8.10 Use Definitions

Home Based Business means a development where a business is operated primarily inside a Dwelling or an Accessory building by a resident of that Dwelling. A Residential Use is the primary development on the Site and the business activity is secondary. This Use includes Home Based Child Care. This Use does not include activities similar to those offered as Bars, Body Rub Centres, Cannabis Retail Stores, Liquor Stores, or nightclubs.  

Residential means a development where a building or part of a building is designed for people to live in. The building contains 1 or more Dwellings or 1 or more Sleeping Units.

This includes: Backyard Housing, Duplex Housing, Lodging Houses, Multi-unit Housing, Row Housing, Secondary Suites, Semi-detached Housing, Single Detached Housing, and Supportive Housing.

Bar means a development where the primary purpose is to sell alcoholic drinks for on-Site consumption. Food and non-alcoholic drinks may also be offered at these locations. Minors are prohibited from visiting the bar during at least some portion of the hours of operation. Public Space is primarily used for tables and seating, and less than 10% of the total Floor Area is used for entertainment areas for dancing, stages and other activities.  

Typical examples include: pubs, bars, and cocktail lounges.

Body Rub Centre means a development where a business provides the physical external manipulation of the soft tissues of the human body in an adult or erotic nature.

Cannabis Lounge means a development that allows Cannabis to be purchased and consumed on-Site by the public in a location permitted by Provincial or Federal legislation. 

Cannabis Retail Store means a development where a business sells Cannabis to be consumed off-Site as permitted by Provincial or Federal legislation. This may include sales of Cannabis accessories. This Use does not include Cannabis Production and Distribution.

Centre City Temporary Parking means a temporary Surface Parking Lot that does not have another principal Use on the Site other than Signs and that was operating as a Surface Parking Lot as of January 1, 2024.

Custom Manufacturing means a development that manufactures or creates custom products that may be sold to customers or commercial businesses in an indoor or outdoor Public Space. Products may be consumed on-Site where associated with food and beverage production activities. These activities may create minimal Nuisance. This Use does not include Cannabis Production and Distribution. 

Typical examples include: commercial kitchens, makerspaces, microbreweries, small-scale electronic manufacturing or assembly, small-scale manufacturing, and wineries and distilleries. 

Food and Drink Service means a development where the primary purpose is to sell prepared food and drinks to the public for consumption on or off-Site. This Use does not include Grocery Stores.

Typical examples include: cafes, juice bars, and restaurants.

Health Service means a development that provides physical or mental health services on an out-patient basis. Services may be of a preventive, diagnostic, treatment, therapeutic, rehabilitative, or counseling nature. 

Typical activities include: medical and dental offices, health clinics and counseling services.

Hotel means a development where the primary function is to provide guest rooms or suites on a temporary basis for sleeping accommodation. Hotels may include concierge service, cleaning service, meeting rooms, dining services, and other guest services.

Typical examples include: hotels, motels, and inns.

Indoor Sales and Service means a development where a business offers sales and services such as retail, personal service, or commercial school activities inside a building.

Typical examples include: animal clinics, art studios, commercial schools, hair salons, indoor markets, pharmacies, retail stores, tailor shops, and tattoo parlours.

Liquor Store means a development where the primary purpose is to sell alcoholic drinks and other related products for off-Site consumption.

Major Indoor Entertainment means a development where indoor facilities are used for entertainment, recreation, conferences, or other purposes. This may also include places where works or objects of historical, scientific, or artistic value are collected, preserved, and exhibited. This activity is typically a regional or city attraction or is likely to have major off-Site impacts or create a Nuisance. 

Typical examples include: auditoriums, aquariums, arenas, casinos, concert halls, convention centres, indoor amusement parks, indoor botanical gardens, museums, nightclubs, planetariums, and sports or entertainment complexes.

Minor Indoor Entertainment means a development where indoor facilities are used for entertainment or active recreation. This activity is typically a local or district attraction, is likely to have minimal off-Site impacts, and may create minimal Nuisance.

Typical examples include: arcades, bingo halls, board game cafes, bowling alleys, climbing facilities, fitness facilities, gyms, gymnastic facilities, indoor playgrounds, trampoline parks.

Office means a development where the main activity is to provide professional, management, administrative, consulting, or financial services.

Typical examples include: offices for accountants, architects, financial institutions, employment or call centres, and real estate, law, and insurance firms. 

Outdoor Entertainment means a development where people gather outdoors for entertainment purposes that typically require large spaces. Supporting activities may include merchandise, food, or drink sales. These activities may create a Nuisance.

Typical examples include: amphitheatres, drive-in movie theatres, go-kart tracks, outdoor mini-golf courses, outdoor amusement parks, racing tracks, and zoos.

Outdoor Sales and Service means a development where sales and service activities take place primarily outdoors. This may include outdoor storage or display. These activities may create minor Nuisances.

Typical examples include: automotive and minor recreation vehicle (with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of less than 4600 kg) sales and rentals, and plant nurseries.  

Parking Facility means a development where vehicle parking is located on a Site that has any principal Use other than Standalone Parking Facilities.

Typical examples include: Surface Parking Lots and Parkades on a Site with any principal Use.

Residential Sales Centre means a development where permanent or temporary buildings or structures are used for a limited period of time for the purpose of marketing residential land or buildings.

Standalone Parking Facility means a development consisting of vehicle parking, which does not have another principal Use on the Site other than Signs. This can be on the ground or within a structure. 

Typical examples include: Parkades and Surface Parking Lots.

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Vehicle Support Service means a development where the primary activity is vehicle servicing operations for the repair, maintenance, or fuelling of automobiles and other vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of less than 4,600 kg.

Typical examples include: fuel stations, car washes, and vehicle repair shops, such as transmission, muffler, tire, automotive glass, and upholstery shops. This Use does not include auto body repair and paint shops.

Crematorium means a development where the buildings or structures are used to cremate human or pet remains.

Indoor Self Storage means a development where personal items and goods are stored in buildings with separate compartments and each compartment has its own access.

Major Industrial means a development used primarily for 1 or more of the following activities: 

• processing raw materials; 
• manufacturing, cleaning, servicing, repairing or testing materials, goods and equipment;
• handling, storing, or shipping equipment, goods, and materials;
• training, research and development laboratories; or
• distributing and selling materials, goods and equipment to institutions and industrial and commercial businesses.

A Major Industrial Use includes at least 1 of the following features:

• the creation of Nuisances that extend beyond the boundaries of the Site and that may have a harmful effect on other Sites due to noise, odour, light, airborne emissions, dust, heavy commercial vehicle traffic, or any other harmful effect created by a Nuisance; or
• the use of materials or processing operations that require separation from other developments, due to risk of toxic emissions or fire and explosion hazards.

Typical examples include: chemical plants, land treatment facilities, metal factories, and petroleum refineries.

Minor Industrial means a development used primarily for 1 or more of the following activities: 

• processing raw materials; 
• manufacturing, cleaning, servicing, repairing or testing materials, goods and equipment;
• handling, storing, or shipping equipment, goods, and materials;
• training, research and development laboratories; or
• distributing and selling materials, goods and equipment to institutions and industrial and commercial businesses.

Any resulting Nuisance is less impactful than those permitted under the Major Industrial Use.

Typical examples include: auto body repair and paint shops, Cannabis Production and Distribution, commercial recycling depots, contractor and construction services, equipment or vehicle repair and storage facilities, laboratories, landscaping centres, limo service, materials storage, research facilities, taxi service, truck yard, vehicle (truck, aircraft, mobile homes, etc.) and equipment sales and rentals, and warehouses.

Natural Resource Development means a development used primarily for the removal, extraction, and primary processing of natural resources. This Use does not include the processing of raw materials transported to the Site.

Typical examples include: clay pits, coal mining, gravel pits, oil and gas wells, sandpits, and stripping of topsoil.

Child Care Service means a development that provides temporary care and supervision of children. This Use includes facility-based early learning and child care programs. This Use does not include a Home Based Business operating as Home Based Child Care.

Typical examples include: daycares, out-of-school care, and preschools.

Community Service means a development used for institutional, cultural, recreational, religious, spiritual, social, arts, and educational activities that provide a service to the public and may involve people gathering at peak times and creating intermittent impacts such as noise and traffic. This Use does not include Child Care Services, Libraries, or Schools.

Typical examples include: community halls, community league buildings, community recreation centres, Religious Assemblies, Seasonal Shelters, and Year-round Shelters.

Library means a development where municipal spaces or buildings have a collection of books, art, music, video, programs, or other reference and creative materials available for people to use or borrow.

Outdoor Recreation Service means a development that typically requires large open spaces for active recreation purposes.

Typical examples include: golf courses, ski hills, and sports fields that may require paid entry or have restricted access.

Park means a development where land is publicly accessible and used for active or passive recreation. These may include facilities, playing fields, buildings and other structures that serve a recreational purpose of the park. 

Typical examples include: open green space, pedestrian trails and paths, picnic grounds, plazas, sports fields, and associated structures such as band shells, ice rinks, outdoor pools, playgrounds, and spray parks.

Protected Natural Area means an area identified for the conservation, preservation and/or restoration of natural features, biodiversity, and ecological processes. This Use does not include Parks.

Typical examples include: forests, grasslands, landscape buffers and trails for appropriate passive recreation activities, rare species habitats, wetlands and other water bodies, and woodlands. 

School means a development that has rooms to educate, train, or instruct children or adults. It may include administrative offices, food services, or other related facilities. This Use does not include private facilities used for training and instruction in a specific trade, skill, service or artistic endeavour such as a commercial school.

Typical examples include: charter schools, community colleges, polytechnics, public and private elementary and secondary schools, universities, and their administrative offices.

Special Event means a development where temporary activities occur in an indoor or outdoor space for a limited amount of time. 

Typical examples include: carnivals, circuses, festivals, markets, and pop-up events.

Cemetery means a development where land is used primarily as landscaped open space for burying the deceased, and may include columbariums, mausoleums, and buildings used for funeral services.

Detention Facility means a development with large scale institutional activities that provide regional correctional services.

Typical examples include: corrections facilities, jails, prisons, and remand centres.

Emergency Service means a development which is required to protect the public and property from injury, harm or damage. It may include incidental training facilities and equipment and vehicle storage. 

Typical examples include: ambulance services, fire stations, police stations, and associated training facilities.

Essential Utility means a development that provides infrastructure which forms a necessary part of a principal utility.

Typical examples include: electrical power transformers, pumping stations, regulating stations, stormwater management facilities, and underground water reservoirs.

Health Care Facility means a development where institutional facilities provide health services, medical treatment, and accommodations for people requiring care, and may include out-patient services and staff residences. 

Typical examples include auxiliary hospitals, continuing care facilities, convalescent homes, detoxification centres, and hospitals.

Major Utility means a development that provides utility infrastructure which is likely to create major Nuisances such as emissions, odour, light, or noise. 

Typical examples include: compost facilities, cooling plants, garbage transfer and compacting stations, incinerators, power generating stations, sanitary landfills, sewage lagoons, sewage treatment plants, sludge disposal beds, and waste recycling plants.

Minor Utility means a development that provides utility infrastructure which is likely to create minimal or no Nuisance.

Typical examples include: communication towers, district heating plants, eco stations, gate stations for natural gas distribution, power terminals and distributing substations, snow dumping sites, switching centres, telecommunications centres, transit storage and maintenance facilities, transit vehicle depots, traction power substations, utility storage yards, water towers, water treatment plants, and wire centres.

Recycling Drop-off Centre means a development where municipally operated spaces are used for the collection and temporary storage of recyclable materials within movable waste containers. Recyclable materials include, but are not limited to, cardboard, plastics, paper, metal and similar household items. Recyclable materials left at the Recycling Drop-off Centre are periodically removed and taken to larger, permanent recycling facilities for final recycling. 

This Use does not include bottle depots or eco stations.

Transit Facility means a development that provides publicly or privately operated transit services. This Use does not include vehicle storage and maintenance facilities.

Typical examples include: bus stops, cable transport stations, Mass Transit Stations (including LRT stops and stations), regional bus and train stations, transit centres, and transit plazas.

Agriculture means farm activity associated with raising animals and production of dairy products, or growing crops, including grains, vegetables and fruits and other plants for economic gain as food, landscaping, fibre, or fuel within a rural context. This may include the sale of agricultural products raised or grown on-Site and related accessory products. This Use also allows for large-scale topsoil removal and grading. This Use does not include confined feeding operations as defined by the Agricultural Operations Practices Act, or Cannabis Production and Distribution.

Typical examples include: farms, greenhouses, and small animal breeding facilities.

Urban Agriculture means a development that involves growing fruits, vegetables, plants, or raising chickens or bees in urban areas for use beyond personal consumption. This activity may include the sale of agricultural products raised or grown on-Site. This Use does not include Cannabis Production and Distribution.

Typical examples include: community gardens, Hen Enclosures, hydroponic or aquaponic systems, and vertical farms.

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Fascia Sign means a Wall Sign or a Window Sign that does not contain Digital Copy.

Typical examples include: business identification signs, window signs, billboards, posters, or Mural Signs.

Freestanding Sign means a Ground Sign that does not contain Digital Copy.

Typical examples include: pylon signs, monument signs, billboards, posters, and neighbourhood identification signs.

Major Digital Sign means a Ground Sign or Wall Sign, generally used for short-term advertising, that contains Digital Copy and may include static images, moving effects, message transition effects, video images, or animation.

Typical examples include: digital billboards, digital posters, and junior panels. 

Minor Digital Sign means a Ground Sign or Wall Sign, generally used for short-term advertising, that contains Digital Copy where the Message Duration is 6 seconds or more, and does not include moving effects, message transition effects, video images, or animation.

Typical examples include: digital billboards, digital posters, and junior panels.

Portable Sign means a Sign that is relocatable or removable from a Site, is used for short-term advertising, and is not anchored below ground level or to any surface. 

It does not contain Digital Copy. 

Projecting Sign means a Sign that projects:

• more than 0.4 m from a building Facade;
• below or above a canopy, awning, or architectural feature;  or 
• above the eaveline or roofline. 

It does not contain Digital Copy. 

Typical examples include: blade, canopy, and roof signs. 

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