Ottawa Fence Bylaw, Section by Section: Heights, Hedges, the City's Strip and Shared Fences

Ottawa's Fence By-law, No. 2003-462, allows a fence of 1 metre in a front yard and 213 centimetres in any other yard of a residential property, drops to 75 cm inside two visibility triangles, and needs no building permit, though a fence that encloses a pool needs a pool enclosure permit. The finished side faces the street and the neighbours. And no fence may stand on City property, which, the City says, usually extends onto what looks like your front lawn.

Everything below is read from the City's own consolidation of the Fence By-law, current to May 9, 2018 and carrying five amending by-laws, and from the Ontario statutes beside it, all on 23 September 2026. The heights are summarised on our page of fence companies in Ottawa. The whole by-law is below, followed by what it leaves to other laws: where your lot ends, who pays for a fence on the line, and the strip the City owns.

What are the regulations for fences in Ottawa?

The by-law has 32 sections. These are the ones that decide a house:

Two of those sections catch people out. Section 3 means a fence along a change in level is measured from the high side, so the neighbour below can be looking at more than 213 cm and the fence can still be legal. It also means building a berm and measuring from its top does not work: the definition of grade leaves berms out. The only ground section 10 accepts for a taller fence is public health or safety, so a wish for privacy does not qualify.

Which part of your yard is the front yard?

The 1 m limit applies to the front yard, and the by-law's definition is narrower than the everyday one.

• The front lot line of an ordinary lot is the one dividing it from the street. On a corner lot, it is the shorter of the two lines that meet a street. On a lot with a street at both ends, it is the one used for the main entrance.
• The front yard runs across the full width of the lot, between the front lot line and the nearest point of the house.
• A side yard runs from the front yard to the rear yard, between a side lot line and the house.

Read together, those definitions put the longer street side of a corner lot in a side yard, where section 5 allows 213 cm, not 1 m, apart from the 3 m triangle at the corner. Google's AI Overview for this search, read 2026-09-23, says the 1 m limit applies to any yard facing a street. The by-law's own definitions do not say that. The City's consolidation also carries a disclaimer that it is for reference only, so call 3-1-1 before you build tall along a flanking street, and go in knowing what the text says.

Can my neighbour put up a 7-foot fence?

In a side or rear yard, very nearly. Seven feet is 213.36 cm and the cap is 213 cm, about 4 mm under. Section 6 then allows a gate 30 cm higher, so 243 cm, an entrance archway up to 250 cm, and post caps 15 cm over. In a front yard the answer is no: 1 m is about 3 feet 3 inches.

Before you decide it is too tall, check three things.

1. Which side is higher. Height is taken from the higher grade, so a fence that looks tall from a lower yard may measure within the limit from the neighbour's side.
2. Whether it is a fence at all. The definition of "fence", as amended by By-law 2018-161, ends with the words does not include a hedge. A cedar hedge taller than anything the by-law allows is outside the Fence By-law.
3. How old it is. Section 23 protects a fence lawfully built under the by-law of a former municipality before January 1, 2004. Section 30 lists the fence by-laws it repealed, in whole or in part, from Cumberland, Gloucester, Goulbourn, Nepean, Rockcliffe Park, Vanier and Kanata.

If it still looks over the limit, the City's by-law violation page lists fence height among the complaints to report by calling 3-1-1. An officer examines the complaint. The City says a courtesy warning is often issued on a first offence, that continued violations can lead to fines or court, and that your name stays confidential unless the matter goes to court, where you would likely be needed as a witness. Section 25 makes it an offence to own or maintain a non-complying fence, not only to build one, and section 28 lets the court order that the offence not continue.

How close to the property line can I put a fence?

The Fence By-law sets no distance from a private side or rear lot line. None of its 32 sections contains one. Its limits are height, the two triangles, the finished side, and section 14's ban on City property. So the real questions are where the line is and whose fence it will be.

Where the line is

The City says plainly on its property ownership pagethat it does not regulate property lines, which are a provincial matter. Its advice is to consult a registered survey of the property: a buyer's lawyer usually provides one if it exists, and there may be a copy at the Land Registry Office in the courthouse at 180 Elgin Street. If no survey exists, a private surveyor has to make one. The City's geoOttawa map shows lot lines as yellow lines on its Property Parcels layer, and the City calls them approximate.

Easements on the title

The City describes two easements that change where a fence can go. Townhouse developers usually have end-unit buyers agree to leave rear access for the middle units, including a gate if the end unit fences its yard. The City treats that as a civil matter, not a by-law. Utility easements can carry a height restriction for structures, and blocking one is between you and the utility.

Which way it faces

Section 15 applies wherever the fence sits. The finished side, meaning both sides look the same or the side away from you shows no posts, faces the neighbour and the street. The City calls it a good neighbour policy.

Who pays for a fence on the property line?

Ontario's Line Fences Act answers this for a fence that marks the boundary, and the province says only in two situations: there is no fence and one owner wants one, or there is a line fence and one owner thinks it needs rebuilding or repair, and the two cannot agree.

• Section 3 lets an owner construct and keep up a fence marking the boundary.
• The request goes to the municipal clerk on the prescribed form, Form 1, Request for Fence-Viewers (section 4 (1)). The clerk has to set an arbitration day no more than 30 days after the request is received and at least a week after notice is served (section 4 (3)).
• Three fence-viewers examine the property and may hear evidence under oath (section 7).
• The default is half each. The award, signed by any two of the three, either gives each owner a designated half of the fence to build and maintain, or has one owner build it and the other pay half the cost. The viewers can depart from that where it would be unjust, and the award also fixes the fence's location, its description and its materials (section 8 (1)).

The province lists what the Act will not do. It will not make a neighbour contribute to a fence you have already built on your own initiative. It will not settle where the boundary is: Municipalities and their fence-viewers have no jurisdiction to deal with boundary issues. And it does not apply to public highways (section 25). A dissatisfied owner has 15 days from receiving a certified copy of the award to appeal.

Two more sections answer questions that come up between neighbours. Section 21 stops an owner of part of a line fence from taking it down without at least six months' notice to the neighbour, subject to the payment rules in the Act. Section 22 says that if a tree falls on a line fence, the owner of the land it stood on removes it and repairs the fence, and if they have not done so 48 hours after written notice, the neighbour may.

We could not confirm whether the fence-viewer process covers your street. The province says a council may pass a by-law exempting all or part of its municipality, section 26 of the Act switches the Act off wherever such a by-law applies, and the province's advice is to ask your municipality. We could not find a current City of Ottawa page stating which areas are covered, so call 3-1-1, which the City names as the number for information on any by-law, and ask before you file anything.

Does the City own part of my yard in Ottawa?

Usually, yes, at the front. The City's right of way questions page answers it directly: The edge of a sidewalk / roadway, or end of a front lawn usually does not delineate private property boundaries. The City's right of way usually extends onto front lawns.

The right of way is the City-owned land holding the road, the shoulder, the sidewalk, the entrances to driveways and walkways, and the boulevard beside private property. The City uses it to plant trees, store snow until it melts or is hauled away, manage stormwater, and carry utilities above and below ground.

For a fence, three by-laws close that strip:

• Section 14 of the Fence By-law: no fence on City property, including any public highway.
• Section 3 of the Use and Care of Roads By-law 2003-498: no person other than the City may erect a fence, build a wall, or plant a hedge in, over or upon a highway. The same section bars a gate that swings outward over a sidewalk or a road. The hedge exclusion in the Fence By-law does not reach this far.
• The Encroachments on City Highways By-law 2003-446: its definition of "highway" includes the whole area between the lateral property lines, not only the pavement, and its list of permanent surface encroachments names both "fence" and "hedge". Section 3 (2) says no person shall erect one. Section 4's only exceptions are an encroachment that existed before the by-law was enacted and a barrier-free ramp. Under sections 93 and 94, if a removal notice is not complied with within ten days, the City may remove the encroachment at the owner's cost and add that cost to the property tax roll.

The City still hands you the upkeep. Under the Use and Care of Roads By-law, the owner of land zoned residential is responsible for cutting the long grass and weeds on the City-owned boulevard next to it, so you maintain a strip you may not fence. The City's boulevard gardening rules cap plantings at 1 m, or 0.75 m inside the corner visibility triangle, and require utility locates and hand tools only for any digging there.

To see where the City's land ends, open geoOttawa, search the address, choose the Layer List, turn on Property Parcels and switch to the satellite view. The yellow lines are approximate. If a front fence is going anywhere near them, the City's advice is a licensed surveyor.

Do you need a permit to build a fence in Ottawa?

No building permit, to build a fence or to replace one. The City's building permit questions pagesays so and adds that the fence still has to comply with the Fence By-law. The exception is a pool. The City's full list of projects that need no permit, fences among them, is quoted in our Ottawa handyman cost guide.

Pool fences are a separate by-law

If the fence will enclose a pool, a hot tub or a pond, the Pool Enclosure By-law, No. 2013-39, applies. The City states that a pool enclosure permit is needed even when an existing fence already surrounds the yard, and section 2 of that by-law says it prevails wherever it conflicts with the Fence By-law. Section 13 of the Fence By-law adds the trap: replacing a run of fence in a way that leaves an existing pool enclosure non-conforming is an offence, so check the pool rules before touching any stretch that forms part of the enclosure. The construction specifications are on the City's pool enclosure page, and they are the ones to build to.

Keeping it standing

Two by-laws cover a fence after it is built. The Fence By-law requires it to stay in good repair, safe, structurally sound, free of accident hazards and protected by paint or preservative, cedar, redwood and treated wood excepted, and section 17 requires graffiti to be removed or the surface refinished. The Property Standards By-law, No. 2013-416, section 10, repeats most of that for residential property and adds a requirement the Fence By-law does not have: a fence must be kept so as not to present an unsightly appearance. Both by-laws' definitions of a fence leave out hedges.

Before the first post goes in

1. Find the line: a registered survey, or a surveyor. geoOttawa is approximate.
2. Work out which yard each run sits in. On a corner lot, the front lot line is the shorter street side.
3. Measure from the higher grade, and ignore any berm.
4. Keep both 75 cm triangles clear: 3 m at a street corner, 2 m where the driveway meets the lot line.
5. Face the finished side out.
6. If it touches a pool enclosure, apply for the pool permit first.
7. If it sits on the line, agree the fence and the split with your neighbour, in writing.
8. Book the locate before digging. Our fencing page covers Ontario One Call and its five-day window, and our checklist on how to vet a contractor before you hire covers the company you pick.