Data Report
Canadian Building Permit Approval Times
3.1 million permits. 32 cities. 2018 to 2025. Here is what the numbers say about how long it actually takes to get a building permit in Canada, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.
Published by Van Permit Audit. Data source: municipal open data portals. Verified via BigQuery, 2026-07-02.
Key findings
86 days
Vancouver median (all permit types)
50,496 permits, 2018-2025
210 days
Vancouver new building permit median
7+ months from application to approval
4x gap
Within Vancouver: West End (35 days) vs Victoria-Fraserview (138 days)
201 days
Vancouver laneway home permit average
2,244 permits since 2022
13 days
Kelowna median vs Vancouver's 86
Both cities in BC
3.1M
Permits tracked across 32 Canadian cities
$443.6B in declared project value
By the numbers
The median Vancouver building permit takes 86 days. In Victoria-Fraserview, expect 138 days. In West End, just 35. That is a 4x gap within one city.
Vancouver new building permits took a median of 210 days from 2018 to 2025, more than seven months from application to approval.
2023 was Vancouver's worst year on record for permit processing: 169 days average. By 2025, it improved to 116 days, but still above the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline of 121 days.
Laneway home permits in Vancouver averaged 201 days from 2022 to 2025, based on 2,244 permits with "laneway" in the project description.
Kelowna's median permit approval time is 13 days. Vancouver's is 86 days. Both cities are in BC.
In Vancouver, addition and alteration permits (most homeowner renovations) took a median of 47 days. New buildings: 210 days. Demolitions: 179 days.
BC declared $6.75 billion in building permit project value in 2025, up from $3.46 billion in 2019.
Avoid the revision cycle that adds months
Most Vancouver delays start with an incomplete submission. A pre-submission audit catches bylaw gaps before the city does.
Section 1
The national picture: city-by-city median approval times
Approval-time records (the permitelapseddays field populated): 710,981 permits across 6 cities with sufficient data quality for this analysis.
| City | Province | Median Days | Permits with elapsed-day data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver | BC | 86 | 50,496 |
| Toronto | ON | 34 | 176,630 |
| Montreal | QC | 24 | 392,623 |
| St. Catharines | ON | 19 | 17,466 |
| Kelowna | BC | 13 | 51,766 |
| Thunder Bay | ON | 14 | 12,178 |
Methodological note: Median (PERCENTILE_CONT) is used throughout because a small number of stalled permits inflate averages. Vancouver median 86 days; average 135 days. Cross-city comparisons are directional; elapsed-day definitions vary by municipality.
Explore the full dataset by city and permit type on the BC Building Permits data page.
Section 2
Vancouver deep dive
Approval times by neighbourhood (median days)
| Neighbourhood | Median Days | Permits |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria-Fraserview | 138 | 2,130 |
| Sunset | 136 | 2,729 |
| Hastings-Sunrise | 131 | 3,085 |
| Oakridge | 131 | 1,296 |
| Kerrisdale | 130 | 1,331 |
| South Cambie | 128 | 925 |
| Killarney | 128 | 1,659 |
| Dunbar-Southlands | 128 | 2,525 |
| Riley Park | 127 | 2,411 |
| West Point Grey | 126 | 1,526 |
| Renfrew-Collingwood | 125 | 3,239 |
| Kensington-Cedar Cottage | 122 | 3,875 |
| Shaughnessy | 114 | 956 |
| Arbutus Ridge | 113 | 1,291 |
| Marpole | 105 | 1,856 |
| Grandview-Woodland | 100 | 1,752 |
| Kitsilano | 77 | 2,549 |
| Mount Pleasant | 67 | 1,962 |
| Strathcona | 64 | 1,051 |
| Fairview | 42 | 2,261 |
| Downtown | 36 | 7,283 |
| West End | 35 | 2,423 |
Source: 50,496 Vancouver permits with approval-time data, 2018-2025. PERCENTILE_CONT(0.5) by neighbourhood.
Approval times by type of work
| Type of Work | Median Days | Avg Days | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Building | 210 | 246 | 11,615 |
| Demolition / Deconstruction | 179 | 208 | 6,887 |
| Salvage and Abatement | 59 | 78 | 6,612 |
| Addition / Alteration | 47 | 81 | 24,870 |
| Temporary Building / Structure | 8 | 25 | 451 |
Laneway home permits: 201 days average
Vancouver laneway home permits averaged 201 days from application to approval, based on 2,244 permits with "laneway" in the project description, issued from 2022 to present. This represents a significant wait even against Vancouver's already-slow citywide baseline.
Vancouver year-over-year trend
| Year | Avg Approval Days | Permits Issued |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 135 | 6,721 |
| 2019 | 121 | 5,559 |
| 2020 | 137 | 4,383 |
| 2021 | 129 | 5,016 |
| 2022 | 158 | 5,924 |
| 2023 | 169 | 4,647 |
| 2024 | 126 | 4,871 |
| 2025 | 116 | 5,120 |
2023 was Vancouver's worst year on record in this dataset at 169 days average. The improvement to 116 days in 2025 is real, but still above the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline of 121 days.
Section 3
BC province-wide trends
| Year | BC Avg Days | BC Permits | BC Declared Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 113 | 8,609 | $4.76B |
| 2019 | 100 | 7,484 | $3.46B |
| 2020 | 105 | 6,238 | $4.33B |
| 2021 | 98 | 7,564 | $3.83B |
| 2022 | 129 | 7,932 | $7.27B |
| 2023 | 137 | 6,313 | $6.81B |
| 2024 | 106 | 6,338 | $4.61B |
| 2025 | 101 | 6,598 | $6.75B |
Source: Van Permit Audit dataset, province='BC', PERCENTILE_CONT / AVG by issue year, queried 2026-07-02.
Section 4
What causes building permit delays in Vancouver?
Incomplete submissions are cited as a leading cause by City staff and industry groups. Applications missing required drawings, engineer stamps, Step Code compliance documentation, or bylaw analysis go back to the applicant for correction before a plan checker begins substantive review.
Bylaw complexity. Vancouver Building By-law 2025, Zoning By-law, and Parking By-law 6059 require simultaneous compliance. South and east RS-1 zoning neighbourhoods show the longest wait times in the dataset.
Plan checker capacity. The 2022 to 2023 surge (peak 7,932 BC permits in 2022) coincided with the worst approval times. The dataset shows the correlation clearly.
Revision cycles. The gap between Vancouver's average (135 days) and median (86 days) reflects a long tail of projects stuck in multiple revision rounds. Each revision restarts the clock.
The single highest-leverage action
Before submitting a Vancouver permit application: ensure every required document is complete and every bylaw item is addressed. A pre-submission audit catches these issues before the city does, avoiding the revision cycle that adds months. VPA's $149 readiness audit checks 12+ compliance categories against the current Vancouver Building By-law, Zoning By-law, and Parking By-law.
FAQ
Common questions
Do I need a permit for a deck in Vancouver?
In most cases, yes. Decks above grade typically require a building permit in Vancouver under the Vancouver Building By-law 2025. Check your specific project against current bylaw requirements before starting work.
What happens if I renovate without a permit in Vancouver?
Unpermitted work surfaces during property sale. Buyers' lawyers routinely search permit history through the City's open permit database. Retroactive permits often require opening finished walls for inspection. The City can issue Stop Work Orders for active unpermitted construction. Mortgage lenders may decline financing on properties with known unpermitted additions.
What do I need to submit a building permit in Vancouver?
Standard requirements: completed application, site plan, floor plans (existing and proposed), elevations, structural drawings (engineer-stamped for structural work), energy compliance documentation (BC Step Code), and permit fees. The most common cause of delay is missing bylaw compliance items caught during plan review.
How do I estimate my permit timeline?
Use the neighbourhood and work-type data in this report as a baseline. Addition and alteration permits (most renovations) have a median of 47 days citywide; new buildings run 210 days. South and east Vancouver neighbourhoods tend to be slower. The single highest-leverage action is ensuring your submission is complete before you file.
Cite this data
Van Permit Audit (2026). Canadian Building Permit Approval Times: A City-by-City Data Report, 2018-2025. Retrieved from https://vanpermitaudit.ca/data
Dataset reference: 3,114,538 Canadian building permit records across 32 cities, 2018-2025. Approval-time data available for 710,981 records. Source: municipal open data portals.
Press and data inquiries: adam@wolfcodes.ca
Dataset coverage notes
- Total permits: 3,114,538 across 32 cities (BigQuery verified 2026-07-06)
- Cities with elapsed-day data used in this analysis: Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Kelowna, St. Catharines, Thunder Bay
- Date range: 2018 to 2025
- Source: Municipal open data portals
- Exclusions: permitelapseddays IS NULL, less than or equal to 0, or 2000 or more (data quality filter)
- Methodology: PERCENTILE_CONT(0.5) for all median statistics. Averages noted where used.
Estimate your specific timeline
Select your neighbourhood and work type for a personalised estimate based on these numbers.
Avoid the revision cycle that adds months
Most Vancouver delays start with an incomplete submission. A pre-submission audit catches bylaw gaps before the city does.