Zoning · Toronto · Institutional
I zone, Toronto: Institutional General Zone
Chapter 80, Section 80.10 (Regulations 80.10.1 to 80.10.150) of the City of Toronto Zoning By-law 569-2013, as amended by 545-2019, OMB PL130592 (February 7, 2017), 0559-2014 (OMB PL130592), 1124-2018, 103-2016, 1031-2014.
A zone for institutional uses such as schools, places of worship, hospices, nursing and retirement homes, community centres and medical offices, with limited retail and eating establishments, where building size and setbacks are mostly governed by overlay maps and building height.
Is a property in the I zone? Enter its address and the lookup returns the zone and these standards, including any site-specific exception.
Check an addressWhat the I zone permits
- Art Gallery
- Club
- Community Centre
- Hospice Care Home
- Library
- Massage Therapy
- Medical Office (includes a medical clinic)
- Municipal Shelter
- Museum
- Nursing Home
- Park
- Recreation Use
- Religious Education Use
- Religious Residence
- Respite Care Facility
- Retirement Home
- Wellness Centre
- Ambulance Depot (with conditions, 80.10.20.100(16))
- Automated Banking Machine (with conditions, (10))
- Cogeneration Energy (with conditions, (22))
- Crisis Care Shelter (with conditions, (12))
- Day Nursery (with conditions, (6))
- Drive Through Facility (with conditions, (23))
- Eating Establishment (with conditions, (2)(7))
- Financial Institution (with conditions, (3))
- Fire Hall (with conditions, (17))
- Group Home (with conditions, (13))
- Personal Service Shop (with conditions, (4))
- Place of Assembly (with conditions, (5))
- Place of Worship (with conditions, (15))
- Police Station (with conditions, (18))
- Private School (with conditions, (9))
- Public Parking (with conditions, (1)(8))
- Public School (with conditions, (9))
- Public Utility (with conditions, (19)(20))
- Renewable Energy (with conditions, (22))
- Residential Care Home (with conditions, (13))
- Retail Store (with conditions, (2))
- Secondary Suite (with conditions, (24))
- Student Residence (with conditions, (11))
- Take-out Eating Establishment (with conditions, (2)(7))
- Transportation Use (with conditions, (21))
Standards
| Requirement | By-law |
|---|---|
| Minimum lot width (interior lot) | 20 m |
| Minimum front yard | See note80.10.40.70: in Policy Areas 1-3 (Policy Areas Overlay Map) a building must be set back NO MORE than 3.0 m from the front lot line (a maximum, not a minimum; no minimum setback required); outside Policy Areas 1-3 the setback from every lot line equals half the height of the building. |
| Minimum interior side yard | See note80.10.40.70: in Policy Areas 1-3, minimum 5.5 m from a side lot line not abutting a street or lane if the main wall facing it has windows; 3.0 m from a side lot line abutting a lot in the Residential Zone category; otherwise no setback required. Outside Policy Areas 1-3, half the height of the building. |
| Minimum exterior side yard | See note80.10.40.70: in Policy Areas 1-3 no setback is required from a side lot line abutting a street (unless it abuts a Residential Zone lot, then 3.0 m); outside Policy Areas 1-3, half the height of the building. |
| Minimum rear yard | See note80.10.40.70: in Policy Areas 1-3, 3.0 m from a rear lot line that abuts a lot in the Residential Zone category, otherwise no setback required; outside Policy Areas 1-3, half the height of the building. |
| Maximum building height | 15 m80.10.40.10(1): if the Height Overlay Map shows a numerical value after 'HT', that value in metres is the maximum height; otherwise 15.0 m. A parapet wall for a green roof may exceed the maximum height by 2.0 m (80.10.40.10(2)). |
| Maximum lot coverage | 35 %80.10.30.40(1): if the lot is in an area with a numerical value on the Lot Coverage Overlay Map, that value is the maximum lot coverage (% of lot area); otherwise 35%. |
| Minimum landscaped open space | See note80.10.50.10: the entire front yard (excluding a permitted driveway) must be landscaping, at least 75% of it soft landscaping; and at least 50% of the lot area NOT covered by buildings or structures must be soft landscaping (a percentage of the uncovered area, not of the lot). Not applicable to a transportation use along Eglinton Avenue West/East (80.10.50.11). |
| Maximum floor space index | 180.10.40.40(1): the numerical value following the zone symbol on the Zoning By-law Map, or 1.0 if no value follows the symbol. Does not apply to a transportation use along Eglinton Avenue West/East if floor area is no greater than 2 times the lot area (80.10.40.41). |
Other provisions in this section
- 80.10.1.10(2): in the I zone a medical office includes a medical clinic.
- 80.10.20.100(1): vehicle access to public parking may not be over any part of a lot in the Residential Zone category.
- 80.10.20.100(2): interior floor area of each retail store, eating establishment or take-out eating establishment may not exceed 465 m2; total interior floor area of all such uses on a lot may not exceed 0.3 times the lot area.
- 80.10.20.100(3): interior floor area of a financial institution may not exceed 250 m2.
- 80.10.20.100(4): interior floor area of a personal service shop may not exceed 250 m2.
- 80.10.20.100(5): interior floor area of a place of assembly may not exceed the lesser of 4000 m2 or 75% of the area of the lot covered by all buildings.
- 80.10.20.100(6): a day nursery may not be located above the first storey of a building.
- 80.10.20.100(7): if the lot is within 6.1 m of a lot in the Residential Zone category, total interior floor area of all eating establishments and take-out eating establishments may not exceed 400 m2.
- 80.10.20.100(8): one parking attendant building permitted on a lot with public parking: max height 4.0 m including mechanical equipment, max interior floor area 5.0 m2, at least 6.0 m from a lot line abutting a street.
- 80.10.20.100(9): public and private schools must comply with Section 150.48 (clause enacted May 9, 2013 but under appeal to the OLT and not in full force and effect per the office consolidation).
- 80.10.20.100(10): an automated banking machine must be in a building.
- 80.10.20.100(11): a student residence must be operated by a public or private school on the same lot.
- 80.10.20.100(12): a crisis care shelter must comply with Section 150.20.
- 80.10.20.100(13): a group home or residential care home must comply with Section 150.15.
- 80.10.20.100(15): a place of worship must comply with Section 150.50.
- 80.10.20.100(16)-(18): an ambulance depot, fire hall or police station must be on a lot fronting a major street on the Policy Areas Overlay Map, or fronting a street intersecting a major street and not more than 250 m from that intersection.
- 80.10.20.100(19): a public utility may not be a sewage treatment plant, water filtration plant or above-ground water reservoir.
- 80.10.20.100(20): a hydro electrical transformer station or natural gas regulator station must be enclosed by walls and comply with the I zone maximum lot coverage, minimum building setbacks and maximum height.
- 80.10.20.100(21): a building or structure used as a transportation use must comply with all requirements for a building on that lot.
- 80.10.20.100(22): renewable energy or cogeneration energy production must be in combination with another permitted use on the lot and comply with all Municipal, Provincial and Federal by-laws, statutes and regulations.
- 80.10.20.100(23): a drive through facility must comply with Section 150.80.
- 80.10.20.100(24): a secondary suite must comply with Section 150.10.
- 80.10.40.10(2): a parapet wall for a green roof may exceed the permitted maximum height by 2.0 m.
- 80.10.40.41: the FSI regulation does not apply to a transportation use along Eglinton Avenue West and Eglinton East provided maximum floor area is no greater than 2 times the lot area.
- 80.10.40.50(1): minimum 0.9 m2 of amenity space per dwelling unit and bedsitting room, with at least 75% of the amenity space inside a building.
- 80.10.40.60(1): a canopy, awning or similar structure may encroach up to 4.0 m into a required minimum building setback if no part is more than 5.0 m above the ground directly below.
- 80.10.40.60(2)(A): exterior access stairs may encroach into a required setback if no longer than 1.5 horizontal units per 1.0 vertical unit, no wider than 2.0 m, and no closer than 0.3 m to a lot line.
- 80.10.40.60(2)(B): an uncovered pedestrian access ramp may encroach into a required setback if no longer than 15 horizontal units per 1.0 vertical unit, no wider than 1.5 m per sloped segment, and no closer than 0.3 m to a lot line.
- 80.10.40.60(2)(C): an elevating device may encroach into a required setback if it elevates no higher than the first storey, has a maximum area of 3.0 m2, and is no closer than 0.3 m to a lot line.
- 80.10.40.71: setback regulations 80.10.40.70(1) and (2) do not apply to a transportation use along Eglinton Avenue West and East provided setbacks are between 0 and 40 m.
- 80.10.80.20(1): a parking space not in a building or structure must be at least 0.5 m from a lot line.
- 80.10.90.10(1): a loading space may not be in a front yard, a side yard abutting a street, or any side or rear yard abutting a lot in the Residential Zone or Residential Apartment Zone category; a lawfully existing non-complying loading space is exempt (80.10.90.11).
- 80.10.150.1(1): all waste and recyclable material must be stored in a wholly enclosed building if the building permit was issued more than three years after May 9, 2013; an ancillary waste storage building may not be in a front yard or a side yard abutting a street and must be at least 7.5 m from a lot in the Residential, Residential Apartment or Open Space Zone category and 1.0 m from all other side and rear lot lines.
- Note: lot area, FSI and unit-count values may also be carried as zone-label suffixes on the Zoning By-law Map (a, d, u) and height/lot coverage on overlay maps; category-wide rules are in Section 80.5 and Chapter 5.
Source: Chapter 80, Section 80.10 (Regulations 80.10.1 to 80.10.150), By-law 569-2013 (City of Toronto), checked 2026-09-12. General provisions elsewhere in the by-law (parking, driveways, accessory buildings) also apply, and a numbered exception on the parcel can change any value here. Treat this as a pre-check, not a sign-off.