What is a granny pod, and is it the same as a garden suite?

The words are not interchangeable even between neighbouring cities, and several of them changed recently. Burnaby no longer calls these laneway homes at all: since June 2024 it regulates them as rear principal buildings, and they are permitted on lots without lanes. Port Moody deleted its detached accessory dwelling unit category in June 2024 and replaced it with an additional dwelling unit under small-scale multi-unit housing, so any page describing Port Moody laneway homes in the old terms is describing a category that no longer exists. In Coquitlam, a carriage house is a legacy form that survives only in the RT-1 zone, and it is defined as sitting primarily above a detached parking structure.

In Surrey the distinction is physical rather than historical: a garden suite is fully detached, while a coach house is above or attached to a garage and needs lane access in the smaller-lot zones. In Toronto the distinction is your lot: a laneway suite requires a rear or side lot line abutting a lane for at least 3.5 metres, a garden suite is the program for a lot without lane access, and a lot may not contain both.

This is worth more than a vocabulary lesson. Municipal size limits, height limits and parking rules attach to the named category, so quoting a figure from the wrong one produces a plan that does not get a permit. When we check an address, the first thing established is which category the municipality would review the project under.