The Ontario Building Code | Minimum Lighting Requirements
3.2.7.1. Minimum lighting="http://thehandyforce.com/electrical/" title ="East York Electrician">lighting Requirements
(1) An exit, a public corridor, a corridor providing access to exitfor the public, a corridor serving patients or residents in a Group B, Division 2 or 3 occupancy, a corridor serving classrooms, an electrical equipment room, a transformer vault and a hoistway pit shall be equipped to provide illumination to an average level not less than 50 lx at floor or tread level and at all points such as angles and intersections at changes of level where there are stairs or ramps.
(2) The minimum value of the illumination required by Sentence (1) shall not be less than 10 1x.
(3) Rooms and spaces used by the public shall be illuminated as described in Article 9.34.2.7.
(4) lighting="http://thehandyforce.com/electrical/" title ="East York Electrician">lighting outlets in a building of residential occupancy shall be provided in conformance with Subsection 9.34.2.
(5) Elevator machine rooms shall be equipped to provide illumination to an average level of not less than 100 lx at floor level.
(6) Every place of assembly intended for the viewing of motion pictures or the performing arts, shall be equipped to provide an average level of illumination at floor level in the aisles of not less than 2 lx during the viewing.
(7) Every area where food is intended to be processed, prepared or manufactured and where equipment or utensils are intended to be cleaned shall be equipped to provide illumination to a level of not less than 500 lx measured at the floor level.
(8) Every storage room, dressing room, sanitary facility, service area and corridor serving the areas in Sentence (7) shall be equipped to provide illumination to a level of not less than 300 lx measured at the floor level.
In Plain Language
This clause sets minimum lighting levels for different areas of a building: 50 lx generally in exits, public corridors, and similar areas, 100 lx in elevator machine rooms, 500 lx in food processing/prep areas, 300 lx in adjoining service areas, and only 2 lx in cinema or theatre aisles during a screening or performance, since low light is intentional there.
This is a plain-language summary of the 2012/2017 Ontario Building Code text above, for general understanding only and not a substitute for the Code. Always confirm current requirements against the 2024 edition (O.Reg. 163/24) or a qualified professional before construction.