Parking: the number that changes the maths
Burlington's requirement is simple enough to state in one table, which is unusual and worth taking advantage of.
| Unit | Parking required |
|---|---|
| Primary home | Two spaces |
| First ARU | None — zero additional spaces |
| Second or third ARU | One space each |
Practically: if your driveway already holds two cars, a single backyard suite does not force you to widen it, lose lawn to a pad, or fight over a boulevard curb cut. That removes both a design constraint and a line item. It is also the reason Burlington lots that "obviously won't work" often do.
Garden suite Burlington is a detached ARU
Burlington's pages say additional residential unit, not garden suite. The building people mean is a detached ARU or a coach house, and a detached unit is permitted, including inside a separate accessory building such as a detached garage. The City requires two parking spaces for the primary home and none for the first ARU. A second or third ARU adds one space each. A Pre-Building Approval application comes before the building permit, and the City says not every property qualifies.
Yes, it can be detached
A detached ARU is permitted. The City explicitly contemplates a unit in a separate accessory building — a detached garage being the example it reaches for. Burlington permits one, two or three ARUs on a property.
An existing detached garage is worth a hard look before you assume new construction. Whether it can carry a dwelling is a structural and code question, not a hopeful one, and it is part of what we assess on site.
The Pre-Building Approval step, and your timeline
Applications go through a Pre-Building Approval application before the building permit. This is the single most common Burlington surprise. Owners assume that filing means the permit is in motion; it does not. It means the step in front of the permit is in motion.
Two consequences worth planning around. Your schedule has a stage most people did not budget for. And comments raised at Pre-Building Approval are cheaper to resolve there than after a full permit set has been drawn — which is an argument for getting the lot facts right before the drawings, not after.
The City is also direct that not all properties qualify. We would rather find that out for you in week one than in month four.
What Burlington does not publish
Burlington does not publish setbacks, minimum lot size or frontage, maximum height, floor area, lot coverage, servicing requirements, fees, or any registration requirement on its ARU page. We are not going to fill those gaps with plausible-looking numbers.
They are all real constraints — they just get confirmed against your zone and your address during feasibility and Pre-Building Approval, rather than read off a web page.
Burlington approvals, step by step, with the City's own timeframes
Burlington publishes a step-by-step guide for building an ARU, and its Pre-Building Approval page adds current processing times. Read together, the path looks like this:
- Check what may fit. You must be the registered owner to apply. The City's ARU Look-up Tool gives a first read on lot size, building footprint and estimated buildable area for a detached ARU; confirmation with zoning staff is still required.
- Pre-Building Approval. The application goes by email to the City's zoning team with drawings, a tree permit application if trees are coming out, and the grading and drainage certificate application. Zoning, Engineering and Forestry staff pre-screen it at a weekly meeting.
- Zoning Clearance Certificate. The step-by-step guide estimates three to four weeks for projects with exterior work. The Pre-Building Approval page says processing may take up to 4–6 weeks at current volumes.
- Building permit. The City says it screens an application within two business days and reviews and issues the permit within ten business days once the application is complete.
- Construction. Start within six months: the City says building permits expire after six months if work has not started.
- Inspections and occupancy. The City schedules inspections within two business days and issues an occupancy permit once the project meets all requirements.
One timing change matters for a backyard suite. Since 1 January 2025, Burlington lets you apply for the building permit before the Zoning Clearance Certificate is issued when the project is an additional residential unit in an accessory building. The permit itself is issued only after the Grading and Drainage Certificate is approved, and construction can start only once any tree permit is in hand.
What moves the cost of a Burlington garden suite
Burlington's ARU page has no cost figures, so this is a list of drivers, not prices. Public market data, each figure with its source, is in our Ontario garden suite cost guide.
- Parking. The first ARU needs no added space, so a single backyard suite usually avoids a new pad or curb cut. A second or third ARU adds one space each.
- Grading, drainage and trees. A Grading and Drainage Certificate and, where trees come out, a tree permit are part of approval. The City notes that Forestry, Engineering and Hydro reviews, such as for voltage lines, can further limit where a suite can go.
- School board charges. The City says Education Development Charges set by the Halton school boards may apply to detached ARUs.
- Incentives you cannot count on. The City's ARU Incentive Program closed to applications on 1 October 2025. Its program page lists the zoning and building permit fee waivers as available until 31 December 2025, while the older step-by-step guide still says ARU fees are waived, so confirm current fees with the City.
- An existing garage. The City publishes a Garage Conversion Toolkit for turning a garage into a separate dwelling unit. Whether yours can carry a dwelling is a structural and code question we check on site.
How we build it
Modular crane-in — the slab and utilities go in on site while the unit is built on a factory floor. One crane day, less weather exposure. The pick has to physically work from the street or a neighbour's yard, and we confirm that before you commit to a module.
Full custom — foundation-up, better suited to irregular lots or to matching an existing house closely.
See how we draw: the plans we work from. Burlington does not run a pre-approved catalogue, so those are a starting point that gets adapted to your zone.
The Burlington sequence
- Feasibility — zone, survey, trees, whether the property qualifies at all
- Site assessment, including any existing accessory building and crane access
- Plan adapted to your zone, with parking confirmed against the ARU count
- Pre-Building Approval application
- Building permit
- Construction and inspections to occupancy
Nearby
Burlington and Oakville sit next door and get treated as one market, which is a mistake on paper — Oakville's detached additional unit rules differ on unit mix and on what the Town publishes. Further along the 401, Milton ties its unit ceiling to municipal servicing and requires registration. Down the QEW, Hamilton calls a garden suite a detached ADU. Also our services and modular vs site-built, and Home.
For the wider picture: what a garden suite is, and garden suite rules across six GTA municipalities, and garden suite cost in Ontario.
FAQ
Sources
- City of Burlington — Additional Residential Units
- City of Burlington — Steps to Build an Additional Residential Unit (ARU)
- City of Burlington — Pre-Building Approval Application
- City of Burlington — Additional Residential Unit Incentive Program
- City of Burlington — ARU Look-up Tool
Municipal rules, fees, and programs change. Confirm current requirements with the city at application. Modular X provides exact pricing only after a site-specific feasibility review.