Toronto Building Permits

What are Toronto building permits?

Toronto building permits* are a component of the required administration that is necessary to enforce the Ontario based laws that coordinate and set the minimum standards that are required to construct or demolish a building within Ontario. Approved building permits provide legal permission to commence and conduct demolition and/or construction to an existing building or to build an entirely new building on a vacant portion of property within Toronto, Ontario. Construction includes things such as adding an addition to an existing building, renovating an existing building, underpinning the existing foundations in order to lower a basement within an existing building and much more.

When and why are Toronto building permits required for a residential project?

When… Toronto building permits are required before any construction can legally begin on private or public property. Why… Toronto building permits are required by Ontario law, where the Building Code Act of Ontario, states ‘No person shall construct or demolish a building or cause a building to be constructed or demolished unless a permit has been issued therefor by the chief building official.  1992, c. 23, s. 8 (1); 1997, c. 30, Sched. B, s. 7 (1).’ This includes building an addition or altering materials of any structure or building. You can click on the Toronto building department permits landing page if you’d like to see the list of situations when a permits are and are not required for any construction project.

Why… Because Ontario says so…. Seriously though, why we need a permit is due to the public’s safety and health, which has an interest to protect buildings that are exchanged within the public domain and because any work completed on them could create dangerous, life threatening situations to the people who live or work or shop within these buildings within Ontario, and specifically in this case, the city of Toronto. Although situations like the Elliot lake mall collapse can still occur after all of the Ontario building codes were reviewed and permits were provided by the Elliot lake building department, and then all of the inspections were completed, incidents like these are luckily rare within Ontario due to the extensive requirements imposed on construction projects by both the provincial and municipal levels of Canada’s government. Obtaining Toronto building permits for every building project helps ensure that the preservation, protection and accommodation for all human life is considered and accommodated for within the details of every project’s design.

Does a Toronto building permit differ from the Ontario building code requirements?

Although Toronto building permits are directly administered by the City of Toronto, they include within their review two types of regulations. The first type of regulations are at the municipal level. Toronto building permits require every prospective construction project to comply with Toronto’s comprehensive zoning by-laws. These zoning by-laws are standards that each city or municipality uniquely within Ontario agrees upon for all buildings project’s to comply with whenever construction or demolition takes place. These regulations include locating similar building uses together within certain zone categories. For example, a commercial only zone may be provided along a main street, while another zone in the city may not allow commercial and instead only allow a residential neighbourhood of houses or apartment buildings. Further, these municipal regulations also require considering the spaces between buildings – which are referred to as setbacks- and landscaping, overall building height and where parking will be provided - for both bicycles and cars- and how many spaces will be required.

The second type of regulations that are required when obtaining Toronto building permits include a provincial level consideration of compliance with the Ontario building code. The building code prescribes the minimum standards by which all buildings in Ontario must be constructed, to meet or exceed the standard, in order to either endure Thunder Bay’s climate or Toronto’s climate, while keeping the occupants within the buildings in these different areas, safe from fire, dry, warm and soundproofed from the surrounding buildings. These requirements do differ based on the location of the building within Ontario, which means that Toronto has a smaller insulation requirement compared with what is required for a building located in Thunder bay based on the historically collected data about the climates of these areas that is used to determine these minimum standards.

If you are curious and want to see what zoning by-laws will affect your project specifically, you can visit the Toronto zoning by-law mapping website and enter in a municipal address within the Greater Toronto area, GTA, to learn what specific by-laws will need to be met in order to obtain the Toronto building permits for that property for construction project’s that propose any changes to the existing or proposed buildings, including additions, occurring within it.

If you’re having trouble analyzing the zoning by-laws related to your next building project, consider contacting us using the contact form about your upcoming project and we can help get you started as well as understand the best way for you to proceed with your project. At Mark H Smith Designs Inc. we service construction projects seeking Toronto building permits at every stage. We will lead and work with you from the design possibilities stage, to the planning stage, and then further through the permitting processes until you have all the permits you’ll need to get started with your project. Our aim throughout each project is to interpret your dreams into a reality, translate all the legalese of by-laws and other sometimes confusing requirements for Toronto building permits into something that is palatable, easily digestible and smooth to process so that obtaining all the necessary Toronto building permits for your next project can be a satisfying process that empowers the construction stage to meet - and/or in many cases exceed- all the regulations that Toronto building permits -including the Ontario building codes- require for every project to be permitted.

What differences are there between Toronto building permits and permits for other municipalities within southern Ontario?

In regards to Toronto building permits, there are a long list of documents and drawing requirements, which for many other municipalities in Ontario, may not be required in order to obtain a building permit.

There are many requirements for obtaining Toronto building permits and some of them can seem excessive, costly and time intensive to prepare for and comply with in order for a project to be permitted.

Each of these additional regulations for Toronto building permits aim to benefit both a private homeowner as well as maintain and protect this city’s infrastructure -such as roads and sewers- from careless construction that can be dangerous and/or wasteful of everyone’s time and resources when a construction project is built without Toronto building permits.

For example, some locations for construction may be unsuitable or require special permissions [such as not within a homeowner’s property boundaries]. Or some building materials or approaches may be inadequate for certain building project’s [such as a deck without adequate foundations]. The main goal for the permitting process of Toronto building permits is to ensure that the project can be constructed or demolished while safely working around neighbouring properties and that the finished project will be able to endure Toronto’s variable climate and wide spectrum of temperatures for many years ahead.

Regarding the specific requirement differences for Toronto building permits, one requirement that might not be required elsewhere in Ontario is a municipal road damage deposit, which is a deposit that is held for the duration of construction and aims to protect the city’s infrastructure from contractors who damage the streets or sidewalks while working on private homes.

Another requirement for Toronto building permits is in relation to Trees.

Trees may be protected by the protected tree by-law within Toronto if the tree is:

-located on city property

-located on neighbour's property or close to dividing property line where propose construction will take place

-located within your own private property

If the tree near your upcoming project meets any of the above criteria, it could require professional plans and reports from a licensed arborist in order to obtain a tree permit. This tree permit is required to be obtained prior to any releasing of the final Toronto building permits for your project.

Visit the urban forestry website to learn more about these regulations and how they may affect your upcoming project.

A third requirement to consider for Toronto building permits that may not be required in different municipalities within Ontario has to do with historical significance. The heritage of some designated homes matters to both Toronto and Ontario. The Toronto building department may require you to work through additional regulations, reports and protection plans when obtaining Toronto building permits if your home is designated a historical heritage home. You can visit the Toronto heritage registry website and either use the map feature or address search tool to find out if this regulation will also need to be considered when obtaining Toronto building permits for your upcoming project.

A forth requirement for Toronto building permits will depend on where the project location is within the city relative to ongoing or upcoming Metrolinx projects. Visit the Metrolinx website and use the provided property mapping tool to determine if your project is also required to obtain a Metrolinx development permit.

My neighbour didn’t have a permit for the construction project that they completed on their home, why should I get a permit for my project?

Toronto building permits are required, even if your neighbour did not get them for their construction project. Although your neighbour may have mislead, neglected or omitted the permit process altogether and it may seem that they have gotten away with completing their project without obtaining Toronto building permits first, they are will never be in the clear when it comes to skipping these requirements. By not obtaining the required Toronto building permits that would have been necessary for their project, your neighbour is now carrying some risks while living at their property.

Basically, anytime before, during or after work on a construction project takes place without the required permits, you or another neighbour could report the neighbour's project to the building department, or a building inspector could check the building permit status of your neighbour's ongoing or completed project. This could lead to the home owner then being served a work order to obtain the necessary Toronto building permits and be charged with fines.

Avoiding Toronto building permits altogether on your next project might skip a few costs and save some time investment that is necessary to thoroughly plan a building project thoughtfully, but in the long run, the costs will come as restless nights knowing you’ve broken the law and a building inspector or neighbour could report your project. Or much worse, the construction project could have omitted safety concerns that are normally considered during the planning and permitting process and the finished project can be a dangerous hazard to the public and the homeowners.

Should I obtain a Toronto building permit before hiring a contractor?

A contractor can be a key component for a project after the Toronto building permits are obtained. That said, engaging or working with a contractor on your project prior to the Toronto building permits being issued is not required and in many cases might be better for the project’s design workflow to wait until a final design for the project has successfully gone through the initial zoning review part of obtaining the required Toronto building permits for the project first.

Prior to completing the zoning review stage of the permitting process, it is unclear -keep in mind that not all by-laws that could govern your next project are available to the public for review- if specific by-laws will require revisions to the project's design in order to receive the necessary Toronto building permits. This means, that receiving quotes on these designs from a contractor could be a waste of the everyone’s time prior to this review stage being completed.

At Mark H Smith designs Inc., we believe that unless a preferred contractor -close friend or family referral- is being selected to work with you on an upcoming project, waiting until a final design has successfully cleared the zoning review stage is an effective early entry point for a contractor(s) to join the project.

At this stage, they can comment on the design drawings based on their past work experiences. The contractor can also confirm a rough budget based on their square footage costs for the project and also note any construction preferences regarding materials for locations where the design can provide a flexible solution.

A contractor’s preference to work with engineered wood instead of steel can be helpful to understand at this stage of the project and can sometimes reduce the labour costs during construction.

Normally, a contractor’s most helpful place to collaborate on a new building project and provide a detailed quote is after the structural engineering specifications and HVAC system have been designed and added to the final permit drawings package.

At this stage of the project, whether evaluating between several general contractors or further developing the relationship with a single contractor, the contractor can provide a more detailed quote and also request any clarifications for specifications or connection details in the drawings that they may be unsure about. They can also prepare and share with the homeowner a time line for completing the construction stage of the project which will begin after the Toronto building permits have been obtained for the project.

How long does it take to obtain a Toronto building permit?

It depends… there are actually different streams and associated timelines for Toronto building permits to be processed as either express services stream(residential fast-track) or common building permit services stream if the amount and type of work being completed is considered beyond the scope of a small project. Visit this building department website page to determine which processing stream your project will be categorized into for its application review. Keep in mind, that on average, the building department can be overwhelmed at times and may take longer than their posted timelines to process all Toronto building permits applications for a project. Also, keep in mind that if anything comes up during the review process of the applications that requires clarification or revision, the timeline can then extend into an open ended wait time where the project will need to wait extended periods between each communication regarding the project. If the Toronto building permits you’ll need for the project do not require the first part of the review process -the municipal level zoning review- the project will then be categorized as a residential fast track permit and will be processed much quicker than the times required to process larger scale projects that require both a Toronto zoning and Ontario building code review prior to the Toronto building permits for the project being released. 

Toronto building permit expiry?

All of the time, effort and money invested into a project during the planning, drafting and preparation of reports stages of a project, can encounter issues of revocation or expiry once your Toronto Building permit is issued. First, the building code act requires the project’s construction to commence within 6 months of issuance, which usually means a first inspection stage has been requested and worked through for the project. Next, a potential revocation notice for your Toronto building permit can be sent out to a homeowners if no construction activity has occurred in an 18 month timeframe. The revocation notice would set a date within it where the Toronto building permit can be revoked if no feedback regarding the status of the construction of the project is provided to the building department. At Mark H Smith Designs Inc., we know of some Toronto building permits that were open and ongoing for over 20 years prior to being closed as completed and they were not revoked because communication as to delays was continually provided to the building department throughout that time frame. Every construction project may encounter uncertainty which provides delays to the eventual completion of the work [such as a Co-vid pandemic]. Situations where financial setbacks, or governmental controls are issued, or climate disasters occur, it would create an unfair requirement for a previously reviewed project to then incur the additional costs and delays required for re-permitting work that has already been approved is it were revoked without hearing our the homeowners reasoning to the delay within the construction phase of the project. A recent report was issued from the Toronto building department regarding this Toronto building permits expiry date matter and in the report’s summary, it was determined that based on unpredictable issues arising that could delay any construction or stop it, while being outside of the control of the project’s management team, the building department is still working on resolving better ways to enforce a time limit restriction on the construction phase for issued Toronto building permits. After the Toronto building permits are released as approved for your project, they require continual communication to remain valid throughout the construction. Keep in mind that regardless of how long a project takes to complete, there is still a requirement for the contractor or homeowner to work with the Toronto building inspector throughout the ongoing project and book inspections at various stages of the construction until the project is completed and the permits have been closed.

Resources –

1a)Toronto building permits official department website.

1b) They also offer a homeowner’s guide to Toronto building permits.

2) Protect your boundaries - Ontario Land surveys online catalog

*Please note the information page above is narrowly focused, and due to this fact, it may miss important steps or requirements for your upcoming project which can only be determined by the specific context of what you are looking undertake for an upcoming project. Call or email Mark H Smith Designs Inc. or the Toronto building department in order to receive a customized confirmation about what will be required for your upcoming project with regards to the Design, Drafting and Toronto building permits processes.*

Did I miss something in the Toronto building permits content above which you understand to be important and could be added to this information page in order to improve the next reader’s experience of engaging with it? Please reach out to info@markHsmith.ca and share your thoughts with me.