Volume is near a record. Value is not.
Permit counts climbed all spring and peaked at 2,892 in July. The value of building work hasn't followed: September's $420 million is the lowest monthly total since January.
Building permits issued per month Oct 2024 – Sep 2026
Declared value of building work per month $ millions
Renovation and mechanical work lead. New houses fall by almost half.
September permits in Toronto by type, against the same month last year. Additions and alterations brought the most value of any category, at $186 million.
3,620 permits across six municipalities.
Vaughan and Toronto posted the sharpest year-over-year gains. Mississauga was the only covered city to dip.
| Municipality | Sept 2026 | Sept 2025 | Change | Volume |
|---|
Each city publishes a different slice of its permits (for example, Burlington lists only issued and final permits, and Mississauga's feed leaves out signs and revisions). Compare each city with its own past, not with the others. Oakville's open data has too little history for a fair year-over-year figure. Hamilton is excluded this month because its public permit record runs about three months behind.
Fewer rezonings, but the ones filed are big.
Planning applications filed today turn into building permits 12 to 18 months from now, often later. Toronto's rezoning filings fell for a third straight quarter. Two suburban sites alone propose 8,091 homes.
Rezoning filings by quarter
Rezoning and Official Plan amendments, Q3
Site plan applications, Q3
The largest proposals filed since July, drawn to scale height = storeys · width = units
| Site | Ward | Units | Storeys | Filed | Status |
|---|
Downtown leads, but the suburbs carry the biggest single sites.
Units proposed in rezoning applications over the past 12 months, by ward. Toronto Centre spreads 8,088 units over 20 applications. Humber River–Black Creek reaches 5,592 with just three.
381 variance and severance requests filed this quarter.
These small approvals drive infill work: basement suites, rear additions, laneway houses and lot splits. Toronto and East York accounts for almost half. The 44 severance requests would each create new building lots.
Most projects are public long before the permit.
We matched every new Toronto building over $10 million to the planning record behind it. 88% had a public planning application first, and the site plan was public a median of 4 years before the building permit. Smaller jobs show up too: as a Committee of Adjustment file, a house demolition, or a new-house permit still in review.
Committee of Adjustment files for new houses and infill, Q3
New-house permits still in review
Teardowns with no new house filed yet
Builtie lists each of these by address in its Coming up view, next to the rezonings and site plans in section 04, and emails you when a project you watch moves or its building permit is filed. Try it free for 7 days.
Who is busy, who should prospect, who should plan ahead.
HVAC and plumbing
BusyMechanical permits rose 49% and plumbing permits 44%. Retrofit and replacement work is the strongest part of the market right now.
Renovation and additions
BusyAdditions and alterations rose 65% to 319 permits and $186 million of declared value, the largest value category in September.
New-home trades
SlowingFraming, roofing and foundation crews face fewer starts: new-house permits fell from 191 to 106. The 44 severance requests point to where the next infill homes will go.
High-rise trades
Plan aheadForming, curtain wall and elevator contractors should track the 13,410 units in Q3 rezonings. These are multi-year projects, and the developers are choosing partners now.