Which part of Toronto approves permits fastest?

Among the 96 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 99 days against a median of 32 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 27,839 permits the City issued over the trailing 12 months came through within 32 days of application. One in ten took longer than 224 days. Which half you land in depends far more on what you are building than on where.

Median wait

32 days

Slowest 10%

224+ days

Permits measured

27,839

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	65 days	594 days	2,946
Demolition	46 days	232 days	1,423
Pool	38 days	105 days	189
HVAC	35 days	257 days	4,098
Addition	34 days	170 days	4,680
Plumbing	33 days	267 days	5,887
Electrical	32 days	94 days	86
Roofing	27 days	120 days	476
Interior alteration	24 days	93 days	4,022
Deck	21 days	125 days	1,384
Window / Door	12 days	64 days	740

Wait time by postal area

The 96 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	512
M6N	West Toronto & York	155 days	883 days	847
M6A	West Toronto & York	76 days	611 days	477
M1L	Scarborough	63 days	259 days	313
M9M	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	56 days	339 days	107
M2M	North York (east)	48 days	150 days	320
M1S	Scarborough	45 days	203 days	215
M1M	Scarborough	44 days	460 days	256
M1V	Scarborough	44 days	149 days	160
M6M	West Toronto & York	44 days	296 days	266
M1K	Scarborough	43 days	294 days	209
M1B	Scarborough	42 days	192 days	218
M1C	Scarborough	42 days	1439 days	305
M2R	North York (east)	42 days	267 days	225
M8W	Etobicoke (south)	42 days	135 days	323
M1J	Scarborough	39 days	290 days	137
M3K	North York (west)	38 days	132 days	98
M5A	Downtown & Central Toronto	38 days	278 days	287
M5T	Downtown & Central Toronto	38 days	210 days	264
M6B	West Toronto & York	38 days	167 days	321
M1P	Scarborough	36 days	160 days	295
M6L	West Toronto & York	36 days	256 days	136
M1W	Scarborough	35 days	155 days	131
M2K	North York (east)	35 days	292 days	165
M3J	North York (west)	35 days	229 days	148
M3N	North York (west)	35 days	165 days	59
M4S	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	35 days	148 days	382
M9B	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	35 days	187 days	315
M9W	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	35 days	165 days	360
M1E	Scarborough	34 days	202 days	286
M4B	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	34 days	156 days	183
M4P	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	34 days	146 days	225
M5C	Downtown & Central Toronto	34 days	68 days	198
M9P	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	34 days	226 days	107
M3L	North York (west)	33 days	125 days	59
M4W	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	33 days	168 days	372
M5M	Downtown & Central Toronto	33 days	129 days	329
M3B	North York (west)	32 days	137 days	257
M3H	North York (west)	32 days	166 days	343
M4Y	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	32 days	93 days	86
M5E	Downtown & Central Toronto	32 days	80 days	79
M5S	Downtown & Central Toronto	32 days	108 days	298
M5V	Downtown & Central Toronto	32 days	123 days	398
M6E	West Toronto & York	32 days	186 days	533
M1R	Scarborough	31 days	233 days	297
M3A	North York (west)	31 days	164 days	136
M5J	Downtown & Central Toronto	31 days	64 days	300
M8Z	Etobicoke (south)	31 days	238 days	450
M9C	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	31 days	135 days	209
M9N	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	31 days	387 days	164
M1T	Scarborough	30 days	126 days	110
M1X	Scarborough	30 days	476 days	61
M2N	North York (east)	30 days	113 days	468
M4A	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	30 days	108 days	102
M4H	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	30 days	272 days	49
M5B	Downtown & Central Toronto	30 days	121 days	172
M9R	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	30 days	146 days	104
M9V	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	30 days	212 days	168
M2L	North York (east)	29 days	115 days	145
M4V	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	29 days	106 days	229
M6K	West Toronto & York	29 days	191 days	351
M8Y	Etobicoke (south)	29 days	147 days	226
M9L	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	29 days	188 days	105
M1H	Scarborough	28 days	173 days	133
M1N	Scarborough	28 days	228 days	292
M4C	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	28 days	158 days	574
M4M	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	28 days	286 days	384
M4N	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	28 days	211 days	224
M5G	Downtown & Central Toronto	28 days	106 days	248
M5H	Downtown & Central Toronto	28 days	63 days	368
M6C	West Toronto & York	28 days	151 days	390
M3M	North York (west)	27 days	189 days	107
M4E	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	27 days	175 days	299
M5R	Downtown & Central Toronto	27 days	116 days	470
M2H	North York (east)	26 days	162 days	126
M4G	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	26 days	145 days	333
M4X	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	26 days	97 days	85
M6H	West Toronto & York	26 days	154 days	709
M2J	North York (east)	25 days	120 days	221
M9A	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	25 days	97 days	334
M1G	Scarborough	24 days	105 days	92
M4L	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	24 days	158 days	506
M2P	North York (east)	23 days	64 days	91
M5P	Downtown & Central Toronto	23 days	72 days	235
M6G	West Toronto & York	23 days	122 days	582
M6J	West Toronto & York	23 days	120 days	553
M6S	West Toronto & York	23 days	112 days	455
M4R	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	22 days	140 days	187
M8V	Etobicoke (south)	22 days	139 days	362
M8X	Etobicoke (south)	22 days	205 days	146
M4K	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	21 days	137 days	460
M6P	West Toronto & York	21 days	160 days	529
M6R	West Toronto & York	19 days	101 days	420
M4J	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	18 days	111 days	507
M5N	Downtown & Central Toronto	18 days	68 days	184
M4T	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	15 days	93 days	209

Common questions

How long does a building permit take in Toronto?: Half of the 27,839 permits issued in Toronto over the last 12 months were issued within 32 days of application. One in ten took longer than 224 days. The wait varies sharply by trade: New build runs about 65 days while Window / Door runs about 12 days.
Which part of Toronto approves permits fastest?: Among the 96 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 99 days against a median of 32 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: 99 days against a median of 32.

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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