A Rooming House (single-room occupancy) is a residential building with four or more multi-tenant dwelling rooms, inhabited or intended to be inhabited by persons who do not live together as a single housekeeping unit.
The City of Toronto defines a rooming house, as a residential building where four or more dwelling rooms are rented out to separate people. Tenants of a rooming house may share the kitchen and/or washroom but they do not live together as a single housekeeping unit.
A dwelling room, also known as a single-room occupancy (SRO), is a rental unit in a rooming house. A dwelling room in a rooming house is a room that is used or intended to be used for living accommodation; is available for rent; and may include a bathroom or kitchen facility but does not include both.
The City of Toronto's new By-Laws for rooming houses (SRO - Single Room Occupancy) came into effect on March 31, 2024.
The City of Toronto defines a rooming house, as a multi-tenant unit – apartment, house, or building – where four or more rooms are rented out to separate tenants who individually pay their rent for private rooms,. Tenants in a rooming house are covered by the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). The dwelling rooms in a rooming house may have a kitchen or a bathroom for the exclusive use of the tenant who rents that dwelling room in the rooming house, but not both. Tenants in the rooming house may share a kitchen and/or bathroom, but they cannot live together as a single housekeeping dwelling. Rooming houses provide a viable and affordable option for individual tenants looking to access rental housing in the City of Toronto.
Rooming houses with six rental dwelling rooms or fewer are allowed in all neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto. Rooming houses in the City of Toronto must have a minimum of one bathroom for every four rental dwelling rooms. A bathroom is required to have a toilet, a sink, a bath, and/or a shower.
The maximum number of permitted rental dwelling rooms in a rooming house within Low-density Residential - RD, RS, RT zoning - is Six (6).
REQUIRED PARKING FOR A ROOMING HOUSE IN THE CITY OF TORONTO
Minimum parking requirements for rooming houses depend on location in the City of Toronto.
No parking spaces are required for a rooming house
1) in the former City of Toronto
2) in Policy Area 1 (PA1), Policy Area 2 (PA2), Policy Area 3 (PA3) and Policy Area 4 (PA4) of City of Toronto or
3) in the shaded area on Diagram 2 of By-law 156-2023 of the City of Toronto.
In all other areas of the City of Toronto a minimum of one parking space for every three dwelling rooms. This requirement is rounded down to the nearest whole number, but there may not be less than one parking space. So a rooming house with four dwelling rooms requires at least one parking space and a rooming house with five dwelling rooms requires at least two parking spaces.
The City of Toronto's rooming house by-laws permits rooming houses across Toronto and all operators of rooming houses are now required by the City of Toronto to obtain licences to operate rooming houses in Toronto.
All rooming house operators in the City of Toronto require a Rooming House licence. Rooming houses are permitted across all of Toronto and a new Rooming House Licensing Bylaw has introduced consistent standards and regulatory oversight to protect the safety of tenants of the rooming houses and respond to community concerns. The City of Toronto's staff will provide ongoing guidance to operators of the rooming houses and sufficient time for them to come into compliance with the City of Toronto's new by-laws for the rooming houses. The City of Toronto will not seek to close existing rooming houses unless an immediate health and safety risk is identified.
Under the Ontario Fire Code, the operator of a rooming house that has more than four occupants must submit a Fire Safety Plan for the rooming house in addition to other documents required for a licence to operate a rooming house in the City of Toronto.
ONTARIO BUILDING CODE REQUIREMENTS TO HAVE A ROOMING HOUSE
Fire Separation Requirements for Rooming Houses
The Ontario Building Code considers each rental dwelling room that is in a rooming house to be considered a suite. As such, it must be separated from adjacent rooms and suites by a fire separation with a fire-resistance rating of 45 minutes (30 minutes for rooming houses with eight or fewer tenants).
Hallways that serve more than one dwellingoom in a rooming house are considered public corridors and must be separated from the remainder of the rooming house by a fire separation with a fire-resistance rating of 45 minutes.
In a typical single-family dwelling, stairways are often open to the living room and occupants might walk through the kitchen to a back door or through the living room to a front door. However a public corridor in a rooming house that serves as access to an exit cannot contain an occupancy within it. Therefore, a living room, dining room, or kitchen is not permitted to be located in the public corridor of a rooming house and must be contained within a room served by the public corridor. Any door that opens onto the public corridor requires a latch and self-closing device. Installing fire sprinklers can be an alternative solution to the Ontario Building Code requirements such as the separation of the kitchen or living/dining room from the public corridor.
Fire Alarm Requirements for a Rooming House
The Ontario Building Code requires a fire alarm system in rooming houses that provide sleeping accommodation for more than ten people. The Ontario Building Code calculates the occupant load of a rooming house based on two persons per each bedroom. Therefore, a six-bedroom rooming house would be deemed to have an occupant load of twelve persons and require a fire alarm system.
Emergency Exit Requirements for a Rooming House
In general, all floor areas of a rooming house require access to two emergency exits. However, the Ontario Building Code allows one emergency exit from rooming houses with an occupant load of eight people (that is, four or fewer bedrooms). A single emergency exit for each floor area is also permitted in one and two-storey buildings if the travel distance to an emergency exit does not exceed 25 m.
Minimum Room Sizes and Window Areas
The Ontario Building Code also has minimum room size requirements for each room and minimum required window areas.
Individual Room Area Minimum Area Required
Living Room 145ft² (13.5m²)
Dining Room 75ft² (7m²)
Kitchen (1 bedroom) 40ft² (3.7m²)
Kitchen (2 bedrooms) 45ft² (4.2m²)
Master Bedroom (closets) 95ft² (8.8m²)
Master Bedroom (no closets) 105ft² (9.8m²)
Second Bedroom (closets) 65ft² (6m²)
Second Bedroom (no closets) 75ft² (7m²)
The bathroom is sufficient size to accommodate a toilet, sink, bathtub, or shower.
Minimum Window Sizes for Natural Lighting
Rooms < 5 Years Old > 5 Years Old
Living and Dining Room 10% 5%
Bedrooms and Other Finished Rooms 5% 2.5%
Kitchen, Washrooms, Laundry and
Basement Recreation room 0% 0%
Required Minimum Door Uses
Entrances and Utility Rooms 32” x 78”
Bathroom, Washroom, and Closets 24” x 78”
Bedrooms and Rooms not mentioned 30” x 78”
Fire Sprinkler
The Ontario Building Code does not require rooming houses to have fire sprinklers. However, sprinklers can be an alternative solution to the Ontario Building Code requirements such as the separation of the kitchen or living/dining room from the public corridor.
Typical requirements to covert an existing single-family dwelling house as a rooming house:
1) For each bedroom, fire-rated walls, floors, and ceilings; fire-rated doors with closures;
2) Fire-rated walls for corridors and stairs to the main door;
3) Inter-connected CO2 and smoke detectors, and
4) a new fire alarm system.
A fire sprinkler system may be required as the most affordable way to meet the Ontario Building Code requirements. A fire sprinkler system will require a separate water supply line.
Conversion of a single-family dwelling as a rooming house may create the following that may impact the interior:
1) Enclosures that block light
2) Enclosed corridors
3) Walls that divide kitchens from back doors; and
4) Exposed overhead sprinkler pipes
Typical Renovation Costs for Conversion of a single-family dwelling as a rooming house
Supply, Install, and Paint - Fire Rated Door with Frame and Hardware - $1,300 and up per door
Install and Paint Fire Separation walls - $5,000 and up per floor
Fire Alarm Permit Drawing, Supply, Install Fire Alarm System and Exits - $30,000 and up
Sprinkler System
Shop drawings and sprinkler permit drawings, a new 50mm waterline with back-flow prevention valve, sprinkler heads throughout; new supervisory valves and flow switches for each zone; fire stopping and testing - $60,000 and up
Zoning Review
Before applying for a multi-tenant rooming house licence from the City of Toronto, new rooming house operators will need to undergo a zoning review by the City of Toronto to show that the proposed rooming house meets the City of Toronto's requirements for a rooming house. If the proposed rooming house complies with the zoning requirements of the City of Toronto, the rooming house operator will get a Zoning Applicable Law Certificate form the City of Toronto. If the rooming house does not comply with the City of Toronto's Zoning By-Law, for example, if the rooming house exceeds the maximum number of rooms allowed, the rooming house operator may have to obtain the approval of the City of Toronto's Committee of Adjustment for a minor variance.
Maximum Permitted Dwelling Rooms in Toronto, East York, and York
Rooming House within Mixed-use (CR, CRE) zoning - 25
Rooming House within High-density Residential (RA, RAC) zoning - 12
Rooming House within Residential (R, RM) zoning - 6 or 12 (dependent upon location)
Rooming House within Low-density Residential - (RD, RS, RT) zoning - 6
Once the rooming house operator has received an approved Zoning Certificate, the rooming house operator may need to apply for a Building Permit.
A building permit is also required when changing the use of a building (e.g., single-dwelling unit house to multi-dwelling unit house); even if no construction is proposed.
A building permit is required for the construction and/or demolition of a new building, an addition, or material alteration of any building or structure.
Our fees for stamped engineering building permit drawings to convert an existing single family home as a rooming house are as follows:
Architectural Floor Plans - $1,295⁺ʰˢᵗ plus $75 per room
Architectural Reflected Ceiling Plans - $1,295⁺ʰˢᵗ plus $75 per room
Site Plan referencing a New Topographical Boundary Survey - $2,985⁺ʰˢᵗ
If required HVAC Drawings: $975⁺ʰˢᵗ plus $75 per room
Applying for a Building Permit on behalf of the owner: $495⁺ʰˢᵗ
If required, structural engineering drawings and site servicing / mechanical / plumbing drawings would cost additional.
For Additional Information please contact our key design team members:
LAND & BUILDING EXPERTS
Land Line: 416 332 1743
After Hours / Text Messages: 416 727 8336
Email: landbuildex@gmail.com
Fire Safety Plan
Under the Ontario Fire Code, if a rooming house has more than four tenants, the rooming house operator must submit a Fire Safety Plan to the City of Toronto at tfs_plans@toronto.ca. Once the Fire Safety Plan for the rooming house is approved, Toronto Fire Services will inspect the rooming house.
Our fee to prepare a Fire Safety Plan is $985⁺ʰˢᵗ.
Rooming House Licence Fees Payable to the City of Toronto:
The application/renewal fee for a rooming house is $25 per room and per application
Inspection fee $150 per rooming house house
Licence Types
There are two types of licences for multi-tenant house operators in Toronto:
Multi-tenant rooming house (Type A)
Personal care multi-tenant rooming house (Type B)
Requirements for All Rooming House Operators in Toronto
Under the City of Toronto's new rules, all rooming house operators need a licence and are required to develop rooming house maintenance plans, including processes for tenant service requests, pest management, and waste management and collection, to help improve the rooming house maintenance standards and ensure that the rooming house tenant requests are addressed in a timely fashion. Rooming house operators also need to comply with the Ontario Building Code, Ontario Fire Code, and Ontario Electrical Safety Code and continue to meet their obligations to rooming house tenants under the Residential Tenancies Act of Ontario.
All rooming house operators must provide details about the rooming house and submit the following:
Including Meals & Personal Care (Type B Licence)
Personal care rooming houses are where meals and services are provided to residents to care for their personal needs and health. Personal care rooming houses must meet the City of Toronto's additional operating requirements and occupancy standards, such as staffing, meal plans, sanitary conditions, prescription management, and more.
Additional Requirements for Type B
In addition to the above, rooming operators applying for a Type B (personal care) licence must also submit:
Designated Person-in-Charge applying for a Type B (personal care) rooming house licence must submit:
Rooming houses must be operated according to the City of Toronto's Rooming Houses Bylaw. Operators of the rooming houses must comply with the City of Toronto's enhanced licensing requirements that promote health and safety and new standards for personal care rooming houses.
Once the rooming house licence application and licence fee payment are received, the City of Toronto will conduct inspections of the rooming house. If all criteria are met, a rooming house licence will be issued by the City of Toronto. If one or more clearances are not met, the City of Toronto will inform the rooming operator via written notice and may refer the rooming house licence application to the Rooming House Licensing Tribunal.
If a rooming house operator decides no longer want to operate a rooming house, the rooming house operator will need to take a series of steps to notify the City of Toronto and the rooming house tenants to minimize the impact due to the closure of the rooming house.
Rooming house operators must:
Tenant Service Requests
Rooming house operators must have a tenant service request plan, that includes at a minimum, that they will:
Property Management Plan
Rooming house operators must have an indoor property management plan that includes information on the cleaning of multi-tenant rooming house rooms or dwelling units and common areas (including bathrooms, kitchens, and hallways).
Rooming house operators must have an outdoor property management plan on how they will:
Remove snow
Maintain yards
Maintain fences
Clean and maintain balconies, porches and patios
Clean windows
Pest Management Plan
The rooming house operator must have a pest management plan that includes that the rooming house operator will:
Inspect the rooming house for the presence of pests in common areas at least once every 30 days, and any area within 72 hours of any information indicating the presence of pests.
Hire a licensed pest management operator or exterminator to conduct all pest extermination activity.
If the rooming house operator is aware of the presence of pests at the rooming house, they will take adequate measures to prevent the spread of pests into other portions of the rooming house and eliminate or exterminate the pests in all areas where the presence of the pests is detected.
Waste Management Plan
The rooming house operator must have a waste management plan that includes information on how they will follow the City’s garbage, recycling, and organics storage and disposal requirements and mandatory waste diversion requirements.
Tenant Notice Board
The rooming house operator must maintain a notice board for tenants within the rooming house, and the notice board must include, but is not limited to:
A copy of their rooming house licence
Most up-to-date property, pest management, and waste management plans
Emergency contact information
City-issued notices
Ending Rooming House Operations
If a rooming house operator chooses to end the operation of their multi-tenant rooming house, they must notify the Cityof Toronto by submitting a transition plan at least 210 days (approximately seven months) in advance, of ending rooming house operations. Rooming house operators must notify each tenant in writing, at least 180 days (approximately six months) in advance of the rooming house operation’s end date.
In ending rooming house operations, a landlord must still comply with rules related to tenant rights in the Residential Tenancies Act of Ontario.
A rooming house operator cannot end rooming house operations or evict a tenant simply because the owner plans to sell the rooming house. A tenancy may only be terminated based on one of the grounds of eviction set out in the Residential Tenancies Act of Ontario.
In Toronto, rooming houses are regulated under the City of Toronto's by-laws, any health-care services provided at group homes are regulated by the province of Ontario.
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