The pre-consultation meeting: what to bring
One meeting decides which studies you will pay for. Walk in with a sketch and a zoning check; walk out with the list.
What it is
Before most planning applications (a severance, a minor variance of any size, a rezoning, a site plan), Ontario municipalities ask for, and many require, a pre-consultation meeting. Planning staff and the commenting departments and agencies (engineering, transportation, forestry, the conservation authority, the region where it is two-tier) look at what you propose and tell you what the application must contain. Municipalities set their own pre-consultation rules and fees; the municipality's page in force prevails.
Who attends
From the city: the file planner and representatives of the departments that will comment. From your side: you or your consultant, and sometimes the designer or surveyor. ADB attends for its clients and runs the meeting from the sketch.
What to bring
- A concept sketch. The lot, the proposed lots or buildings, setbacks and parking, to scale. It does not have to be a drawing set; it has to be clear.
- The zoning check. The zone, the exceptions, and the numbers you meet and the ones you do not. Read how to read your zoning by-law.
- A survey if you have one, or the registered plan and the parcel register. Without a survey, the planners will usually ask for one as a submission requirement.
- Photos of the lot, the street and the neighbours' homes; they show the character the committee will compare you against.
- Servicing facts. Where water, sanitary and storm connect, and whether there is a second connection available.
- Your questions. Which approvals apply, which studies, which fees, the timeline, and whether there is a fallback the planners would support.
What you leave with
A written summary (in many municipalities a formal pre-consultation form or letter) listing the applications required, the studies and plans to submit (survey, site plan, tree inventory, functional servicing, stormwater, noise, heritage, arborist, traffic, as applicable), the fees, and the planners' first view of the proposal. That list is the budget for the planning stage. Studies that are not on the list are not needed; studies that are on it are not optional.
Mistakes we see
- Arriving with a finished drawing set that the zoning does not allow.
- No sketch at all, so the planners cannot comment and the meeting is repeated.
- Treating the study list as negotiable after the meeting.
- Skipping the conservation authority when the lot is near a watercourse or slope.
Where ADB fits
The pre-consultation is in ADB's planning stage: we prepare the sketch and the zoning check, attend, and turn the study list into the planning budget and schedule. See how it works. The pre-consultation checklist on this site is the list we bring.
Sources
General information, not legal or planning advice for a specific property. Pre-consultation requirements differ by municipality. Checked 14 November 2026.