about your proposal and the public can write in or attend to make their views known before Community Council makes a recommendation on your application(s).
For Rental Residential Conversion applications involving buildings with six or more rental units and less than six rental units if requested by the Ward Councillor, Community Councils and the Planning and Housing Committee are empowered to make recommendations on your application to City Council for final decision. Based on these recommendations, City Council may approve or refuse your application to convert rental residential buildings to condominium tenure.
Should City Council approve your application, it will direct the Chief Planner to take any action necessary to give effect to that decision, including the provision of appropriate conditions.
Among other conditions, you may be required to undertake a Comprehensive Reserve Study, which may include:
The Planning Act provides a process to appeal City Council’s decision should your Rental Residential Conversion application be approved.
The City will issue a notice within 15 days of the Chief Planner’s draft approval. After this notice has been issued, there is a 20-day period within which a party can appeal this approval to the Ontario Land Tribunal. If no appeal is submitted, approval of your Plan of Condominium is deemed to be in force on the day that it was passed. You can begin to satisfy the conditions of draft approval and work towards the registration of your Plan of Condominium.
A similar appeal procedure applies should the City refuse your application.
*Words in bold are defined in the Glossary of Terms.