EM1 zone, Vaughan: Prestige Employment Zone
Part 11, Section 11.2, Table 11-2 and Table 11-3 of the City of Vaughan Zoning By-law 001-2021.
A business-park zone for offices, research, manufacturing and warehousing on larger lots with landscaped frontages, where uses are kept clean and low-impact and buffered from neighbouring homes and parks.
Is a property in the EM1 zone? Enter its address and the lookup returns the zone and these standards, including any site-specific exception.
Check an addressWhat the EM1 zone permits
- Automotive detailing
- Commercial school
- Manufacturing or processing facility
- Motor vehicle body repair (only if legally existing on the lot on the effective date of the By-law)
- Motor vehicle rental (only if legally existing on the lot on the effective date of the By-law)
- Motor vehicle repair (only if legally existing on the lot on the effective date of the By-law)
- Motor vehicle sales (only if legally existing on the lot on the effective date of the By-law)
- Office (max 10,000.0 m2 gross floor area per lot as a principal use; Table 11-2 note 2)
- Research and development
- Vertical farming
- Warehousing and distribution facility
- Car wash (only as accessory to a principal use; Table 11-2 note 3)
- Day care centre
- Emergency service
- Temporary sales office
- Accessory office (subject to Part 5 specific use provisions)
- Accessory retail (subject to Part 5 specific use provisions)
- Ancillary retail (subject to Part 5 specific use provisions)
- Intermodal container (subject to Part 5 specific use provisions)
Standards
| Requirement | By-law |
|---|---|
| Minimum lot area (interior lot) | 1800 m² |
| Minimum lot width (interior lot) | 30 m |
| Minimum front yard | 4.5 m |
| Minimum interior side yard | 3 m3.0 m; must be increased by 0.3 m for every 0.6 m of building height above 15.0 m (Table 11-3 note 1) |
| Minimum exterior side yard | 4.5 m |
| Minimum rear yard | 7.5 m |
| Maximum building height | 15 m15.0 m; may exceed 15.0 m if the interior side yard is increased by 0.3 m for every 0.6 m of height over 15.0 m, to an absolute maximum of 25.0 m (Table 11-3 note 1) |
| Maximum lot coverage | 60 % |
| Minimum landscaped open space | 5 % |
Other provisions in this section
- Minimum setback of any building, structure or outside storage to any Residential Zone or Open Space Zone: 20 m (Table 11-3)
- Required landscape strip abutting a street line: 3 m wide (Table 11-3)
- Required landscape strip on any interior side lot line or rear lot line abutting a Residential Zone or the Open Space Zone: 4.5 m wide (Table 11-3)
- Offices permitted as a principal use in the EM1 Zone shall have a maximum gross floor area of 10,000.0 m2 on each lot (Table 11-2 note 2)
- Car wash is permitted only as accessory to a principal use in the EM1 Zone (Table 11-2 note 3)
- Accessory office, accessory retail, ancillary retail and intermodal container are subject to the specific use provisions in Part 5 (Table 11-2 note 1)
- Outside storage is not a permitted accessory use in EM1 (Table 11-2)
- Motor vehicle body repair, rental, repair and sales are permitted only where legally existing and used on the lot on the effective date of the By-law (Table 11-2, 'E')
- Not permitted in EM1: contractor's establishment, heavy equipment sales/rental/service, intermodal facility, mineral aggregate operation, transportation terminal, banquet hall, night club (Table 11-2)
- Table 11-3 note 2 (11.0 m maximum height for an office accessory to a mineral aggregate operation) applies to the mineral aggregate operation use, which is not permitted in EM1
Source: Part 11, Section 11.2, Table 11-2 and Table 11-3, By-law 001-2021 (City of Vaughan), 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.