Burnaby has no published processing-time target for building permits. The City’s own guidance notes that complete Engineering Pre-Application submissions for new home construction take about 15 business days for initial review. Burnaby issued 151 permits over the last 12 months in our dataset, averaging 76 per month.
What the 15-business-day figure covers
The 15-business-day estimate applies to Pre-Application submissions only, not to the full permit. A Pre-Application is an optional first step where you submit early drawings and the City’s engineers note any likely issues before you file the formal permit application. Using it can reduce revision cycles on the full permit, which is the main way to shorten overall timelines in a city without a published target.
Submitting a permit application?
The Permit Compliance Audit checks your plans against zoning, building, and parking bylaws before you submit, so you catch the issues that trigger a resubmission cycle while they still cost nothing to fix. Free analysis first, $149 CAD one-time for the certified report.
See the Permit Compliance Audit, $149 CADHow to check your Burnaby permit status
Burnaby provides permit status through its Online Services portal. Status updates show where a file sits in the review queue. A file showing “under review” with no outstanding deficiency notice is on track; a deficiency notice pauses the clock and requires a resubmission.
Burnaby permit activity at a glance
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Permits issued (last 12 months) | 510 |
| Average permits per month | 102 |
| Average project value | $1.6M |
| Total declared project value | $782.3M |
Permit activity by type of work in Burnaby
Where the work actually is matters more than any headline. Here are the most common permit categories in Burnaby over the last 12 months, ranked by volume, with the average project value for each, so you can see what kind of projects are moving and what they're worth:
| Type of work | Permits | Avg value |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | 194 | $397K |
| Commercial | 193 | $3.1M |
| Demolition | 89 | $1.2M |
Permit volume trend
Burnaby issued 510 permits over the trailing 12 months, representing $782.3M in total declared project value. The busiest single month was Jul 2026 (121 permits). Application activity rises in spring and summer, exactly when the permit office is busiest, so submitting a complete application off-peak can mean a shorter queue.
What drives building permit wait times
Permit processing time is rarely about a single step. The biggest levers are:
- Application completeness. Missing drawings, unsigned forms, or a site plan that doesn't match the zoning trigger a resubmission cycle, each round can add weeks.
- Type of work. A like-for-like alteration is reviewed against fewer regulations than a new building, which needs zoning, building, and often servicing sign-offs.
- Project value and complexity. Higher-value projects attract more reviewers and more conditions, which is why the average always exceeds the median.
- Seasonal volume. Application spikes in spring and summer lengthen the queue.
How to read these benchmarks
These are permit-volume benchmarks, they measure how many permits were issued and what they were worth. They are not approval rates: the underlying dataset has no approval-versus-denial field, so we never report rejection percentages. Use the volume and by-work-type breakdown to gauge how active the permit office is and where your project fits.The single best way to stay on the fast end is to submit a complete, compliant application the first time.