Garden & Secondary Suites in Sherwood Park (Strathcona County), Alberta
In Sherwood Park the term is "garden suite," not garage suite — and the rules are Strathcona County's, not a city's. What's allowed, the real fees, and why rents beat Edmonton's.
Sherwood Park allows a home plus one suite — two units — under Strathcona County’s rules, not a city’s. The legal term here is “garden suite,” not “garage suite.” There’s no grant, but the County has publicly committed to more suites, and local rents run above Edmonton’s.
HouseLyft helps homeowners in Sherwood Park, Alberta work out what their lot legally permits, what a suite will cost to build, what it should earn, and which programmes actually apply — then connects them with a vetted builder.
Two things trip people up in Sherwood Park before they even reach the rules — and both are easy to get right once you know them.
First, Sherwood Park isn’t a city. It has no municipal government of its own; it’s the urban heart of Strathcona County, a “specialized municipality,” and in a 1987 plebiscite more than 88% of residents voted to keep that unified governance. So every bylaw, fee and program that applies to your suite is the County’s — not a Sherwood Park city hall’s.
Second, “garage suite” isn’t a term the bylaw uses at all. Here the word is garden suite, defined to include a unit combined with an accessory building — which is what covers an above-garage unit. If you’re searching or filing under “garage suite,” you’re using a label the County’s rules don’t recognise.
What you can build
Under Land Use Bylaw 24-2024, a secondary suite is a permitted use in any zone that allows single, semi-detached or townhouse homes. A garden suite is permitted in the R1A, R1B and R1C zones (but not R1D or R1E). You can’t have both unless the lot is 0.4 hectares or larger — so a normal Sherwood Park lot gets one suite: two units total.
A garden suite in R1A is capped at 68 m² (rising to 125 m² above 0.4 ha), one-and-a-half storeys and 6.5 m over a detached garage (8.0 m with lane access). It gets no basement, and lots under 0.125 ha need lane access. Parking is one stall per suite, waivable where the lot has two on-site spaces plus lane and authorised street parking.
2Units permitted
Up to 68 m²Garden suite size
NoneMunicipal grant
What it costs
Strathcona County’s 2026 fees stack in components rather than a single number, so it’s worth pricing them out rather than trusting one headline figure:
Development permit
Read why →Development permit
a garden suite is $225 as a permitted use, or $315 where it’s discretionary and needs neighbour notification; a secondary suite is $90
← BackBuilding permit
Read why →Building permit
a secondary or garden suite is charged at $0.45/sq ft, plus a Safety Codes Council levy of 4%
← BackOn incentives: there’s no cash grant for a homeowner. What there is instead is intent — the County’s Housing Affordability Strategy sets a target of 35 new market-rental garden or secondary suites a year, which at least means the County publicly wants these built rather than resisting them.
What a Sherwood Park suite earns
Here’s a genuine, checkable argument for building here. As of 2025, the Strathcona County rental zone averaged $1,610 for a one-bedroom and $1,913 for a two-bedroom — and that two-bedroom figure sits above Edmonton’s ($1,603), in a market where rents have grown slowly (about 11% over five years, the lowest of the Edmonton-area municipalities). One note on the data: CMHC reports this as Strathcona County, which includes rural areas, not Sherwood Park alone, and medians run a little below these averages — so we model your specific unit rather than lean on the zone number.
The backdrop supports it: Strathcona County is roughly 80% single-detached homes — the highest share in the region — with the lowest core housing need, and a large commuter base.
What we do — and what we don’t
HouseLyft establishes whether a project stands up before anyone spends money on drawings: what your lot permits under the County’s bylaw, what a suite costs to build, and what it should earn. Where it works, we hand you to a vetted builder and stay involved. Where it doesn’t, we say so.
We are not a lender and we do not sell mortgages.
One correction worth carrying, because it is still advertised widely: the federal $80,000 Secondary Suite Loan was cancelled in Budget 2025 and never launched. Our financing guide sets out what is actually live.
Serving Sherwood Park and the region
We work across Sherwood Park and the surrounding communities, including Edmonton, St. Albert and Spruce Grove — where the unit rules, terminology and fees differ materially from Strathcona County’s. The full list is on our service areas page.
We also handle multiplex development and planning and permits across the region.
Common questions about Sherwood Park suites
A garden suite. Strathcona County’s bylaw doesn’t use the term “garage suite” — an above-garage unit is defined as a garden suite. Use that when you search or apply.
Strathcona County. Sherwood Park has no separate city government, so every bylaw, fee and program is the County’s.
One on a normal lot — a home plus one secondary or garden suite, for two units. You can only have both a secondary and a garden suite on a lot of 0.4 hectares or larger.
No cash grant exists. The County has a policy target of 35 new rental suites a year, but that’s a commitment to permit them, not funding. The cancelled federal $80,000 loan never launched.
The Strathcona County two-bedroom average is above Edmonton’s, though the market has grown slowly. We’d model your specific unit rather than rely on the zone average, which includes rural areas.
How this page was checked
Verified 20 July 2026, claim by claim — every figure above traced to the instrument it comes from.
Municipal rules and fees change — confirm current terms with Strathcona County before committing to a project.
Find out what your Sherwood Park lot allows
Enter your address and we’ll come back with what your property permits under the County’s bylaw, what a suite would cost to build, and what it should earn.
- What your lot allows
- What it should earn
- Which programmes apply
Illustrative — your report is built from your own address.