How long does a building permit take in Toronto? The City’s own review targets are short: 3 business days for Express projects and 10 business days for a complete house application. The total time from first sketch to issued permit is longer, because drawings, zoning, missing documents and revisions all happen outside that clock. Experienced building permit services plan around the whole calendar rather than the review target alone.
Most delays come from the parts owners control, which is good news: they can be shortened. If you would rather hand the schedule over, our residential permit services in Toronto cover drawings, zoning and examiner responses. The table below shows the City’s published timeframes for each review stream as of September 2026.
| Stage or stream | What it covers | City timeframe |
|---|---|---|
| Intake check (email submission) | Whether the package is sufficient to accept | Within 1 business day |
| Express Services | Interior alterations, decks, garages, walkouts, stand-alone plumbing | 3 business days after intake |
| House Stream | Houses with up to two units, additions, garden and laneway suites | 10 business days, complete applications only |
| Small Building Stream | Part 9 buildings other than houses | 15 business days |
| Large and complex buildings | Part 3 buildings | 20 or 30 business days |
| Incomplete application | Any stream missing a required item | No review timeframe |
Toronto permit review time vs total project time
The gap between Toronto permit review time vs total project time is where most schedules break. The review target starts only once the City has a complete application and the fees are paid. Everything before that belongs to the owner and the designer: measuring the house, drawing existing and proposed conditions, engineering where a beam or foundation is involved, and assembling the forms.
A realistic schedule has four blocks. Preparation is drawings, engineering and forms. Zoning is the Zoning Applicable Law Certificate where the stream requires one. Review is the City’s stream target. Response is the time spent answering an examiner’s notice and waiting for the re-review. Only the third block has a published number. Business days also stretch in practice: 10 business days is two calendar weeks at best, and more around statutory holidays.
Preparation stretches most in three situations: the survey is missing or out of date, nobody knows how the floor above is framed until a ceiling is opened, or the house has older unpermitted work that has to be shown honestly on the existing plans. Ordering a survey early and opening one small inspection hole before the drawings start both move those unknowns to the front of the schedule, where they cost the least.
Complete application review period and the ZAP
The complete application review period is the rule that decides whether the clock runs at all. For the House Stream, the City treats an application as complete only when the form is filled in and signed, one set of plans is attached, the fees are paid and an issued Zoning Applicable Law Certificate (ZAP) is included with confirmation that applicable law is satisfied. An application without an issued ZAP is considered incomplete, and the City states there is no timeframe for reviewing incomplete applications.
That makes the ZAP the first real milestone for an addition, a new house, a laneway suite or a garden suite. The certificate covers up to three zoning reviews, so a clean zoning package the first time saves the most calendar days in the whole project. Express projects such as interior alterations, decks and basement walkouts follow their own submission list and do not wait for a ZAP, which is why a kitchen alteration can be issued within days while a small addition takes weeks.
Engineering can shorten the House Stream too. Where a professional engineer seals drawings for a house project and completes the Assumption of Responsibility form, Toronto Building carries out an expedited review of the sealed items and relies on the engineer’s seal for Building Code compliance.
How revisions affect permit timelines
Revisions are a frequent reason a permit takes twice as long as planned. When an examiner finds a problem, the City issues a notice listing what does not comply. The applicant then uploads revised drawings through the File Submission Hub, combined into a single PDF, with revision bubbles marking each change. Only the affected pages are needed, and only one resubmission is accepted at a time, so every item on the notice should be answered in the same upload.
How revisions affect permit timelines depends on two things: how long the applicant takes to respond, and how many rounds it takes. The City’s timeframe covers the initial review, not the time a notice sits unanswered. Each round also carries a fee of $214.79 or $92.79 per hour of examination, whichever is greater. Answering every comment fully in the first response, rather than item by item, is the most reliable way to protect the schedule.
Other approvals that extend how long a building permit takes
Some approvals sit outside the building permit altogether and have to be finished first. If the design does not meet the Zoning By-law, a minor variance from the Committee of Adjustment is needed before the permit application can proceed, and that adds a public hearing process measured in months. Our guide on whether a Toronto home addition needs a minor variance covers that decision.
The zoning examiner also checks other applicable law, including the Conservation Authorities Act and the Ontario Heritage Act. A lot near a ravine or watercourse may need conservation authority approval, and a designated heritage property may need heritage approval, before the building permit can be issued. Each of these runs on its own timeline, so identifying them at the start is the only way to keep them from appearing late.
For planning, add the stages rather than quoting the review target. Budget time for drawings and engineering, add the ZAP if your project is in the House Stream, add the stream’s review period, and leave room for at least one round of revisions. If you send us the property address, the proposed work and any plans you already have, we will tell you which stream applies, whether a ZAP or other approval is needed, and what the realistic path to an issued permit looks like.