Change of Use Applicable Law Checklist
Your proposed plans are required to be approved in principle by the Ministry of Education prior to a change of use permit being issued. Written approval from the Ministry is required to be submitted as a part of your building permit application.
Information regarding child-care licensing and access to the Child Care Licensing System used for submitting your plans can be found on the Ministry of Educations website.
Construction, or changing the use, of a building within a well head protection area requires review by the risk management officer for Oxford County. The risk management officer must issue a clearance notice under section 59 of the Clean Water Act prior to issuance of a building permit in these areas.
Residential development is exempt from requiring a clearance notice however on-site sewage systems serving the residential development is not exempt.
To determine if your project is located within a well protection area, you may reference the Oxford County interactive mapping tool and turn on the Wellhead Protection Area A-D layer.
The Source Water Protection: Restricted Land Use Review Form must be completed and submitted to Oxford County for review.
If you are proposing to change the use of a building or property in any of the following ways; a record of site condition may be required.
- Change the use from industrial or commercial to residential or parkland
- Change the use from industrial to agricultural or institutional
- Change the use from commercial to agricultural or institutional
- Change the use from commercial to more than one use including agricultural, institutional, parkland, or residential.
- Change the use from a community use to more than one type of use, including agricultural, institutional, parkland, or residential.
- Change the use from an industrial, commercial, or community use to a community use that is an assembly occupancy with an indoor swimming pool, indoor ice rink, indoor arena, enclosed stadium, indoor sports field, or an indoor gymnasium.
Additional information regarding environmental site assessments and records of site conditions is available on the Province of Ontario’s website.
If your project meets any of the above criteria, an environmental site assessment may be required. Please contact a qualified company for details on environmental site assessments.
Where required, a copy of the record of site condition must be submitted with the building permit application.
A Certificate of Property Use may be issued by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks when a risk assessment has been accepted in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act.
Where applicable, a copy of the Certificate of Property Use must be submitted with the building permit application.
Plants used for the transfer or processing of milk or cream require a construction permit issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness.
Information regarding applications for a permit to construct or alter a dairy plant can be found on the Ministry’s website.
A copy of the construction permit must be submitted with the building permit application.
A residential condominium conversion project involves the conversion of an existing building into residential condominium units.
Prior to applying for a building permit to perform construction related to a residential condominium conversion, the condominium must be registered with the Condominium Authority of Ontario (CAO).
Confirmation of the following facts from the CAO must be submitted with the building permit application:
- the fact that the residential condominium conversion project, the units or proposed units of it and the common elements of it have qualified for enrolment in the Plan or have been enrolled in the Plan, as the case may be;
- the fact that the builder of the project holds a licence as a builder under the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017 in respect of the project; and,
- the fact that the vendor of the project holds a licence as a vendor under the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017 in respect of the project.
Development proposed within the following zones are subject to Site Plan Control:
- Agri-Business (AB)
- Residential Type 3 (R3)
- Village (V)
- Central Commercial (CC)
- Highway Commercial (HC)
- Restricted Industrial (MR)
- General Industrial (MG)
- Institutional (I)
- Recreational (REC)
- All special zones where the zone symbols are followed by a dash and a number (e.g. R2-1)
Despite being located in one of the zones listed above, the following types of projects are exempt from requiring Site Plan Control approval:
- Single detached dwelling and uses buildings or structures accessory thereto
- Semi-detached dwelling and uses buildings or structures accessory thereto
- Duplex dwelling and uses buildings or structures accessory thereto
- Converted dwelling containing a maximum of two dwelling units and uses buildings or structures accessory thereto
- Buildings or structures used for an agricultural use but not including agricultural-commercial, agricultural-industrial operations, or other uses permitted in the Agri-Business Zone (AB)
Where a project is subject to Site Plan Control, final approval of the following must be obtained through the Site Plan Control process prior to the issuance of a building permit:
- Site plans showing the location of all buildings and structures to be erected.
- Site plans showing the location of all facilities and works to be provided in conjunction with the development.
- Architectural drawings (plan, elevation, and cross-section views) for each building to be erected, except for residential buildings containing fewer than 25 dwelling units.
Information regarding the Site Plan Control process can be found here.