Zoning · Toronto · Institutional
IPW zone, Toronto: Institutional Place of Worship Zone
Chapter 80, Section 80.50 of the City of Toronto Zoning By-law 569-2013, as amended by 545-2019, 607-2015, OMB PL130592 (February 7, 2017), 0559-2014 (OMB PL130592), 1124-2018.
A zone for places of worship (churches, mosques, temples and similar) and closely related uses such as religious schools, religious residences and municipal shelters, with size, height and setback limits that keep them compatible with nearby homes.
Is a property in the IPW zone? Enter its address and the lookup returns the zone and these standards, including any site-specific exception.
Check an addressWhat the IPW zone permits
- Municipal Shelter
- Park
- Place of Worship
- Religious Education Use
- Religious Residence
- Ambulance Depot (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(8))
- Cogeneration Energy (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(13))
- Community Centre (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(3))
- Day Nursery (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(1))
- Dwelling Unit (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(7))
- Fire Hall (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(9))
- Library (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(4))
- Place of Assembly (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(2))
- Police Station (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(10))
- Public Utility (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(11)(12))
- Renewable Energy (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(13))
- Retail Store (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(6))
- Secondary Suite (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(14))
- Transportation Use (with conditions, 80.50.20.100(15))
Standards
| Requirement | By-law |
|---|---|
| Minimum lot width (interior lot) | 20 m |
| Minimum front yard | 7.5 m3.0 m if the street is a major street on the Policy Areas Overlay Map; for all other streets the greater of 7.5 m or half the building height (80.50.40.70(1)) |
| Minimum interior side yard | 3 mgreater of 3.0 m or half the building height, for a side lot line not abutting a street (80.50.40.70(2)) |
| Minimum exterior side yard | 6 mgreater of 6.0 m or half the building height, for a side lot line abutting a street (80.50.40.70(3)) |
| Minimum rear yard | 7.5 mgreater of 7.5 m or half the building height (80.50.40.70(4)) |
| Maximum building height | 15 m15.0 m unless the Height Overlay Map gives an 'HT' value for the lot, in which case that value in metres applies (80.50.40.10(1)); green-roof parapet may exceed by 1.5 m; minaret/steeple on a place of worship may exceed by 40% if its horizontal area is no more than 30.0 m2 |
| Maximum lot coverage | 40 %40% unless the Lot Coverage Overlay Map gives a numerical value for the lot, in which case that value applies (80.50.30.40(1)) |
| Maximum floor space index | 0.80.8 unless a numerical value follows the zone symbol on the Zoning By-law Map, in which case that value applies (80.50.40.40(1)) |
| Maximum dwelling units | 1a place of worship may have one dwelling unit, only if ancillary to the place of worship, the lot abuts a Residential, Residential Apartment, Commercial Residential, Commercial Residential Employment or Institutional zone lot, and the unit's interior floor area is no more than 250 m2 (80.50.20.100(7)) |
Other provisions in this section
- Entire Section 80.50 is shaded in the office consolidation: enacted May 9, 2013 but under appeal to the OLT and not in full force and effect.
- Day nursery must be in a building with a place of worship, interior floor area no more than 50% of the gross floor area of the first storey, and must comply with Section 150.45 (80.50.20.100(1)).
- Place of assembly only on a lot with a minimum floor space index value of 6.0 or greater (80.50.20.100(2)).
- Community centre must be on a lot fronting a major street on the Policy Areas Overlay Map and have gross floor area no greater than 1500 m2 (80.50.20.100(3)).
- Library must be on a lot fronting a major street on the Policy Areas Overlay Map and have gross floor area no greater than 400 m2 (80.50.20.100(4)).
- Retail store must be associated with a place of worship and have interior floor area no more than 25 m2 (80.50.20.100(6)).
- Ambulance depot, fire hall and 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 within 250 m of that intersection (80.50.20.100(8)-(10)).
- Public utility may not be a sewage treatment plant, water filtration plant or above-ground water reservoir; a hydro electrical transformer station or natural gas regulator station must be enclosed by walls and comply with the zone's maximum lot coverage, minimum setbacks and maximum height (80.50.20.100(11)-(12)).
- 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 requirements (80.50.20.100(13)).
- Secondary suite must comply with Section 150.10 (80.50.20.100(14)).
- A transportation use building or structure must comply with all requirements for a building on that lot (80.50.20.100(15)).
- A lawfully existing place of worship's lawful minaret, steeple or similar element that exceeds the maximum height keeps its lawful height as its permitted maximum (80.50.40.11(1)).
- Platforms without main walls (porch, canopy, exterior stairs, access ramp, elevating device) may encroach into a front yard or side yard abutting a street if no part is more than 2.0 m from the main wall (80.50.40.60(1)).
- Despite 5.10.50.10(1), all parts of the front yard not used as a driveway must be landscaping, and at least 75% of that required landscaping must be soft landscaping (80.50.50.10(1)).
- A lot abutting a Residential or Residential Apartment zone lot must have a minimum 1.5 m wide strip of soft landscaping along the entire abutting lot line (80.50.50.10(2)).
- Ancillary buildings/structures may be no closer to a street lot line than the main building, and must be set back from rear and side lot lines the greater of 1.5 m or half the ancillary building's height (80.50.60.20).
- Ancillary buildings and structures may cover a maximum of 15% of the lot area (80.50.60.70(1)).
- A parking space may not be in a front yard (80.50.80.10(1)).
- A parking space not in a building or structure must be at least 0.5 m from a lot line (80.50.80.20(1)).
- Vehicle access to a parking space may not be over any lot in the Residential or Residential Apartment zone category (80.50.80.40(1)).
- All waste and recyclable material must be stored in a wholly enclosed building if the building's permit was issued more than three years after May 9, 2013 (80.50.150.1(1)).
- Lot-specific frontage/area/FSI/unit-count suffixes and Height (HT) and Lot Coverage overlay map values are carried on the zoning polygon attributes and override the defaults above.
Source: Chapter 80, Section 80.50, 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.