Parking and servicing are separate property tests
A suite can be allowed as a housing form and still face site-specific parking or servicing conditions. These are exactly the kinds of facts that should not be guessed from a province-wide housing headline.
Parking: use the current zone and transit context
Check whether the municipality requires an additional space for the suite, counts existing spaces in a particular way, permits tandem arrangements, or removes minimums in a defined transit-oriented area. Provincial housing reforms have changed parking rules in some jurisdictions, so older secondary-suite handouts can be stale even when the suite itself remains permitted.
Do not infer a transit exemption from proximity alone
A property being “near transit” is not the same as being inside a legally defined transit-oriented area or other mapped exemption. Use the official municipal or provincial map and the current bylaw table when parking depends on location.
Municipal water and sewer
Where the parcel is connected to municipal systems, confirm whether the additional dwelling needs a new connection, meter, capacity review, utility fee or upgrade. The fact that the principal house already has service does not prove the existing infrastructure is sufficient for another unit.
Septic and private water
Rural or fringe properties can require a different approval path. Onsite sewage capacity, setbacks, reserve area and the responsible health/environment authority can be decisive. A municipality may allow the land use while the onsite system still has to be accepted by the authority that regulates it.
Other site constraints can affect service routing
Easements, rights-of-way, watercourses, flood or hazard areas, steep slopes and protected trees can affect where a detached unit or new service line can go. For detached ADUs in particular, resolve servicing before finalizing the building location.