RAC zone, Toronto: Residential Apartment Commercial Zone
Section 15.20 (Chapter 15 Residential Apartment), with category-wide rules in Section 15.5 and Chapter 5 of the City of Toronto Zoning By-law 569-2013, as amended by 0572-2014, 1453-2017, OMB PL130592 (February 7, 2017), 545-2019, 1774-2019, 1092-2021, 156-2023, 1153-2023.
An apartment-building zone that also allows small shops, offices, restaurants and community uses on the ground floor of larger apartment sites (100 or more units), with a 24 m default height limit and 6 m front / 7.5 m rear and side setbacks that grow with building height.
Is a property in the RAC zone? Enter its address and the lookup returns the zone and these standards, including any site-specific exception.
Check an addressWhat the RAC zone permits
- Ambulance Depot
- Dwelling Unit in an Apartment Building (the only permitted residential building type, 15.20.20.40)
- Fire Hall
- Municipal Shelter
- Park
- Police Station
- With conditions (15.20.20.100): Art Gallery (1)
- With conditions: Artist Studio (1)
- With conditions: Automated Banking Machine (2)
- With conditions: Club (1)
- With conditions: Cogeneration Energy (3)
- With conditions: Community Centre (4)
- With conditions: Crisis Care Shelter (5)
- With conditions: Custom Workshop (1)
- With conditions: Day Nursery (6)
- With conditions: Eating Establishment (1, 7)
- With conditions: Education Use (1)
- With conditions: Financial Institution (1)
- With conditions: Group Home (8)
- With conditions: Home Occupation (9)
- With conditions: Library (4)
- With conditions: Multi-tenant House (18)
- With conditions: Market Garden (10)
- With conditions: Medical Office (1)
- With conditions: Nursing Home (11)
- With conditions: Office (1)
- With conditions: Outdoor Patio (23)
- With conditions: Outdoor Sales or Display (12)
- With conditions: Performing Arts Studio (1)
- With conditions: Personal Service Shop (1)
- With conditions: Pet Services (1)
- With conditions: Place of Worship (13)
- With conditions: Production Studio (1)
- With conditions: Private Home Daycare (14)
- With conditions: Public Utility (15, 16)
- With conditions: Recreation Use (1)
- With conditions: Religious Education Use (1)
- With conditions: Renewable Energy (3)
- With conditions: Residential Care Home (8)
- With conditions: Respite Care Facility (17)
- With conditions: Retail Store (1)
- With conditions: Retail Service (1)
- With conditions: Retirement Home (11)
- With conditions: Secondary Suite (19)
- With conditions: Seniors Community House (20)
- With conditions: Service Shop (1)
- With conditions: Short-term Rental (22)
- With conditions: Take-out Eating Establishment (1)
- With conditions: Transportation Use (21)
- With conditions: Veterinary Hospital (1)
Standards
| Requirement | By-law |
|---|---|
| Minimum lot area (interior lot) | 720 m²15.20.30.10(1): the 'a' value in the zone label (m²) if present; otherwise minimum lot frontage x 30 m (24.0 m default frontage x 30 = 720 m²). If the label carries an 'au' value, that is the minimum lot area per dwelling unit in an apartment building (15.20.30.10(2)). |
| Minimum lot width (interior lot) | 24 m15.20.30.20(1): the 'f' value in the zone label (m) if present; otherwise 24.0 m. |
| Minimum front yard | 6 m |
| Minimum interior side yard | 7.5 m15.20.40.70(3),(4): 7.5 m (one figure for all side yards; no separate exterior/flankage value); for any portion of an apartment building above 11.0 m in height the setback increases by 1.0 m for each additional 2.0 m (or part thereof) above 11.0 m. |
| Minimum rear yard | 7.5 m15.20.40.70(2),(4): 7.5 m; for any portion of an apartment building above 11.0 m in height the setback increases by 1.0 m for each additional 2.0 m (or part thereof) above 11.0 m. |
| Maximum building height | 24 m15.20.40.10: the 'HT' value (m) on the Height Overlay Map; 24.0 m if no HT value. Max storeys = the 'ST' value on the Height Overlay Map; storeys not limited if no ST value. |
| Maximum lot coverage | See note15.20.30.40: the numerical value on the Lot Coverage Overlay Map (% of lot area) if the lot is in such an area; otherwise no lot coverage applies. |
| Maximum floor space index | See note15.20.40.40: the 'd' value in the zone label; FSI not limited if the label has no 'd' value. |
| Maximum dwelling units | See note15.20.40.1(2): the 'u' value in the zone label is the maximum number of dwelling units on the lot; no cap stated otherwise. |
Other provisions in this section
- Only permitted residential building type is an Apartment Building (15.20.20.40).
- Commercial/non-residential uses under condition (1) (art gallery, office, retail store, eating establishment, medical office, etc.) allowed only on a lot with 100+ dwelling units in apartment buildings; not above the first storey; a service shop or veterinary hospital must be in a non-residential building on the lot; in an apartment building they may total no more than 50% of first-storey interior floor area; total interior floor area max 400 m² for the first 100 units plus 50 m² per additional 25 units, to a max of 1,000 m²; individual establishment max 200 m²; area calculation excludes the areas listed in 15.5.40.40(1) and, for eating establishments, basement offices/storage/staff rooms (15.20.20.100(1)).
- Automated banking machine must be inside a building (condition 2).
- Cogeneration or renewable energy production must be combined with another permitted use on the lot and comply with all municipal/provincial/federal laws (condition 3).
- Community centre or library: on a lot with 100+ apartment dwelling units; if in an apartment building, not above first storey, not more than 50% of first-storey interior floor area and max 600 m² total; if not in an apartment building max 600 m² total; if not on a lot with an apartment building, lot must have a front or side lot line abutting a major street on the Policy Areas Overlay Map (condition 4).
- Crisis care shelter must comply with Section 150.20 (condition 5); day nursery with Section 150.45 (6); group home / residential care home with Section 150.15 (8); home occupation with Section 150.5 (9); multi-tenant house with Section 150.25 (18); secondary suite with Section 150.10 (19); seniors community house with Section 150.30 (20); short-term rental with Section 150.13 (22).
- Other uses within an eating establishment may occupy max 6% of its interior floor area to a max of 12 m² and must be entirely inside the building (condition 7).
- Market garden may not grow or harvest shrubs or trees for sale (condition 10).
- Nursing home / retirement home must be on a lot with a front or side lot line abutting a major street on the Policy Areas Overlay Map, or a street intersecting a major street with the lot wholly or partly within 80 m of that intersection (condition 11).
- Outdoor sales or display: no closer than 7.5 m to a dwelling unit (except up to 10 m² abutting a permitted use inside an apartment building); no closer to a rear or side lot line than 3.0 m where the lot line abuts a street or 7.5 m otherwise; total area max 400 m² for the first 100 units plus 50 m² per additional 25 units to a max of 1,000 m²; not in required parking, loading, driveway or outdoor amenity areas (condition 12).
- Place of worship (clause under OLT appeal, not in full force): on a lot with 100+ apartment dwelling units, if inside an apartment building not above first storey, max 50% of first-storey interior floor area and max 110 m²; if not in an apartment building max 110 m²; if not on a lot with an apartment building it must comply with Section 150.50, abut a major street on the Policy Areas Overlay Map, have lot area of at least 2,000 m² and be in a building of no more than 3,000 m² GFA; lawfully existing places of worship exempt from (B)(ii) and (iii) (condition 13).
- Private home daycare children's play area must be fenced and no closer than 6.0 m to a lot line abutting a street (condition 14).
- Public utility may not be a sewage treatment plant, water filtration plant or above-ground water reservoir (condition 15); a hydro electric transformer station or natural gas regulator station must be enclosed by walls and comply with the zone's max lot coverage, min setbacks and max height (condition 16).
- Respite care facility must be combined with a nursing home or retirement home (condition 17).
- Transportation use buildings must comply with all requirements for a building on that lot (condition 21).
- Outdoor patio: must be combined with a club, eating establishment, recreation use, retail store or take-out eating establishment on the same or abutting lot; max area the greater of 50.0 m² or 50% of the premises' interior floor area; no entertainment; at least 10.0 m from a lot in the Residential Zone category; if above the first storey at least 40.0 m horizontally from a lot in the Residential or Residential Apartment Zone category; on a pedestrian walkway keep a 1.5 m clear pedestrian width; rear-yard patio abutting a Residential Zone lot needs a fence parallel to the rear lot line (condition 23).
- Amenity space: an apartment building with 20+ dwelling units must provide at least 4.0 m² per unit, of which at least 2.0 m² per unit is indoor amenity space, at least 40.0 m² is outdoor amenity space adjoining or directly accessible from the indoor space, and no more than 25% of the outdoor component may be a green roof (15.20.40.50).
- Separation between main walls of the same residential building (where a perpendicular line from one wall hits another): for portions up to 11.0 m high, 5.5 m if no dwelling-unit openings in one or more of the walls, 11.0 m if each wall has a dwelling-unit opening; for portions above 11.0 m, a distance equal to the average height of those walls (15.20.40.80(1)).
- Separation between residential buildings on the same lot: same 5.5 m / 11.0 m rule up to 11.0 m in height; above 11.0 m a distance equal to the average height of the buildings (15.20.40.80(2)).
- Separation between a non-residential building and a residential building on the same lot: 11.0 m if the residential main wall facing it has a dwelling-unit opening, 7.5 m otherwise (15.20.40.80(3)).
- An apartment building must be at least 15.0 m from a lot in an RD or RS zone (15.20.40.80(4)).
- Ancillary buildings and structures are governed by Article 15.5.60, not Article 15.20.40 (15.20.40.1(1)).
- Zone-label suffixes (f, a, au, d, u) and the Height (HT/ST) and Lot Coverage overlay maps set site-specific values that override the zone defaults.
Source: Section 15.20 (Chapter 15 Residential Apartment), with category-wide rules in Section 15.5 and Chapter 5, 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.