Commercial Permits · Toronto
Commercial permits and change of use for Toronto units: restaurant, retail and office fit-outs, zoning reviews for business licences, signs and fire and life-safety design, checked against By-law 569-2013 and filed through the City’s Online Services Portal.
What’s included
Commercial work is judged on the code analysis before it is judged on the drawings. We classify the occupancy, confirm the zoning and work out the fire and exit requirements first, so the layout you commit to is one the city will approve. In Toronto the package goes to Toronto Building, and it is drawn to that department’s checklist.
Fit-outs & new builds
Tenant fit-outs, alterations and new commercial construction, drawn to scale with the designer’s credentials and signature the Ontario Building Code requires on commercial plans.
New occupancy
Required whenever a building’s purpose changes, even with no construction: an office becoming a restaurant, a clinic becoming a supermarket, a residential unit becoming a shop.
Opening the doors
The approvals a new business needs beyond the building permit, worked out before the lease is signed so nothing surprises you at opening.
Occupant safety
Fire alarm, sprinkler, emergency lighting and exit-sign layouts, designed with the permit package so the fire department and the building department see one set.
The package
Find your situation below. If it’s there, this is the service, and the card underneath is everything you get from our one office.
07 common situations
07
items in your package, all from one P.Eng and BCIN team.
Drawn & stamped in-house
How it runs
Four steps, timed around your lease. We start with the code analysis so the layout you fall in love with is one the city will approve.
We measure the unit, confirm the zoning permits your use, and classify the occupancy under the Building Code. That tells us what the space needs before any layout is drawn.
Floor plan, exits, washrooms, kitchen and mechanical rooms are laid out together with your designer’s or franchisor’s standards, so the permit set and the fit-out drawings agree.
Architectural, structural, mechanical and fire-safety sheets come from one office, stamped by our P.Eng and BCIN designers.
We file the building permit and support the sign permit, fire inspection and licence applications that follow, answering city comments at no extra charge.
Case files
Open any file for the scope, the disciplines involved, what we delivered and what the owner came away with.
A compact two-storey suite in a Toronto backyard. Architectural and structural drawings, zoning review and a framing package that makes every square foot count.
Delivered
New living space on a lot the owners already had.
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Structural walls came out and rooms were added to open the plan. Beam and column design, permit drawings and renovation coordination through to final inspection.
Delivered
An open layout where the load-bearing walls used to be.
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A code-compliant second unit with its own entrance, fire separations between the units, HVAC design and the full permit package.
Delivered
A legal second unit that brings in rent and adds property value.
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A new build taken from the client’s sketch to occupancy, with the architectural, structural and mechanical design done by one team.
Delivered
Built to the client’s own plan, with one team answering for every discipline.
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A two-storey garden suite laid out to get the most usable space from the footprint, designed and permitted as a rentable unit.
Delivered
Rental income and a higher property value.
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A dental office converted into a supermarket. Interior renovation, a new plumbing system and fire separations upgraded to the Ontario Fire Code.
Delivered
A dental office reopened as a supermarket, compliant with the Ontario Fire Code.
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A custom covered porch that turns the front of the house into usable outdoor space. Addition design and structural drawings for the permit.
Delivered
More usable outdoor space and added home value.
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Site grading to manage drainage and prepare the land for a new driveway, drawn as a grading plan for the site alteration permit.
Delivered
Drainage handled and the land ready for a new driveway.
Start a project like thisPhoto plates
Additions, basements, kitchens, new builds and commercial fit-outs. Drag a row to scrub through it, or open any photo full size.Tap any photo to see it full size.
21 platesResidential, commercial & new build
The drawing set
Framing schedules, wall assemblies, dimensions and a city review stamp, as issued. Client title blocks are trimmed off to protect the people we drew them for.
Drawing set
Sheets in this set
Sheet title
Existing basement plan
The existing house recorded before any design: beams, joists and bearing walls.
Drawing no.
2 of 5
Service area
From the office we cover the whole GTA, north to Barrie and Orillia, east to Peterborough and Cobourg, west to Kitchener and Brantford, and down through Niagara.
46 across 8 regions
York Region
Toronto & Peel
Halton
Durham
Simcoe & Dufferin
Waterloo, Wellington & Brant
Hamilton, Niagara & Haldimand
Kawarthas & Northumberland
Past the 90-minute line
We've also completed projects in London and Strathroy. Farther out than that? Call (416) 990-9179 and ask.
Permits filed with municipalities including
Before you call
Anything we haven’t answered here, we’ll answer on a call. The first consultation is free.
(416) 990-9179Toronto Building reviews it as a building permit application, with or without construction. Regrading outside, for a patio or parking, is reviewed with that same permit rather than under a separate site alteration permit.
Only if the lot is regulated and the work goes outside. Toronto is within Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) jurisdiction, and TRCA’s permit has to come before the building permit when a regulated property is filled, regraded or built on. A patio, an addition or new parking can need it; a change of use inside the walls usually does not. TRCA is set to amalgamate into the Central Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority on a transition date of February 1, 2027 or later, so we confirm the issuing body when we apply.
Yes. The City of Toronto accepts building permit applications online through its Online Services Portal, and online submission is mandatory for certain building permit types. Permit status can be searched on the City’s Building Permit Application & Inspection Status site. We submit there and follow the file on the status site until the permit issues.
Yes. We take on commercial permits across Toronto, including North York and Scarborough, about half an hour from our Richmond Hill office. The first consultation is free, by phone or on site.
Three things to start: unit address and the landlord’s base-building drawings, if any; what the space was used for before, and what you plan; and your lease start date and any landlord deadlines. Send those and we tell you what Toronto Building will ask for before we quote.
Several, from different offices. The zoning has to allow an eating establishment under By-law 569-2013 or the property’s former by-law, and Toronto Building issues the permit for the change of use and the kitchen, applied for through the Online Services Portal. Municipal Licensing and Standards issues the business licence, Toronto Public Health has to give the premises a PASS before it can operate, and a liquor licence is a separate provincial application.
We find the by-law that governs the property first, since most of the city is under By-law 569-2013 but some properties keep the zoning of their former municipality, and then read which uses it permits in that zone. If yours is not one of them, Toronto Building cannot issue the permit until a rezoning or a minor variance allows it, and that is far better known before you sign the lease.
It can be. Toronto’s heritage conservation districts include Queen Street West, Parkdale Main Street, Historic Yonge Street, Kensington Market and Yorkville - Hazelton, and for a unit inside one we confirm what the district asks of a new storefront, sign or exterior alteration before drawing it. Work inside the unit goes to Toronto Building for the usual change of use or fit-out review.
It can. Chapter 813 of the Municipal Code protects City street trees of every size and private trees 30 centimetres or more across, and digging for a patio slab, footings or new paving close to one can injure it, which needs a permit. We put the trees on the site plan before the layout is fixed, and any tree permit runs beside the building permit from Toronto Building rather than inside it.
We do, as part of the change of use set: fire alarm layout, sprinklers, emergency lighting and exit signs, wherever the new occupancy calls for them. A change to a use with a higher hazard needs a permit even without construction, and Toronto Building reviews the fire-safety design in that application once the use has been confirmed under By-law 569-2013.
Searched & answered
Short answers to the commercial permits questions people search most, and the broader topics they lead to.
Not covered here? Book a free consultationYes, even when nothing is built. Toronto Building’s guidance says a building permit is required whenever a change of use is proposed. The examiner then checks what the new occupancy needs in that unit: fire separations, exits, washrooms and plumbing. Fine Engineering prepares Toronto change of use applications starting from that code analysis.
For some uses, yes. In Toronto, uses such as eating or drinking establishments, public garages and entertainment venues need written confirmation of zoning compliance to support a business licence application. Where the work will also need a building permit, Toronto Building recommends applying for a Zoning Applicable Law Certificate instead. Fine Engineering can prepare that zoning submission with the permit drawings.
In Toronto, a sign installed on a building or into the ground generally needs both a Sign Permit and a Building Permit. Window signs, topiary signs and painted wall signs do not need a Building Permit. Toronto Building administers the Sign By-law, Municipal Code Chapter 694. For a storefront, Fine Engineering draws the sign elevation to match the approved permit set.
Only where the zoning allows the new use, or after a minor variance or a rezoning, because a building permit can only be issued for work that meets applicable law and zoning is part of it. The conversion is then a change of use permit, often with accessibility, exit and fire-separation upgrades. Fine Engineering checks the zoning before anything is drawn.
No. A building permit covers construction and changes of use under the Building Code Act. A business licence is a separate municipal approval to operate, and which businesses need one depends on the municipality and the type of business. A new restaurant or clinic can need both, applied for separately. Fine Engineering works out which ones apply to an address before the lease is signed.
The number of people a space is designed to hold under the Ontario Building Code, worked out from its use and floor area. It sets the number of exits, exit widths and washrooms and, for a bar or restaurant, the capacity on the liquor licence. Fine Engineering calculates occupant load in every commercial permit set.
Good to know
In Toronto the reviewer is Toronto Building. Every Toronto lot sets its own terms: the previous use of the unit, the base building’s fire separations and exits and the landlord’s own drawings decide how much the permit set has to cover.
We walk the site with the survey, usually within a day or two of the call, before anything is drawn, then file the commercial permits package to Toronto Building’s own checklist.
Toronto’s housing runs to prewar and postwar houses on narrow lots across the inner suburbs, with most recent growth in mid- and high-rise apartments. Where a commercial unit shares a building with homes, the fire separation between the two occupancies is part of the code analysis from the first visit, and the landlord’s base-building drawings are the first thing we ask for.
Toronto requires every business to secure the proper licences, permits and inspections before it opens or operates. The City lists zoning requirements, sign permits and the building permit as separate items beside the licence, and Municipal Licensing and Standards takes licence applications under Municipal Code Chapter 545.
The two tracks meet at zoning. A business seeking a zoning review to support its licence may also need a building permit from Toronto Building if building alterations are proposed or a new major occupancy is being introduced into the building, so we read the licence, zoning and permit requirements together before the lease is signed.
Food businesses in Toronto must comply with Ontario’s Food Premises Regulation and the City’s Licensing By-law, and need a PASS from Toronto Public Health (DineSafe) to operate. That health approval is separate from the building permit, and neither one stands in for the other.
The permit side is mostly the kitchen. Toronto Building lists installing or modifying heating or plumbing among the projects that need a permit, and a commercial cooking line adds an exhaust hood, ductwork and make-up air on top. We draw the kitchen mechanical with the change of use set, so the kitchen the health inspector sees is the one the permit approved.
Toronto Building reviews a fit-out or change of use against the Building Code, but the building around the unit also has to meet the Ontario Fire Code, which sets minimum fire safety for buildings already standing. The owner is responsible for meeting it, and it is enforced by the municipal fire department rather than by Toronto Building.
For a unit in an older building we look at the existing fire separations, exits and alarm before the layout is drawn. New work that meets the Building Code still sits inside a building that has to meet the Fire Code, and it is easier to plan for both from the first visit.
Inside a ravine and natural feature protection area, Chapter 658 needs a permit before fill is placed or the grade is changed, and Urban Forestry reviews it. It is the one place Toronto asks for a grading permit apart from the building permit, so a commercial property inside one of those areas can need it for new parking, a patio or a loading area.
Where the property is also in a TRCA Regulated Area, the conservation authority reviews the same work. We prepare one grading plan for all three reviewers, so the elevations match from one application to the next.
Contact us
Tell us the address and the use, and we’ll tell you what the city will ask for, on a free first call.
First consultation free(416) 990-9179