Garden Suites Barrie

Most Barrie homeowners imagine a garden suite first and check the rules second. In Barrie that order costs time, because the zoning by-law has already drawn most of the building. It sets how tall it can be, how close to the fences, where its door goes, and how much of the yard it may cover. For garden suites Barrie treats the backyard as the design brief.

The City calls them additional residential units in an accessory building. Since By-law 2024-043, Barrie allows up to four residential units on a residential lot, meaning a house plus up to three additional units, and up to two detached buildings in the yard may hold them. We design and build outbuildings, accessory dwelling units among them, from our office in Innisfil, in Simcoe County. This page sets out what the by-law asks of one in Barrie, Ontario, so you can tell in ten minutes whether your yard is a candidate.

Put those numbers on a Barrie lot plan and the possible locations shrink quickly. The building has to stay out of the front yard and keep 3 metres from every side and rear line. Its door has to be within 40 metres of the street. A clear path at least 1.2 metres wide has to run to that door from the street, driveway or parking area. And the lot needs one parking space for every dwelling unit, where tandem spaces are allowed.

The 40 metre rule is the one Barrie owners do not expect. On a deep lot it means the far back corner may be off the table, however private it would be. On a narrow lot the bigger constraint is usually the path: a 1.2 metre clear route past the house has to survive the air conditioner, the gas meter and the side gate. Neither rule is hard to satisfy once it is drawn. Both are expensive to discover after the slab is poured.

The by-law also requires every permanent building for human occupancy to be served by municipal water and sanitary sewer, and every dwelling unit to have one kitchen, at least one bathroom and one other room, and a private entrance. The City adds that an additional residential unit may not be located in an area subject to flooding or erosion hazards, and its ARU guide asks owners near a watercourse to check with the Lake Simcoe Region or Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority first.

Construction cost depends on the building. The Barrie municipal side is published, and in 2026 it is unusually favourable.

Permit fees. A new Part 9 residential building is charged $17.38 per square metre of floor area in 2026 under Schedule K of the Fees By-law, so at that rate a 50 m² suite would carry about $869 in base permit fees. The City’s 2026 incentive halves building permit fees for additional residential units, and rebates them in full if the unit reaches occupancy, or a final interior inspection, within 12 months of the permit being issued. Revision, re-inspection and site servicing fees are outside the program, applications close December 31, 2026, and projects must be finished by December 31, 2027.

Development charges. According to the City, up to two additional residential units per property may be exempt; a third would incur them.

Funding. The County of Simcoe Secondary Suites Program offers up to $50,000 per unit, and Barrie’s own Barrie Bonus adds a one-time $15,000 to owners who already have an approved County loan. The Barrie Bonus names a detached unit, “secondary dwelling/coach house/garden suite”, as eligible, requires municipal services, and must be applied for before the occupancy permit is issued. The County sets maximum rents and tenant incomes for the program, so it suits an owner planning to rent the suite rather than house family in it.

Paperwork. A detached unit is filed under the City’s New Residential Dwelling Unit checklist and needs a grade plan, which the City requires for every detached secondary dwelling unit. Once the final inspection is passed, the unit is registered with the City automatically.