Thank you to Lulu for sharing this information with us. She wrote to the mayor of Wasaga beach regarding the square footage of building in the area and below is the response. I share this so that others will know that Clearview allows 400 square foot minimum which is a right sized house for many of you.
Good afternoon Lulu: Further to your last email and as promised, I have been in touch with the Manager of Planning and Development Review. During our conversation, it was suggested that he have staff reach out to the nearby Municipalities to determine their zoning requirements for minimum gross floor area for single detached dwellings. The minimum gross floor areas range from a minimum of 400ft2 in Clearview to 1,290ft2 in the Town of the Blue Mountains. Note that in Wasaga Beach, the Zoning By-Law stipulates a minimum g.f.a. of 1,000ft2 for single detached dwelling. Of the nine municipalities surveyed, the average minimum g.f.a. is 916ft2.
Doug, the Manager of Planning, has commented that in Wasaga Beach, there have been a few instances where land owners have applied to the Committee of Adjustment for a variance to the Zoning By-Law to recognize long existing cottages which were constructed at less than 1000ft2 before the Zoning By-Law was adopted. There have not been applications submitted to permit the construction of new single detached dwellings at less than the minimum 1000ft2. In the absence of a demonstrated need, there is no current impetus for the Town to perform a general policy review on minimum dwelling sizes. Individual landowners do however have the option of submitting an application for Zoning By-Law Amendment along with a planning justification in support of such a proposal. Each application is judged on its individual merit and fit to the surrounding neighbourhood.
At this point, I would encourage you to speak directly with Doug if you wish to pursue the matter and submit an application for Zoning By-Law Amendment. Please let Doug know if you have a specific property in mind as this will help with the discussion. He can be reached at (removed by THO to avoid spam bots ******)
Trusting that this has answered your questions.
Best regards,
Brian Smith
Mayor
Town of Wasaga Beach
Here is an example of a 400 square foot floorplan
Tiny House Ontario 
Hi Laura, I’m a young senior and would like to have a tiny house, could you give me some ideas as to who builds in the area (Clearview Wasaga Beach etc.)
Here’s a copy of the Clearview by-law. http://clearviewplanning.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/general-provisions1.pdf It actually is very straight-forward as far as dwelling unit standards are concerned (clause 2.5 on page 41) as it appears that this township makes no difference between a dwelling that is meant to be a stand alone home and an apartment dwelling (accessory apartments inside a home are treated differently, though, and rightfully so). As long as everything else is built to the Ontario Building Code, you can go as small as 37 square meters (398.26 square feet).
If its a tiny house on wheels, that means I don’t have to worry about a permit right?
No this is not the case. Most municipalities do not allow you to live on wheels or on undeveloped land in them. There are a lot of rules that make things difficult for the tiny house community.
I’m a bit of an anarchist, I guess. I have trouble with the whole idea of us worrying about whether our neighbour’s house is big enough, even after my cousin lectured me about someone whose house would make hers less valuable. Maybe the problem is our standards, and our souls, rather than our property values. But I digress. I had my eye on the “perfect” place to live until I called and found out I’d have to build a minimum 2000 square feet with a three car garage. I didn’t want to live there anymore. So, our family of six, plus two sets of grandparents, bought an 800 square foot cottage last summer, and we plan to retire there. I need enough space for the grands four kids could potentially give us!
I’m a bit of an anarchist, I guess. I have trouble with the whole idea of us worrying about whether our neighbour’s house is big enough, even after my cousin lectured me about someone whose house would make hers less valuable. Maybe the problem is our standards, and our souls, rather than our property values. But I digress. I had my eye on the “perfect” place to live until I called and found out I’d have to build a minimum 2000 square feet with a three car garage. I didn’t want to live there anymore. So, our family of six, plus two sets of grandparents, bought an 800 square foot cottage last summer, and we plan to retire there. I need enough space for the grands four kids could potentially give us!
Would be nice if all municipalities in Simcoe County would be open to sqf 400! Thanks for sharing
I would like to see Canada set it at 300 across the board