Here's the detail that trips up most homeowners before they've even applied: York Region, the regional government, does not issue building permits. Building permits in Ontario are a municipal function. If your property is in Markham, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Newmarket, Aurora, King, East Gwillimbury, Whitchurch-Stouffville, or Georgina, your permit is reviewed and issued by that municipality's own building division — not by York Region, and not by any one shared office. The region handles things like regional roads and development charges, but the permit itself, the inspections, and the building code enforcement all belong to your local municipality.
What "complete" means, and why it matters more than submitting
Submitting an application isn't the same as starting the review clock. Under the Ontario Building Code Act, the chief building official has to determine whether your application is actually complete — the right drawings, zoning compliance, structural details, energy efficiency forms — and if it isn't, they're required to tell you within two business days. The legislated review period doesn't start until the file is deemed complete. Most municipalities, including Markham through its ePLAN portal, also require the estimated permit fee to be paid up front, before plans examiners even begin reviewing the drawings.
The legislated timeline vs. the real one
Once your application is complete, the Building Code Act sets out how long the municipality has to issue or refuse the permit:
- 10 business days for a house (Part 9 of the Building Code).
- 15 business days for other small buildings under Part 9.
- 20–30 business days for larger or more complex buildings under Part 3.
In practice, that clock is the floor, not the whole timeline. If the examiner comes back with a deficiency — a missing detail, an unclear zoning setback, a structural drawing that doesn't match the site plan — the file goes back to you, and the statutory clock effectively resets once you resubmit. A clean, complete application the first time is genuinely the biggest lever you have over how long this takes, more than anything you can do after submitting.
Once it's issued, inspections are on you to book — not on the inspector to show up
This surprises a lot of first-time renovators: the building division does not proactively send someone to your site. As the permit holder, you (or your contractor) are responsible for notifying the building division at each mandated stage of construction — footing, framing, plumbing rough-in, insulation, and final — and booking the inspection yourself. An issued permit is required before you can even book the first one, and the site needs to actually be ready when the inspector arrives, or it gets pushed to another visit.
A permit doesn't stay valid forever if nothing happens
Ontario's Building Code Act gives the chief building official the authority to revoke a permit if construction hasn't seriously started within six months of it being issued, or if work is substantially suspended or discontinued for more than one year. That matters if you're pulling a permit early to lock in a design before lining up a contractor — don't get a permit issued and then let it sit for half a year before starting, or you may find yourself reapplying.
If plans change: refunds are tiered, not all-or-nothing
Every York Region municipality sets its own fee schedule, but the structure is broadly the same: if you cancel before construction starts, you get back a percentage of what you paid, and that percentage shrinks the further the file got through review. Newmarket's schedule, for example, refunds 90% if only administrative steps were completed, 80% if zoning review was also done, and 60% if plan examination was finished — with no refund at all once construction has started, once a permit is revoked, or more than a year after payment. If you're weighing whether to pull a permit before you've fully committed to a contractor, ask your municipality's building division for its specific refund schedule before you pay.
The short version of a long process
The process is the same shape everywhere in York Region — apply to your specific municipality (not the region), get it deemed complete, wait out the legislated review window, book your own inspections at each stage, and don't let an issued permit sit unused for more than six months. The fees and exact forms differ city to city, but the mechanics don't. Getting a genuinely complete application in on the first try is the one thing that actually shortens this, in every municipality.
Related reading
- What Actually Requires a Building Permit for a Basement Renovation in Vaughan?
- How Do I Know If a Contractor Is Licensed in Ontario?
- Exterior Repairs on a Main Street Newmarket Heritage Building: When You Actually Need Heritage Sign-Off
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