Request for a Minister's Zoning Order to increase the permitted size of a Place of Worship in a Residential Area

A Minister’s Zoning Order, made pursuant to clause 47(1)(a) of the Planning Act, regulates the use of land and the erection, location and use of any building or structure on the land, and prevails over the existing municipal zoning by-law to the extent there is any conflict. 

The Minister is considering a request from MHBC Planning on behalf of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at to make a Minister’s Zoning Order for lands at 63 Barker Avenue, in the City of Toronto (City). This request has written support from the Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism. 

The property is located in the Toronto Ward 19 (Beaches-East York) in a neighbourhood generally characterized as residential. The nearest arterial roads are Coxwell 200 metres to the west, Woodbine 200 metres to the east, Cosburn 150 metres to the north and Mortimer 100 metres to the south. The property is approximately 311.8 m² in area with a frontage of approximately 7.6 metres on Barker Avenue. Barker Avenue is categorized under the Toronto’s Road Classification System as a local road. See link to location map below. 

Located on subject lands is an existing one-storey building built in the 1920s, previously used as a place of worship by Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at and currently under renovation. A The lands are zoned Residential Semi-Detached (RS (f10.5; a325; d0.75) (x312) in the City of Toronto Zoning By-law 569-2013 and designated Neighbourhoods in the City’s official plan.  

The requested Zoning Order seeks to facilitate the redevelopment of the site with a three-storey place of worship and residential unit for clergy by permitting a Place of Worship, Uses Accessory to a Place of Worship including a dwelling unit associated with a clergy residence; and Additional uses permitted in the Residential Semi-Detached (RS) Zone, as set out in Article 10.40.20: Permitted Uses of the zoning by-law, subject to relief from the existing RS zone provisions, as follows:

1. The maximum permitted lot coverage is 70%: 220 square metres.
2. A Place of Worship is permitted on a lot with a front lot line or side lot line abutting a street that is not a major street.
3. A Place of Worship is permitted on a lot with a minimum required lot area of 300 square metres.
4. A Place of Worship is permitted on a lot with a minimum required lot frontage of 7.5 metres.
5. The maximum permitted height of any building or structure, measured to the top of the main wall, is 13 metres, with exception that a minaret, steeple, or similar architectural element on the Place of Worship building may exceed the permitted maximum height of the building by 5.0 metres, up to 18 metres, measured to the top of the minaret, steeple, or similar architectural element.
6. The maximum permitted Floor Space Index is 3.0 times the area of the lot, with the maximum Gross Floor Area being 935 square metres.
7. The minimum required front yard setback is 0 metres from the front (north) lot line.
8. The minimum required rear yard setback is 10.0 metres for a Place of Worship and 2.3 metres for a pergola from the rear (south) lot line.
9. The minimum required side yard setback is 0.5 metres from the east lot line and 0.4 metres from the west lot line.
10. The minimum required side yard setback for a pergola is the required minimum side yard setback for the place of worship on the lot.
11. No soft landscaping is required in the front yard of a Place of Worship.
12. No soft landscaping shall be required along the side (east and west) lot lines abutting a residential zone.
13. The maximum permitted lot coverage for ancillary buildings or structures, including a Pergola, is 13%: 40 square metres.
14. The minimum required number of accessible parking spaces shall be 0 spaces.
15. The minimum required number of bicycle parking spaces shall be 0 spaces.
16. Waste and recyclable materials shall also be permitted to be stored within a pergola.

The requested zoning order also seeks to exempt the development from the application of site plan approval pursuant to clause 47(4.3)(a) of the Planning Act and to exempt the Provincial Planning Statement, provincial plans and official plans from applying to downstream approvals for the subject lands pursuant to subsection 47(4.0.1) of the Planning Act. 

This request is being made to facilitate the timely construction of a new place of worship on the subject lands.

To help ensure decisions are made in a transparent manner and support government priorities, the Ministry is seeking feedback on whether this request should be considered and any additional information that may help inform a decision. In particular, any potential environmental risks, financial impacts on the municipality or implications for other approved developments and how these can be mitigated. 

This proposal for an MZO is posted for consultation as a “regulation” notice type due to webform template formatting limitations. However, as a result of amendments to section 47 of the Planning Act by Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, which received Royal Assent on November 27, 2025, the proposed MZO, if made, will not be a regulation and will not be filed with the Registrar of Regulations.