Surrey’s official target for residential building permits is 10 weeks. As of August 2026, the City’s own data shows permits are running faster, at 4.1 weeks on average. Surrey issued 5,116 permits over the last 12 months, averaging 465 per month.
What the official target covers
The 10-week target applies to complete residential permit applications. An incomplete submission does not start the clock. Common reasons a submission counts as incomplete: missing site plan, no structural drawings for load-bearing changes, or a missing energy-compliance package for new construction. Getting completeness right at first submission is the fastest way to stay within the 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 CADWhere to check your Surrey permit status
Surrey uses a public permit portal where applicants can track the status of any filed permit. Status updates reflect where the file sits in review, not the date it will be issued. An “under review” status with no comments means no deficiencies have been noted yet; “revisions required” means the clock has stopped and will restart when you resubmit.
Surrey permit activity at a glance
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Permits issued (last 12 months) | 5,903 |
| Average permits per month | 454 |
| Average project value | $2.3M |
| Total declared project value | $13.33B |
Permit activity by type of work in Surrey
Where the work actually is matters more than any headline. Here are the most common permit categories in Surrey 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous Residential Permits | 654 | $129K |
| Misc Commercials | 596 | $318K |
| Demolition | 560 | n/a |
| New Single Family with Secondary Suite | 378 | $902K |
| New Coach House/Garden Suite | 351 | $169K |
| New Townhouse | 342 | $1.5M |
| Sign | 337 | $13K |
| New Duplex | 235 | $821K |
| Misc Industrial | 219 | $219K |
| Secondary Suite Addition | 150 | $79K |
| Misc Institutional | 138 | $1.0M |
| New Single Family | 61 | $1.0M |
Permit volume trend
Surrey issued 5,903 permits over the trailing 12 months, representing $13.33B in total declared project value. The busiest single month was Mar 2026 (1,085 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.