Building permit guides & data reports

Where to get building permit data in Canada: StatCan's monthly survey, city open data portals, and PermitIndex's searchable Toronto permit index.

Two ways to check a Toronto building permit status, plus what each status code means, from Application Received through Permit Issued and Inspection.

How to find the permit history of a house in Toronto: free open-data search by address, the City's status tool, and how to request the full building file.

Three ways to see Toronto building permits on a map: the City's status tool, the open dataset, and a live searchable map of permits near any address.

Toronto building permits are public record. Here is where to look one up by address, what each status means, and the parts the City does not publish.

Three ways to look up a Toronto building permit: by address, by permit number, or on a map. What the record shows, what it hides, and how to read it.

A Toronto building permit number is a filing code, not a project summary. Here is how to read each part and use it to pull up a permit's status.

Toronto Building publishes a general inquiry line, a separate fee payment line, an email inbox and four appointment-only counters. What each one does.

A Toronto building permit does not move to a buyer on its own. What the City needs to transfer it and what a new owner must do about a permit left open.

Toronto prices a basement renovation permit by floor area, not by your budget. How the fee works, what adds extra permits, and what the record shows.

Ontario permit fees are set by each municipality. How the fee formulas work, what Toronto, Ottawa, and Mississauga publish, and how to estimate yours.

What a building permit costs in Toronto: the City's 2026 fee table, the per-square-metre formula, minimum fee, refunds, and what the fee does not cover.

What a deck permit costs in Ontario: how municipal fees are set, Toronto's flat deck fee, when you need a permit at all, and how long approvals take.

What an HVAC permit costs in Toronto, when furnace, AC, or heat pump work needs one, what the application must include, and how long approval takes.

Whether a Toronto roof replacement needs a building permit, what reroofing costs in 2026, and what permit records show about structural roof work.

Toronto permit fees are calculated from floor area, not construction value. Here is the formula, the minimum fee, refunds, and worked examples.

In Toronto, changing what a building is used for can need a permit even with no construction. What the law says, what to file and the zoning check.

Toronto's fence rules treat a deep outdoor hot tub as a pool. When a locked cover means no permit, and the two steps to take when it does not.

Toronto lists decks among additions that need a building permit. What the zoning by-law says about decks above the second storey and on garage roofs.

Toronto requires a permit to install a backwater valve. How the permit works, and the order of steps the City sets for its basement flooding subsidy.

A Toronto driveway crosses two kinds of land. Work inside your lot is one question. Touching the boulevard, sidewalk or curb needs a street work permit.

Replacing a window in its existing opening usually needs no permit in a house, but Toronto attaches three conditions to that exemption. Where the line is.

Toronto requires a heritage permit before you change a designated property. How to check your status, what work counts and who makes the call.

Toronto lists adding or removing walls as permit work, load-bearing or not. What the City asks of the drawings and designer, and what happens without one.

How to apply to Toronto's Committee of Adjustment for a minor variance, how the four tests work and what comes between the hearing and the building permit.

Toronto's sign by-law requires a permit for most business signs, and many need a building permit too. What is exempt, how to apply and A-frame rules.

Toronto lists wood stoves and chimneys as work that needs a building permit. Here is what the City says about gas fireplaces and outdoor fire pits.

Toronto names basement underpinning on its permit-required list and waterproofing repairs on its exempt list. Two jobs, opposite sides of the line.

A renovation bin on the road, sidewalk or lane in Toronto needs a Street Occupation Permit. What it covers, the 2026 daily fee and where your lot ends.

Toronto protects private trees 30 cm or more across and all street trees, even on as-of-right projects. What the City asks for and the September 1 changes.

A detached garage over ten square metres needs a building permit. Toronto's online route, the drawings required, and why zoning decides the design first.

Toronto requires a building permit to enclose an existing deck, porch or patio of any size. Why the size exemptions stop applying the moment walls go on.

Toronto's retaining wall test is height plus location: over one metre and on or next to public property needs a permit. What the exemption does not cover.

Toronto needs a building permit for solar panels over five square metres on any roof or wall, plus an engineer's calculations and an ESA certificate.

A building permit checks whether a project is safe. Zoning checks whether it is permitted on that site. What separates the two reviews in Toronto, and which one blocks projects.

When the City of Toronto demands a demolition permit, how demolition control applies to houses, what has to occur before the equipment shows up, and actual demolition delays.

In Ontario, building permits are required for home additions. The definition of an addition, Toronto's requirements, and actual addition wait times from the permit record are covered here.

Most plumbing jobs that go past a straight swap for the same fixture require a permit in Ontario. Water heaters, bathrooms, backwater valves, and actual Toronto wait times for permits.

Ontario pools generally call for a pool enclosure permit rather than a building permit. What Toronto demands, above-ground pools, and actual pool delays from the record.

Toronto lets you finish a basement without a permit only under three conditions. What they are, what triggers a permit, and how to check any address.

When a bathroom or kitchen renovation needs a building permit in Ontario, what stays permit-free, and what Toronto's permit record shows about these jobs.

Unorganized townships in Ontario have no municipality to issue building permits. What that means, what still applies, and which approvals you still need.

Most Ontario decks need a building permit. Toronto's 60 cm height test, the low-platform exemption, and real deck approval waits from the permit record.

Fences rarely need a building permit in Ontario. Carports usually do. Where the line sits for gazebos and pergolas, and which bylaws apply either way.

Whether a furnace or AC replacement needs a building permit in Ontario, what Toronto exempts, and where TSSA and ESA rules still apply.

Every Toronto garden suite needs a building permit. Zoning rules, the City's pre-approved plans, and what approvals look like in the real permit record.

Sheds of 15 square metres or less generally need no building permit in Ontario. The five exemption conditions, and the zoning rules that still apply.

Like-for-like siding, window, and roof replacement generally needs no permit in Ontario. The exemption conditions, and the changes that break them.

What requires a building permit in Ontario: the full list of work that needs one, what is exempt, the grey areas, and what Toronto permit records show.

Ontario building permits carry no expiry date. What ends one is revocation, and Toronto's dormant permit process is how that actually happens.

Every step to apply for a building permit in Toronto: the forms, Schedule 1, drawings, online submission, fees, and what happens during review.

How to get a building permit in London, Ontario: what needs one, the Building Development Portal, documents, review teams, inspections, and records.

Do you need a building permit in the City of Ottawa? When decks, basements, and renovations need one, the common exemptions, and how to apply online.

How long a building permit takes in Toronto: the legislated review clock, plus real median wait times by project type from the City's own permit record.

The Ontario building permit process is the same law everywhere. The steps, the documents, the review clock, and what actually varies by municipality.

What each Ontario building permit form does, who must complete the Schedule 1 designer form, when a BCIN is required, and the exemptions that apply.

Toronto deck permit drawings explained: the site plan, footing, framing, stair, and guard details the City asks for, and who is allowed to draw them.

When Ontario building permits need engineer stamped drawings, when a BCIN designer is enough, and when a homeowner's own drawings can pass.

Every Toronto building permit carries mandatory inspections. Here are the stages for a typical project, when to call for each, and how to book them.

What to do when Toronto Building sends an Examiner's Notice or refuses a permit: how resubmission works, your rights, and how to avoid the revision loop.

Orders, fines, fees, and forced fixes: how Ontario municipalities respond to unpermitted construction, and how work gets legalized after the fact.

Caught building without a permit in Ontario? The fines and orders you can face, Toronto's work-without-permit surcharge, and how to legalize the work.

Who inherits liability for unpermitted work when buying a house in Ontario, how to check the permit record before you offer, and what to negotiate.

Yes, Ontario lets you apply for a permit after work is done. How a retroactive building permit works, what it costs, and where applications get stuck.

Brampton handles the legal basement permit and second unit registration as one application. The process, the zoning rules, and what inspectors check.

Every requirement for a legal basement apartment in Ontario: zoning, building permit, ceiling height, egress, fire separation, and how to verify one.

Get a building permit for a second suite in Toronto: zoning, Building Code basics, what to submit, and how to check any suite against the permit record.

Before renting or buying, run these checks: zoning, the permit record, fire code compliance, and the paperwork a legal suite leaves behind.

Toronto publishes zoning as an interactive map, but the zone label is the first of four things to read. What the colours mean and where exceptions sit.

Ontario has no single HVAC licence. Here is who regulates gas, refrigeration, and electrical work, and the free registries that verify each credential.

No provincial licence is required to roof in Ontario. How voluntary certification, Toronto's Building Renovator licence, and roof permits fit together.

Toronto licenses renovation businesses, not just their permits. Who needs a Building Renovator licence, how the exam works, and how to check a contractor.

Either the homeowner or the contractor can pull an Ontario building permit. Who should, who stays responsible, and the red flag to watch for.

Live Toronto HVAC permit data: how much mechanical work is on record, how HVAC waits compare with other trades, and where the work spreads across the city.

How building material suppliers use Toronto permit data for territory planning: demand by trade, postal-area targeting, and timing the sales cycle.

How much roofing work shows up in Toronto's building permit record, how long roofing permits wait for approval, and what declared values reveal.

What Statistics Canada's building permit survey misses, what municipal open data misses, and which source fits counts, values, and address-level records.

Toronto building permit trends for June 2026: live permit counts, trade mix, and disclosed construction value from the City of Toronto's open permit data.

Which Toronto neighbourhoods have the most construction on record right now, what is being built there, and why the busiest zones split into two kinds.