Built from Desire Basements' completed GTA suites, the 2024 Ontario Building Code and the City of Toronto's own rules. Every figure is sourced at the bottom of the page.
Every municipality applies the same Ontario Building Code and Fire Code, but the approval path differs from one city hall to the next. This is Toronto's.
Toronto permits go through Toronto Building, filed online, with staged inspections through the build, and the City does not run a second-suite registry, so the closed permit is your record. The housing stock is the oldest in the GTA: century semis and post-war bungalows in Leaside, the Danforth, East York and the older streets of North York sit on rubble-stone or block foundations, with basements dug for a furnace rather than a family room. That is why the ceiling-height check comes first on every Toronto visit. Secondary suites are permitted as-of-right in most detached, semi-detached and townhouse zones, with no parking requirement for the unit.
| Item | The Toronto rule |
|---|---|
| Where a suite is allowed | In a detached house, semi-detached house or townhouse. Toronto's own guide defines a secondary suite as a second dwelling unit, smaller than the primary unit, added to an existing house, and names the basement apartment as the common example. |
| Permit | A building permit for an interior alteration, filed with Toronto Building. Plans must show the ceiling heights, the location of every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm, the stairs and guards, and the plumbing fixtures. |
| City fees (2026 schedule) | Interior alterations in a residential occupancy: $11.53 per square metre ($13.41 where floors are replaced), plus $56.33 for each new residential unit, with a $214.79 minimum. About $1,130 for a 93 m² (1,000 sq ft) suite. |
| Registration or licence | Toronto does not run a second-suite registry. A Rental Renovation Licence screening form is filed with every residential renovation permit; it exists to catch renovations that would push an existing tenant out, which a new suite in your own basement does not. |
| Parking | Toronto no longer sets a minimum parking requirement for most residential uses, so a secondary suite is reviewed on the Building Code, not on the driveway. |
Permit drawings are prepared and stamped by a licensed structural engineer; we file the permit with the City of Toronto, book every inspection and, where the City requires it, complete the registration. Nothing in that list lands on your desk.
These are the items the inspector checks, and the ones a cheap quote quietly leaves out. They come from the 2024 Ontario Building Code provisions for a secondary suite in an existing house.
| Requirement | Minimum | What it means on site |
|---|---|---|
| Ceiling height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | 1.85 m allowed under beams and ducts. Lower than that means underpinning or bench footing before anything else. |
| Egress window | 0.35 m² clear opening | No dimension under 380 mm; it must open without tools and stay open on its own. |
| Fire separation | 30 minutes | Between the suite and the rest of the house, floor assembly and shared walls, doors included. |
| Smoke alarms | Interconnected | Every smoke alarm in the house sounds together, hard-wired or wireless, so a fire in one unit wakes the other. |
| Carbon monoxide alarms | Adjacent to every sleeping area | Required where the house has a fuel-burning appliance or an attached garage; the alarm sits adjacent to every sleeping area in the suite. |
| Doors | 810 mm suite entrance | Bedroom doors at least 760 mm. Old 24-inch basement doors do not pass. |
| Separate entrance | Required | A walkout or side entrance, or a properly separated shared entry; a walkout runs $15,000 to $25,000 all in. |
The suite is priced like any other basement, then the Code items are added as lines you can see. Every basement is priced from the same quote sheet, line by line: a 1,000 sq ft basement with a three-piece bathroom comes to about $67,800 before HST, and the price per square foot falls as the basement grows because the permit, bin, breakers, stairs and bathroom cost the same at any size. Use the calculator to price yours.
| Line item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Finished space, 800 to 1,000 sq ft, three-piece bathroom included | $62,000 to $67,800 |
| Three-piece bathroom, already inside the line above | $11,700 on the quote sheet |
| Walkout or separate entrance, permits included | $15,000 to $25,000 |
| Kitchen, fire separation, alarms, egress window, permit and inspections | included in the suite quote |
| Full-perimeter underpinning, only where the ceiling is under 1.95 m | $60,000 to $120,000 |
| Typical purpose-built legal suite, no underpinning | $75,000 to $110,000+ |
Quote-sheet prices before HST; every project is quoted line by line after a free in-home consultation, with the written quote in your hands within 24 to 48 hours. Full breakdown in the 2026 GTA cost report.
Toronto's older housing stock is where the ceiling rule bites. Pre-1960s bungalows and semis across Scarborough, East York, North York and the west end often measure six feet from slab to joist, below the 1.95 metre minimum, and a semi with no side-yard access moves its excavation through the front door. Those two facts decide whether a Toronto suite stays inside the $75,000 to $110,000 range or roughly doubles once underpinning is added, and we settle them at the first visit.
If you would rather see the build financed than paid in stages, our guide to financing a legal basement apartment sets out the options, and the rental income calculator models the suite in more detail than the sliders below.
GTA legal suites rent for $1,700 to $2,400 a month in 2026. Move the sliders to your build cost and the rent you expect, and the calculator shows gross payback and ten-year income. It is a planning tool, not a quote and not tax advice.
Gross figures before property tax, insurance, utilities, maintenance and income tax. Rent range from the Desire Basements 2026 cost report. Financing can spread the build into monthly payments the rent typically covers.
Design first: a free in-home visit, measurements, a ceiling-height check and a free 3D design of the suite. Then permit drawings, prepared and stamped by a licensed structural engineer and filed with the City of Toronto while the design is finalised, so review time overlaps with planning instead of following it. Every quote is fixed and itemized before you sign and delivered within 24 to 48 hours of the visit. A legal suite takes about three months to build, with a written completion date on every contract backed by our $200 a day on-time guarantee, and the work carries a lifetime workmanship warranty.
Purpose-built legal suites in Desire Basements projects typically land between $75,000 and $110,000 or more, with underpinning ($60,000 to $120,000 full perimeter) extra where the ceiling is under the 1.95 metre minimum. The finished space, bathroom, separate entrance, kitchen, fire separation, alarms, egress window, permit and inspections are all inside that number.
Yes. A building permit from the City of Toronto with staged inspections, and the suite must meet the 2024 Ontario Building Code and the Ontario Fire Code. Permit drawings are prepared and stamped by a licensed structural engineer; Desire Basements files the permit and manages every inspection.
GTA legal suites rent for $1,700 to $2,400 a month in 2026. At $2,000 a month, a $95,000 suite pays back its gross cost in about four years, before operating costs and tax.
1.95 metres (about 6 feet 5 inches) under the 2024 Ontario Building Code for a secondary suite in an existing house, with 1.85 metres allowed under beams and ducts. Below that, underpinning or bench footing is required first.
Yes. A walkout or side entrance, or a properly fire-separated shared entry. A new walkout entrance costs $15,000 to $25,000 all in, permits included.
Sources: City of Toronto additional residential unit and second unit rules as published by the City; Ontario Building Code 2024, Part 11, secondary suites in existing houses; Desire Basements completed-project data, 2026 GTA Basement Cost Report. See also the Toronto basement cost guide and the rental income guide. Municipal rules change; confirm the current requirement with the City before you sign a lease.
Related reading: Legal basement requirements in Ontario
