If you’re planning a renovation or addition in Toronto or anywhere in the GTA this year, the permit cost math has changed. Toronto increased its building permit fees by 4% effective January 1, 2026, plus a 4.82% adjustment to planning application fees. Neither increase is dramatic on its own, but combined they push a mid-size project’s soft costs noticeably higher than most 2024 cost guides still show.
What Toronto permit fees look like in 2026
For a house addition, Toronto charges roughly $17-$18 per square metre of construction area. A 400 sq ft (about 37 sq m) addition comes in at approximately $630-$665 in permit fees alone, before the application fee, the zoning review, and any Committee of Adjustment costs if your project triggers a minor variance.
If you need a Committee of Adjustment hearing – which happens when a project doesn’t fit current zoning and needs a variance – you’re looking at $2,228 for additions to existing houses with three or fewer units. A brand new dwelling runs $5,011 at that stage.
The planning application fee increase hits things like site plan control applications and rezoning requests. Most homeowners adding a bedroom, finishing a basement, or putting up a deck won’t touch these. But if you’re looking at a secondary suite, a garden suite, or anything that changes the property’s use, plan for it.
Total soft costs and what to budget
Permit fees are only part of it. Most experienced contractors budget 10-20% of total construction cost for permits, drawings, and engineering. For a $150,000 addition, that’s $15,000-$30,000 before anyone starts work.
A typical house addition in Ontario runs $350-$500 per square foot right now. A 600 sq ft addition at the midpoint ($425/sq ft) is $255,000 in hard costs, plus that soft cost layer. On a project that size, permits, architect, structural engineer, and surveys can run $30,000-$50,000.
Smaller projects like basement finishing or interior renovations under certain thresholds don’t always require a full building permit in Toronto, but electrical and plumbing work within them still triggers separate permits from the ESA and Toronto Water. If a contractor tells you “no permit needed” for work that’s changing structure or adding habitable space, that’s worth a second opinion.
How the permit process runs right now
Toronto’s permit office uses a digital submission system; applications go through the Toronto Building portal. Review times vary by project type. A simple interior renovation might get a permit in a few weeks, while structural changes, external envelope changes, or secondary suites can take three to five months from submission to approval.
One thing worth knowing before you set a start date: work can’t begin until the permit is in hand, regardless of the contractor’s schedule. Starting without one creates a paper trail problem that follows the property and can surface during a sale or insurance claim later.
Permit fees outside Toronto
Toronto’s fee structure is specific to the City. Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, and other 905-area municipalities each have their own schedules. The 905 municipalities generally run a bit lower on a per-square-metre basis, but review times and process requirements vary enough that it’s worth checking the specific municipality’s fee schedule before you build a budget. Ottawa’s 2026 permit fees went through a similar increase, roughly in the same range.
What usually blows the budget
Permit fees are a fixed line item. The surprise is usually the architectural drawings. A set of permit drawings for an addition can run $8,000-$15,000 depending on complexity, often more than the permit fee itself, and the payment goes to the architect before you know whether the permit will be approved as submitted.
If you’re at the planning stage, a pre-consultation with Toronto Building before commissioning full drawings can save real money. They’ll flag whether a variance is likely or whether the project fits as-of-right, which changes the drawing scope significantly.
Questions welcome
A lot of what matters in the permit process depends on the specific property and project. If you’re working through an application and hit something confusing, post it in the comments. A few people on here have been through the process recently and tend to respond.
Contractors and architects who contribute details here earn $RENO for it – those posts move the needle on the contributor leaderboard. Permit knowledge is one of the things the forum is genuinely short on.