Secondary suite — in the home
A self-contained unit inside your house, most often the basement: its own entrance, kitchen, bathroom and sleeping area. Usually the most affordable way to add a rental unit.
A legal suite pays you back. An illegal one costs you.
A secondary suite in your home — or a garden suite in your backyard — is one of the few renovations that earns its keep: rent every month, a more valuable property, and housing for family in between. But only a permitted suite gets you there. We design legal suites and handle the permits end to end in Edmonton, Sherwood Park and Strathcona County — starting with a free check of what your lot allows.
Start with a free zoning check. We tell you what’s possible before you pay for drawings.
01 Why legal matters
Why homeowners build legal suites
A permitted suite is an asset you can show a bank, a buyer or an insurer. An unpermitted one is a problem waiting for a complaint, a claim or a sale to expose it.
1
Rent that covers real costs
A legal suite can be rented openly, at market rates, with a proper lease — income that offsets a mortgage instead of hiding from the neighbours.
2
Value you can actually sell
A permitted suite is documented. When you sell or refinance, it supports the price instead of becoming the issue that stalls the deal.
3
Insurance that holds up
Insurers ask about suites. A permitted, code-compliant suite can be insured as what it is; an undisclosed one risks a denied claim after a fire or flood.
4
Family, close but separate
Parents, adult kids, or a future caregiver — a suite keeps family independent and nearby, in your basement or over the garage.
02 The two kinds
Basement suite or garden suite?
Garden suite — in the backyard
A detached unit on the same lot — over a garage or as a small standalone home. More construction, but it leaves the house untouched and adds a fully separate dwelling.
Legalizing an existing suite
Already have a suite that was built without permits? In many cases it can be brought into compliance. We assess what exists honestly, draw it as-built, and take it through permitting.
Suite as part of a bigger project
Building new or renovating anyway? Designing the suite in from the start is cheaper than retrofitting one later — we plan both together.
03 Key requirements
What a legal suite has to have
The exact rules depend on your municipality, your zoning district and your house — which is why the free check comes first. In general terms, a legal suite in our area needs:
A separate entrance for the suite’s occupants. Fire protection between the suite and the main home — rated separations, proper doors, and interconnected smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms. Safe ways out, including bedroom windows that work as emergency exits. Its own heating and ventilation, or an approved shared arrangement. Plumbing and servicing that can handle the added load.
Zoning adds its own layer: whether a suite is allowed on your lot at all, parking requirements, and size and placement rules for garden suites. None of this is guesswork — every item is checked against your address before design starts, so the suite we draw is a suite that can be approved.
04 Process — 04 steps
How it works
01
Free
Free zoning & feasibility check
We check your lot’s zoning, then look at the house itself — ceiling heights, windows, services — and tell you plainly whether a suite works.
02
Design
We lay out the suite to use the space well and meet the requirements: entrance, kitchen, bath, fire separation, sound control.
03
Drawings & permits
The full package — development and building permits — prepared and filed by us.
04
Through to approval
We answer the municipality’s questions until the permits are issued, and the drawings your builder works from are the approved ones.
05 Common questions
Questions, answered
It depends on a handful of practical things: ceiling height, window sizes, where the plumbing and furnace sit, and how a separate entrance can work. Many basements qualify; some need real changes. The feasibility check looks at exactly those points and gives you a straight answer before you spend on drawings.
In many Edmonton mature neighbourhoods, yes — the current zoning allows secondary suites and, on many lots, garden suites as well. Sherwood Park and Strathcona County have their own rules. Either way, it is lot-specific: the free check confirms what applies to your address.
Often, yes — zoning rules commonly require an additional parking stall for a suite, and garden suites have their own placement and access rules. We confirm the requirement for your lot during the check and design the site plan around it.
In many cases, yes. The process starts with documenting what is actually built, comparing it against the requirements, and fixing the gaps — sometimes minor, sometimes more involved. We assess it honestly first, so you know what legalizing would take before committing to it.
Timelines vary by municipality, by the project, and by how much construction the suite needs to comply. Design and permitting are the part we drive — and a complete, well-checked application is what keeps that part from dragging.
→ Keep exploring
Other services
Development permits
Zoning checked first, then a complete application prepared and filed.
Building permits
Full drawing packages that meet the Alberta Building Code.
Rezoning
Planning rationale and city presentation materials for zoning changes.
Tenant improvements
Permits and drawings for commercial build-outs.
Free Zoning check — No obligation
Find out if your lot can take a suite — free.
Send us the address. We check the zoning and tell you honestly whether a suite works there, and what it would take.
Phone
825-966-3884
Email
innovapermits@gmail.com
Innova Drafting & Permits Services — Edmonton & Sherwood Park, Alberta.