The Home Almanac

Vol. I, MMXXVIThe Canadian home, in season655 stations, every province and territory

Backyard fire & fire-ban rules

Whether a backyard fire or fire pit is allowed where you live, for every Ontario municipality. Verified local bylaws are layered on top of the provincial fire restrictions so there is no dead end while the harvest continues.

Two layers decide it

Two layers decide whether you can have a fire today. First, your municipality's open-air burning bylaw sets whether backyard fires are allowed at all and whether you need a permit. Second, a temporary ban can be declared on top of that: a local fire chief can ban open-air fires city-wide during dry spells, and in the province's fire region (mostly central and northern Ontario, including cottage country) the Ministry can declare a Restricted Fire Zone under the Wildland Fire Management Act.

Ontario fire restrictions and the Forest Fire Information Map show provincial Restricted Fire Zones. Your city's page shows local bans.

Checking Ontario's live Restricted Fire Zone status…

Find your fire rule

Enter a town name or the first three postal-code characters.

Browse municipalities

Search by city or region, then filter by whether wood fires are allowed, need a permit, or are not allowed.

A few municipalities to start

Addington Highlands Lennox and Addington Addington Highlands allows campfires for cooking and warmth without a permit as long as they are no larger than 1 m in height and diameter, built on bare rock or mineral soil, and clear of vegetation or flammable material within 3 m. Between March 28 and October 31, no outdoor fires may be set from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. except for cooking and warmth. Brush piles must be under 2 m high and 2 m in diameter. Residents must not burn when relative humidity is below 60% or when it is windy, must avoid smoke nuisance, and must check for a fire ban before lighting any fire. Allowed with rules Adelaide-Metcalfe Middlesex Adelaide Metcalfe maps out restricted and non-restricted burning areas. No open fires are allowed in restricted areas such as the villages of Adelaide, Kerwood, Napier and Walker, subdivisions and the Highway 81 commercial area, except for small cooking barbecues or with Fire Chief approval. In non-restricted areas, residents must call Fire Dispatch immediately before starting a controlled fire, burn only dry untreated wood generated on the property, supervise the fire, keep extinguishing means available, and confine burning to daylight hours. Allowed with rules Alberton Rainy River Alberton does not require a permit for small residential fire pits, chimineas, burning barrels or residential incinerators, but all by-law conditions still apply. A general permit is required for brush or bonfires up to 3 cubic metres, grass burns up to 0.4 hectares, and agricultural or industrial burns. General permits cost $5 for the calendar year, agricultural/industrial permits cost $50 for 14 days, and residents must call 807-907-2282 before burning to activate the permit. Allowed with rules Alfred and Plantagenet Prescott and Russell Alfred and Plantagenet only requires a burn permit for open-air fires larger than 1 cubic metre (3 feet by 3 feet). Smaller fires must burn only dry firewood and be at least 5 metres from any main building, lot line, tree, hedge, fence, overhead wiring or combustible material. An outdoor fireplace must be a manufactured non-burnable enclosed container no larger than 1 cubic metre with a chimney and spark arrestor on a non-burnable surface, reducing setback to 2 metres. Burn permits cost $50 for 90 days and are available online or at Town Hall. Allowed with rules Algonquin Highlands Haliburton Algonquin Highlands prohibits daytime burning between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. from April 1 through October 31, and grass fires are strictly prohibited. Nighttime burning is allowed only between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. for a single pile no more than 2 metres in diameter and 2 metres high, at least 3 metres from flammable materials and supervised until extinguished. Campfires do not need a permit, must be less than 60 cm and confined in a fire pit. The MNR or Township can declare a fire ban covering all fires, including cooking and warmth fires. Allowed with rules Armour Parry Sound Armour allows recreational campfires without a permit as long as they are supervised at all times. No open-air fire may be set between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. from April through October, except where permitted. A permit is required if the pile is greater than 2 metres in diameter or height, for demolition-related burns, or for burning during prohibited hours. Recreational fires must use seasoned wood or commercially produced charcoal, be contained within a fire pit, and be at least 6 metres from adjacent properties and combustible structures. Allowed with rules Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Huron Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh maps out no-open-air-burning areas and open-air-burning areas. In no-burn areas, only barbecues and small confined fires in approved outdoor fire containers are allowed. An approved container must be non-combustible, no larger than 2 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet, have a screen, sit on a non-combustible base, and be at least 3 metres from combustibles. Only yard waste, charcoal, briquettes or seasoned wood may be burned; painted, treated, rubber, plastic, asphalt and toxic materials are prohibited. Allowed with rules Asphodel-Norwood Peterborough Asphodel-Norwood does not require a permit for small recreational fires used for cooking or warmth up to 1 square metre in size. Agricultural fires on rural properties of at least 5 acres need a free permit, while special-occurrence fires require both a permit and a site inspection ($25). Burn barrels are not permitted, and only wood, wood by-products, brush or leaves may be burned. Permits are issued online, expire December 31 each year, and must be activated before every fire by phone or online; all open-air burning is prohibited during a burn ban. Allowed with rules

Search and the region list below reach all 444 municipalities.

Browse by region

Open a region to scan every municipality there without scrolling a single long table.

Algoma 22 municipalities
Brant 2 municipalities
Bruce 9 municipalities
Chatham-Kent 1 municipality
Cochrane 13 municipalities
Dufferin 9 municipalities
Durham 9 municipalities
Eastern Ontario 1 municipality
Elgin 9 municipalities
Essex 10 municipalities
Frontenac 6 municipalities
Greater Toronto 1 municipality
Grey 10 municipalities
Haldimand 1 municipality
Haliburton 5 municipalities
Halton 5 municipalities
Hamilton and area 1 municipality
Hastings 17 municipalities
Huron 10 municipalities
Kawartha Lakes 1 municipality
Kenora 9 municipalities
Lambton 12 municipalities
Lanark 10 municipalities
Leeds and Grenville 14 municipalities
Lennox and Addington 5 municipalities
Manitoulin 9 municipalities
Middlesex 9 municipalities
Muskoka 7 municipalities
Niagara 13 municipalities
Nipissing 11 municipalities
Norfolk 1 municipality
Northumberland 8 municipalities
Oxford 9 municipalities
Parry Sound 22 municipalities
Peel 4 municipalities
Perth 7 municipalities
Peterborough 10 municipalities
Prescott and Russell 9 municipalities
Prince Edward 1 municipality
Rainy River 10 municipalities
Renfrew 19 municipalities
Simcoe 19 municipalities
Southwestern Ontario 1 municipality
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry 8 municipalities
Sudbury 10 municipalities
Thunder Bay 15 municipalities
Timiskaming 23 municipalities
Waterloo 7 municipalities
Waterloo and Wellington 1 municipality
Wellington 9 municipalities
York 10 municipalities

Tap a municipality for the full rule, whether a permit is needed, gas versus wood, and the source link with the date it was checked.

Fire and fire-ban questions

Can I have a backyard fire pit in Ontario?

It depends entirely on your municipality. Some places allow a contained recreational fire, some require a permit, and some do not allow backyard wood fires at all. Gas and propane fire pits are usually treated separately. Find your municipality below.

How do I check if there is a fire ban today?

Two things can stop a fire even where it is normally allowed. Your local fire department can declare a temporary municipal ban in dry weather, posted on the city site. And in the province’s fire region (central and northern Ontario, including cottage country), the Ministry can declare a Restricted Fire Zone. Check the Ontario fire restrictions page and the Forest Fire Information Map before lighting one.

Are propane or gas fire pits allowed?

Almost always, yes. Gas and propane units are not open-air wood burning, so they sit outside most burning bylaws, though they still must be used safely and away from anything combustible. In cities that ban backyard wood fires, an approved gas unit is the compliant way to have a fire.

How this page was made

Each verified local rule is taken from the municipality's open-air burning bylaw or fire-department page. Baseline rows use Ontario fire restrictions, last checked on 2026-06-24.

This is a plain-language summary, not the bylaw, and not legal advice. Open-air burning rules and bans change quickly, especially in dry weather. Always check your municipality's page and today's ban status before you light anything.

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