Barrhaven homeowners found themselves on the wrong side of Ottawa's driveway rules and went to the press about it. CBC reported residents describing the by-law as "a blunt instrument" and the enforcement as inconsistent — some properties pursued, others with similar driveways left alone.
The City has since moved on from the by-law at the centre of that story. The Private Approach By-law (No. 2003-447) was replaced by the Access By-law (No. 2026-139) on 8 April 2026, and the City ran a public review before that. What changed →
The wrong lesson
The comfortable reading is: enforcement is patchy, so the rules are optional. We hear a version of this on the phone most weeks — usually as "my neighbour did it and nothing happened."
Inconsistent enforcement is not the same as no enforcement, and it is a worse bet than either. It means the risk is real but unpredictable: you cannot look at your street and infer anything reliable about your own exposure. An access built without a permit does not become lawful through the passage of time, and unpermitted work in the right of way can be subject to removal at the owner's expense. That is a five-figure downside on a five-figure project.
The right lesson
The residents who got hurt in that story mostly were not scofflaws. They were people who did not know the right of way rules existed, hired someone who also did not know or did not say, and found out afterwards. The defence is boring and cheap:
- Find out what your frontage permits before you design anything. Work out your maximum →
- Get it in writing from the City, not from a contractor. A Development Information Officer will answer property-specific questions at 613-580-2424 ext. 23434 or dioinquiry@ottawa.ca.
- Ask any contractor whether they hold a City of Ottawa hardscaping contractor licence. It is mandatory for any business paving an access here.
- Keep the paperwork. The permits are issued to you, the owner, and they are what you will want if a complaint ever lands.
You are not the first and it is not necessarily a disaster. Talk to a Development Information Officer about your specific property before you do anything else — including before you widen it further, which is the move that tends to draw attention. We can look at whether a compliant design is achievable, but we are not going to pretend the problem isn't there.
Barrhaven specifics
Barrhaven is urban for the purposes of the width rules, so the general maximum is 6 metres, with all accesses together capped at 50% of your frontage. Many Barrhaven lots are narrow enough that the combined cap is what actually limits you, and the front walkway is often the thing to look at first.
The front yard parking hold is particularly relevant here, since gaining a parking space at the front is a common motive for widening on these lots.
Want to know where you stand?
Send the address. We'll tell you what the current by-law permits on your frontage, and be straight with you if there's a problem.