Which part of Toronto approves permits fastest?

Among the 98 postal areas with enough permits to measure, M4T has the shortest median wait at 15 days and M3C has the longest at 233 days. Area differences mostly reflect what is being built there rather than the office handling it, since project type drives the wait far more than geography.

Why is the median used instead of the average?

Permit waits have a long tail: a small number of complex projects take years and drag the average far above what a typical applicant experiences. The citywide average is 88 days against a median of 29 days. The median is the honest answer to "how long will mine take".

Reference

How long does a building permit take in Toronto?

Half of the 30,910 permits the City issued over the trailing 12 months came through within 29 days of application. One in ten took longer than 176 days. Which half you land in depends far more on what you are building than on where.

Median wait

29 days

Slowest 10%

176+ days

Permits measured

30,910

Postal areas

Wait time by trade

Slowest first. This is the single biggest driver of how long you will wait.

Trade	Median	Slowest 10%	Permits
New build	58 days	521 days	2,937
Demolition	43 days	229 days	1,633
HVAC	34 days	191 days	4,644
Addition	32 days	166 days	5,002
Electrical	32 days	92 days	95
Pool	32 days	142 days	172
Plumbing	27 days	232 days	6,668
Roofing	25 days	124 days	537
Interior alteration	24 days	91 days	4,532
Deck	21 days	119 days	1,529
Window / Door	11 days	61 days	901

Wait time by postal area

The 98 Toronto postal areas with at least 30 measurable permits, slowest first.

Area	Zone	Median	Slowest 10%	Permits
M3C	North York (west)	233 days	298 days	546
M6N	West Toronto & York	73 days	883 days	817
M1L	Scarborough	57 days	256 days	368
M9M	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	44 days	257 days	136
M1C	Scarborough	42 days	1439 days	314
M6A	West Toronto & York	42 days	611 days	444
M5A	Downtown & Central Toronto	40 days	273 days	322
M8W	Etobicoke (south)	40 days	133 days	325
M7A	Queen's Park	39 days	79 days	50
M1B	Scarborough	38 days	197 days	244
M1V	Scarborough	38 days	208 days	182
M1J	Scarborough	37 days	281 days	155
M1K	Scarborough	37 days	285 days	247
M2M	North York (east)	36 days	101 days	359
M4B	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	36 days	153 days	231
M5T	Downtown & Central Toronto	36 days	210 days	283
M6L	West Toronto & York	36 days	201 days	161
M9W	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	36 days	134 days	365
M1E	Scarborough	35 days	190 days	318
M1M	Scarborough	35 days	280 days	274
M1W	Scarborough	35 days	142 days	135
M2R	North York (east)	35 days	223 days	281
M3K	North York (west)	35 days	121 days	106
M6M	West Toronto & York	35 days	296 days	287
M9B	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	35 days	234 days	320
M3J	North York (west)	34 days	240 days	156
M4Y	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	34 days	93 days	103
M5S	Downtown & Central Toronto	34 days	126 days	346
M4P	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	33 days	149 days	244
M9P	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	33 days	392 days	110
M1S	Scarborough	32 days	178 days	236
M2K	North York (east)	32 days	856 days	165
M5B	Downtown & Central Toronto	32 days	153 days	177
M5C	Downtown & Central Toronto	32 days	61 days	249
M3B	North York (west)	31 days	142 days	294
M3L	North York (west)	31 days	99 days	71
M4A	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	31 days	91 days	116
M5V	Downtown & Central Toronto	31 days	94 days	475
M6B	West Toronto & York	31 days	145 days	341
M9N	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	31 days	391 days	179
M9R	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	31 days	146 days	139
M1P	Scarborough	30 days	116 days	328
M1R	Scarborough	30 days	169 days	335
M3A	North York (west)	30 days	252 days	166
M5J	Downtown & Central Toronto	30 days	62 days	317
M9V	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	30 days	181 days	175
M1H	Scarborough	29 days	149 days	158
M1T	Scarborough	29 days	117 days	136
M3H	North York (west)	29 days	141 days	338
M3N	North York (west)	29 days	145 days	66
M4N	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	29 days	217 days	255
M4W	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	29 days	105 days	392
M5G	Downtown & Central Toronto	29 days	95 days	292
M6E	West Toronto & York	29 days	155 days	618
M8Z	Etobicoke (south)	29 days	177 days	508
M9L	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	29 days	168 days	101
M2N	North York (east)	28 days	103 days	555
M4H	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	28 days	219 days	35
M4S	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	28 days	135 days	411
M5E	Downtown & Central Toronto	28 days	60 days	95
M5M	Downtown & Central Toronto	28 days	222 days	384
M9C	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	28 days	94 days	266
M5H	Downtown & Central Toronto	27 days	49 days	480
M5X	Downtown & Central Toronto	27 days	42 days	37
M6K	West Toronto & York	27 days	191 days	393
M6P	West Toronto & York	27 days	152 days	602
M1N	Scarborough	26 days	202 days	329
M2P	North York (east)	26 days	82 days	106
M3M	North York (west)	26 days	166 days	120
M4G	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	26 days	118 days	390
M6C	West Toronto & York	26 days	127 days	404
M4M	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	25 days	203 days	467
M5R	Downtown & Central Toronto	25 days	91 days	511
M8X	Etobicoke (south)	25 days	93 days	171
M8Y	Etobicoke (south)	25 days	106 days	273
M9A	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	25 days	113 days	339
M2H	North York (east)	24 days	118 days	150
M4C	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	24 days	89 days	633
M4V	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	24 days	76 days	248
M6H	West Toronto & York	24 days	127 days	806
M8V	Etobicoke (south)	23 days	161 days	410
M4K	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	22 days	116 days	516
M4L	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	22 days	128 days	581
M4X	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	22 days	97 days	96
M2L	North York (east)	21 days	89 days	148
M4E	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	21 days	169 days	340
M4R	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	21 days	96 days	196
M5N	Downtown & Central Toronto	21 days	93 days	179
M5P	Downtown & Central Toronto	21 days	82 days	247
M6G	West Toronto & York	21 days	126 days	629
M6J	West Toronto & York	21 days	118 days	627
M6R	West Toronto & York	21 days	92 days	477
M6S	West Toronto & York	20 days	113 days	510
M2J	North York (east)	18 days	85 days	255
M4J	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	18 days	100 days	596
M1X	Scarborough	16 days	194 days	58
M1G	Scarborough	15 days	169 days	163
M4T	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	15 days	83 days	227

Common questions

How long does a building permit take in Toronto?: Half of the 30,910 permits issued in Toronto over the last 12 months were issued within 29 days of application. One in ten took longer than 176 days. The wait varies sharply by trade: New build runs about 58 days while Window / Door runs about 11 days.
Which part of Toronto approves permits fastest?: Among the 98 postal areas with enough permits to measure, M4T has the shortest median wait at 15 days and M3C has the longest at 233 days. Area differences mostly reflect what is being built there rather than the office handling it, since project type drives the wait far more than geography.
Why is the median used instead of the average?: Permit waits have a long tail: a small number of complex projects take years and drag the average far above what a typical applicant experiences. The citywide average is 88 days against a median of 29 days. The median is the honest answer to "how long will mine take".

How these numbers are calculated

Each permit’s wait is the number of days between its application date and its issue date, both as recorded by the City of Toronto. We include permits issued in the trailing 12 months, drop records where the issue date precedes the application date, and report a group only when it contains at least 30 permits. Fewer than that and a median is noise.

We publish medians rather than averages. A handful of very large projects take years and pull the average well above what a typical applicant sees: 88 days against a median of 29.

One important limitation: the City’s open dataset covers active permits, so records leave it as projects close out. That means this measures permits currently on record, not a complete historical census, and it is why we restrict the window to 12 months where coverage is most complete. It describes permits already issued and is not a processing commitment from the City. For the official process, see the data sources page.

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