Which part of Toronto approves permits fastest?

Among the 98 postal areas with enough permits to measure, M4T has the shortest median wait at 16 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 98 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 28,514 permits the City issued over the trailing 12 months came through within 32 days of application. One in ten took longer than 218 days. Which half you land in depends far more on what you are building than on where.

Median wait

32 days

Slowest 10%

218+ days

Permits measured

28,514

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	2,997
Demolition	46 days	231 days	1,505
HVAC	35 days	235 days	4,321
Addition	34 days	170 days	4,757
Pool	34 days	101 days	164
Electrical	32 days	94 days	87
Plumbing	32 days	257 days	5,933
Roofing	27 days	109 days	485
Interior alteration	26 days	95 days	4,129
Deck	22 days	126 days	1,394
Window / Door	13 days	62 days	778

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	518
M6N	West Toronto & York	134 days	883 days	868
M6A	West Toronto & York	67 days	611 days	483
M1L	Scarborough	60 days	279 days	331
M9M	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	54 days	327 days	116
M1M	Scarborough	47 days	364 days	280
M1B	Scarborough	44 days	197 days	235
M1K	Scarborough	43 days	259 days	241
M7A	Queen's Park	43 days	79 days	30
M1C	Scarborough	42 days	1439 days	311
M2M	North York (east)	42 days	111 days	316
M2R	North York (east)	42 days	284 days	254
M5A	Downtown & Central Toronto	42 days	340 days	315
M8W	Etobicoke (south)	42 days	134 days	328
M2K	North York (east)	40 days	635 days	154
M1S	Scarborough	38 days	203 days	224
M5T	Downtown & Central Toronto	38 days	210 days	267
M6B	West Toronto & York	38 days	171 days	315
M6M	West Toronto & York	38 days	296 days	260
M1J	Scarborough	37 days	281 days	136
M6L	West Toronto & York	37 days	231 days	149
M1E	Scarborough	36 days	171 days	283
M1V	Scarborough	36 days	125 days	171
M3K	North York (west)	36 days	123 days	101
M4Y	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	36 days	95 days	92
M9N	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	36 days	378 days	170
M1W	Scarborough	35 days	143 days	134
M3J	North York (west)	35 days	230 days	147
M9B	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	35 days	201 days	306
M9W	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	35 days	132 days	338
M3H	North York (west)	34 days	186 days	334
M3N	North York (west)	34 days	161 days	62
M4B	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	34 days	148 days	200
M4P	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	34 days	150 days	241
M9V	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	34 days	212 days	173
M4W	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	33 days	168 days	377
M5C	Downtown & Central Toronto	33 days	65 days	216
M5M	Downtown & Central Toronto	33 days	225 days	329
M5V	Downtown & Central Toronto	33 days	114 days	431
M9P	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	33 days	280 days	97
M1N	Scarborough	32 days	222 days	311
M1P	Scarborough	32 days	136 days	286
M1T	Scarborough	32 days	126 days	113
M2N	North York (east)	32 days	113 days	475
M3A	North York (west)	32 days	187 days	142
M4S	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	32 days	153 days	386
M5S	Downtown & Central Toronto	32 days	103 days	308
M6E	West Toronto & York	32 days	168 days	551
M8Z	Etobicoke (south)	32 days	220 days	471
M1H	Scarborough	31 days	164 days	137
M1R	Scarborough	31 days	188 days	297
M3B	North York (west)	31 days	140 days	273
M3L	North York (west)	31 days	97 days	61
M4A	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	31 days	112 days	110
M4N	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	31 days	232 days	235
M5J	Downtown & Central Toronto	31 days	63 days	303
M9C	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	31 days	109 days	233
M1X	Scarborough	30 days	246 days	58
M5B	Downtown & Central Toronto	30 days	98 days	178
M5E	Downtown & Central Toronto	30 days	65 days	79
M6K	West Toronto & York	30 days	189 days	352
M9R	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	30 days	146 days	119
M5G	Downtown & Central Toronto	29 days	110 days	261
M5X	Downtown & Central Toronto	29 days	42 days	30
M9L	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	29 days	96 days	91
M4C	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	28 days	112 days	586
M4H	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	28 days	314 days	45
M4M	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	28 days	276 days	402
M5H	Downtown & Central Toronto	28 days	54 days	396
M5R	Downtown & Central Toronto	28 days	125 days	476
M6C	West Toronto & York	28 days	151 days	375
M6J	West Toronto & York	28 days	125 days	574
M3M	North York (west)	27 days	189 days	116
M4E	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	27 days	175 days	295
M4V	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	27 days	74 days	247
M6H	West Toronto & York	27 days	129 days	734
M8Y	Etobicoke (south)	27 days	96 days	233
M2L	North York (east)	26 days	94 days	134
M2P	North York (east)	26 days	158 days	93
M4G	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	26 days	221 days	360
M4L	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	26 days	181 days	531
M9A	Etobicoke & Northwest Toronto	26 days	98 days	334
M2H	North York (east)	25 days	133 days	139
M8X	Etobicoke (south)	25 days	105 days	138
M4K	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	24 days	125 days	484
M4X	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	24 days	99 days	91
M6G	West Toronto & York	24 days	125 days	594
M6P	West Toronto & York	24 days	172 days	553
M8V	Etobicoke (south)	24 days	165 days	365
M2J	North York (east)	22 days	85 days	225
M4R	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	22 days	96 days	184
M5P	Downtown & Central Toronto	22 days	74 days	225
M6S	West Toronto & York	22 days	110 days	452
M1G	Scarborough	21 days	129 days	107
M5N	Downtown & Central Toronto	21 days	70 days	190
M6R	West Toronto & York	21 days	92 days	429
M4J	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	19 days	111 days	525
M4T	East York, East Toronto & Midtown	16 days	93 days	202

Common questions

How long does a building permit take in Toronto?: Half of the 28,514 permits issued in Toronto over the last 12 months were issued within 32 days of application. One in ten took longer than 218 days. The wait varies sharply by trade: New build runs about 65 days while Window / Door runs about 13 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 16 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 98 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: 98 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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