Plain-English guides to building permits, business licences, zoning, inspections and municipal approvals — for architects, engineers, contractors, consultants and homeowners, from the team behind Permits2Go.
Two consultants can submit the same project to the same municipality and get permits three months apart. Ten habits that separate applications which sail through from the ones that stall.
Read the guide →What permit paperwork costs per application, and what each Permits2Go feature saves: from about 30 admin minutes (~$25) to 1.5 hours (~$75). Every step shown.
Read the guide →Permit management software replaces the spreadsheet, the shared inbox and the one-portal-per-city logins that consultants, contractors and homeowners use to run permits today. Here is how the process works now, where the weeks go, and how tools like Permits2Go cut the administration.
Read the guide →How a plain-language conversation replaces the menu maze at the start of every Ontario permit application, and what the research-and-phone-calls workflow it replaces really costs.
Read the guide →How Permits2Go builds the document list for a permit, tracks every drawing and its revisions, and batch-renames a whole set in one preview-first pass.
Read the guide →Checklist review per drawing type plus a setback, height and coverage check against your lot’s zoning, so the first comment cycle is about design rather than missing basics.
Read the guide →Every municipality wants the same package delivered a different way. How Permits2Go assembles it to each city’s conventions and files it while you approve each step.
Read the guide →The owner’s signature is one line on one form and routinely costs a week. Pre-filled forms, signing links and signed copies that file themselves close that gap.
Read the guide →Status calls, questions about a specific drawing and comment clarifications, placed for you with a transcript and proposed tracking updates you approve.
Read the guide →Upload the city’s comments and get each one itemized with a drafted response in the form the examiner expects, a status and an email to the reviewer, all tracked on the application.
Read the guide →Use it on city portals and correspondence and every email, notification and attachment is logged on the file instead of in someone’s mailbox.
Read the guide →A live dashboard for every application, a notes tab you can share with clients, and automatic emails for status changes and deadlines.
Read the guide →A per-application notes tab with pinned notes, attachments, full edit history, notes written by the platform from calls and emails, and selected notes shared with your client.
Read the guide →Log every city visit per application, keep the deficiency checklist current, file city inspection notices automatically, and get the visit onto your calendar.
Read the guide →The official municipal forms filled from your project details before you open them, ready to review, edit and sign, so you correct a draft instead of typing the same address onto a dozen forms.
Read the guide →Most delays blamed on the city are really tracking failures. What to track for every permit, the four ways losing track costs money, and how to run a weekly review.
Read the guide →Restaurants, trades, taxis, rooming houses — Hamilton’s licensing guide runs to 95 licence and permit categories. Who needs a licence, what it takes to get one, and where to find the guide for yours.
Read the guide →Restaurants, contractors, salons, taxis, shops — Toronto and Hamilton license hundreds of business categories between them. Who needs a licence, and where to find the guide for yours.
Read the guide →Cutting a new entrance into your foundation is structural work — a permit is always required. Here's the zoning, engineering and cost picture for side entrances and walkouts.
Read the guide →Do I need one? What will it cost? How long will it take? The five questions every owner asks about permits — answered in plain English.
Read the guide →Owners ask “how do I get a permit?” Consultants ask “what will stop this permit from being issued?” The five questions professionals put to building departments.
Read the guide →Small, low, detached decks can be exempt — but most attached or elevated decks need a permit. Here's how to tell which side of the line your project falls on.
Read the guide →Toronto charges permit fees by floor area and work type, with a minimum fee for small projects. Here's what typical projects pay — and the costs beyond the permit.
Read the guide →Ontario law gives municipalities 10 to 30 business days to review a complete application. Real projects often take longer — here's why, and how to keep yours on track.
Read the guide →Before the Building Code ever applies, zoning decides what you can build, where, and how big. A plain-English tour of the rules and what to do when your project doesn't fit.
Read the guide →Toronto allows detached backyard homes city-wide. What separates an approvable garden suite from a dead end usually comes down to a few feasibility checks — here they are.
Read the guide →How Permits2Go works, feature by feature: all twelve feature guides. Opening a business? Toronto and Hamilton business licences.
Check the spelling, or try a broader word such as “permit”, “licence” or your city. You can also browse every licence guide or ask us.
Plain-language guides to every business licence and permit category Toronto and Hamilton issue.
