2018 permits
Toronto building permits from 2018: 8,264 are still open
Of the building permits Toronto issued in 2018, 8,264 remained in the City’s active permit register, and half of them have been open for at least 2,940 days (about 8 years).
This is not annual permit volume. The 2018 figures on this page count permits that are still openin the City of Toronto’s active permit register today. Permits drop out of that register once they close, so older years show fewer surviving records the further back you go. Toronto issues roughly 30,000 to 40,000 permits a year; the counts here are the unclosed remainder, and they cannot be compared between years as a trend.
Still open
8,264
Median time open
2,940 d
Median value
$60,000
Total value
$3,641,096,627
Value figures cover the 4,142 of 8,264 still-open 2018 permits that disclose an estimated construction cost. Medians, not averages: the cost distribution has a long tail and an average would overstate the typical permit.
What stage the 2018 permits are at
1,544 of them (18.7%) show no sign of work having begun: the permit was issued and the file has not moved past that point.
| Status | Permits | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Inspection | 5,481 | 66.3% |
| Permit Issued | 1,507 | 18.2% |
| Revision Issued | 962 | 11.6% |
| Revocation Pending | 275 | 3.3% |
| Work Not Started | 37 | 0.4% |
| Application On Hold | 1 | 0.0% |
| Work Suspended | 1 | 0.0% |
Still-open 2018 permits by trade
| Trade | Permits | Total value |
|---|---|---|
| Addition | 1,600 | $224,598,675 |
| Interior alteration | 1,566 | $510,530,043 |
| Plumbing | 1,540 | $95,572,564 |
| HVAC | 1,081 | $60,887,736 |
| New build | 768 | $2,461,816,720 |
| Other / unclassified | 518 | $59,400,206 |
| Deck | 417 | $35,080,329 |
| Demolition | 279 | $58,016,000 |
| Roofing | 218 | $58,982,362 |
| Window / Door | 213 | $49,379,600 |
| Pool | 35 | $16,546,140 |
| Electrical | 29 | $10,286,253 |
Neighbourhoods with the most open 2018 permits
| Rank | Neighbourhood | Open permits | Total value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yonge-Bay Corridor | 281 | $66,655,274 |
| 2 | Annex | 203 | $294,060,688 |
| 3 | Wexford/Maryvale | 189 | $23,467,104 |
| 4 | South Riverdale | 171 | $44,875,610 |
| 5 | West Humber-Clairville | 150 | $27,486,650 |
| 6 | Stonegate-Queensway | 141 | $10,600,560 |
| 7 | Etobicoke City Centre | 140 | $32,583,500 |
| 8 | Kensington-Chinatown | 136 | $48,283,500 |
| 9 | High Park-Swansea | 128 | $8,466,289 |
| 10 | Wellington Place | 122 | $236,653,633 |
| 11 | Englemount-Lawrence | 118 | $31,214,228 |
| 12 | Trinity-Bellwoods | 112 | $11,563,000 |
| 13 | Bay-Cloverhill | 108 | $182,404,830 |
| 14 | The Beaches | 108 | $42,371,600 |
| 15 | Rosedale-Moore Park | 101 | $11,827,900 |
| 16 | High Park North | 101 | $148,638,260 |
| 17 | Palmerston-Little Italy | 96 | $29,991,500 |
| 18 | St Lawrence-East Bayfront-The Islands | 92 | $136,694,150 |
| 19 | Leaside-Bennington | 91 | $15,106,200 |
| 20 | Birchcliffe-Cliffside | 89 | $4,588,178 |
Top 20 neighbourhoods by open-permit count. Areas outside this list still have open 2018 permits.
Largest 2018 projects still open
The highest-value permits from 2018 that have not closed out, ranked by estimated construction cost.
| Address | Work | Status | Open | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2221 Yonge St, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,849 d | $300,000,000 |
| 95 Broadway Ave, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,873 d | $150,000,000 |
| 11 Wellesley St W, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,775 d | $150,000,000 |
| 2131 Yonge St, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,785 d | $135,000,000 |
| 578 Front St W, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,978 d | $130,000,000 |
| 836 Yonge St, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,956 d | $110,000,000 |
| 130 Queens Quay E, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 3,040 d | $104,000,000 |
| 1240 Bay St, Toronto, ON | Interior Alterations | Permit Issued | 3,052 d | $100,000,000 |
| 33-45 Niagara St, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,995 d | $90,000,000 |
| 3105 Sheppard Ave E, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,883 d | $71,412,460 |
| 275 Village Green Sq, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,876 d | $66,000,000 |
| 2205 Sheppard Ave E, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,935 d | $65,000,000 |
| 125 George Henry Blvd, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,838 d | $58,900,000 |
| 2175 Lake Shore Blvd W, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 3,067 d | $55,000,000 |
| 124 Pears Ave, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 3,002 d | $52,500,000 |
| 51-65 Quebec Ave, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,823 d | $52,500,000 |
| 52-66 High Park Ave, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,822 d | $52,500,000 |
| 40 Wellesley St E, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 3,102 d | $45,000,000 |
| 93 Berkeley St, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,775 d | $45,000,000 |
| 150 River St, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,872 d | $43,500,000 |
| 4650 Eglinton Ave W, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,915 d | $42,000,000 |
| 1028 Mcnicoll Ave, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,827 d | $36,000,000 |
| 160 Transit Rd, Toronto, ON | Interior Alterations | Permit Issued | 3,048 d | $35,000,000 |
| 32-50 Forest Manor Rd, Toronto, ON | New Building | Inspection | 2,928 d | $35,000,000 |
| 600 University Ave, Toronto, ON | Interior Alterations | Inspection | 2,809 d | $35,000,000 |
“Open” counts days from issue date to Jul 23, 2026. A permit remaining open does not by itself mean a project is abandoned; the City closes permits on final inspection, and some long-running projects are still legitimately active.
Track new Toronto permits the day they are issued. Historical pages show what is still open. Sign in free to see what was filed this morning.
Frequently asked questions
- How many Toronto building permits from 2018 are still open?
- 8,264 permits issued in Toronto during 2018 were still in the City's active permit register. This is the count of permits that have not closed out, not the number of permits Toronto issued in 2018. The City issues roughly 30,000 to 40,000 permits a year, and closed permits are removed from the published file.
- How long have Toronto's 2018 permits been open?
- Half of the 8,264 still-open permits from 2018 have been open for at least 2,940 days (about 8 years), measured from issue date to Jul 23, 2026. One in ten has been open longer than 3,083 days (about 8 years). These are permits the City has not closed out, which can mean a long-running project, a stalled one, or one that was finished without being signed off.
- How many 2018 Toronto permits were never started?
- 1,544 of the 8,264 surviving 2018 permits (18.7%) sit at a status indicating work has not visibly begun, such as "Permit Issued" or "Work Not Started". The approval was granted and the file shows no progression past it. The remainder are at inspection or revision stages.
- Can I compare 2018 to other years?
- No. Each year's count reflects how long its permits have had to close, so an older year showing fewer permits means more of them closed, not that less was built. Comparing 2018 to another year measures elapsed time rather than construction activity. Use the status and trade breakdowns within 2018 instead.