Vancouver Building Permits

Permits issued

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Median days to issue

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P90 days (slowest 10%)

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Issued within 90 days

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Project value permitted

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Specific use

Every new house type got faster; multiple dwellings did not

New buildings, median days to issue. Bar is LTM Sep-2026; ticks mark the two earlier periods.

Where the value sits

Mixed use with housing: a sliver of permits, the largest share of value

Share of permits (grey) and of project value (colour), LTM Sep-2026.

Application volume

New houses slow down when applications pile up

Extra median days when a month has 10 more applications of that type. Line is the 95% range; filled dots are statistically clear.

Supporting evidence · 2017–2025 cohorts

Submission timing

New buildings opened June to September wait longest

Days vs the average month, comparing each month only with months of the same year.

Supporting evidence · 2017–2024 cohorts

Redevelopment sites

Teardowns now make way for multiplexes

What replaces a demolished building, by period of the demolition.

Resources

About — of Permitting Services budget per permit issued in 2025

An upper bound: the division also handles other work. Department staff and median days by year are on the Resources page.

P90 is the number of days within which 90% of permits are issued; only the slowest 10% take longer. The gap to the median is wide because most permits are quick alterations, while the slowest 10% are mostly new buildings and demolitions, and the clock also counts time waiting on applicants.

Monthly trend

The median dropped from January 2026; P90 did not follow

Median and P90 days by month issued (lines, left axis); permits issued (grey bars, right axis). Markers: 1 multiplex permit stream (early 2025), 2 salvage and abatement folded into demolition (late 2025), 3 online portal for low-density housing (Nov 2025).

Speed of clearance

More permits now clear within 90 days

Share of permits issued within N days of application.

By type of work

Alterations and demolitions got faster; new buildings slipped

Median days; P90 for LTM Sep-2026 in the last column.

Backlog and completeness

About two-thirds of each year's permits were submitted that year

Permits issued in each period, by how many periods earlier they were submitted.

New buildings carry over more: — of those issued in LTM Sep-2026 were submitted the year before, against — a year earlier.

By property use

Housing only got faster; mixed use with housing slowed for a second year

Mixed use means more than one recorded use; "with housing" when one of them is dwelling. Last column is P90 for LTM Sep-2026.

Where the value sits

Share of permits vs share of project value

LTM Sep-2026. Grey is share of permits; colour is share of value.

New buildings by specific use

Houses and duplexes got faster

Multiple dwelling permits tripled after the 2023 multiplex zoning, so their mix changed; compare with care. Last column is median project value.

Alterations by specific use

Most alterations clear in about a month; restaurants and conversions do not

Largest categories in LTM Sep-2026. Last column is P90.

Applications submitted

— applications in LTM Sep-2026, — on the year before

Every permit number counts as an application, including numbers never issued. Grey is not issued yet: still pending, withdrawn or refused. Recent months are still in the queue.

Does volume slow approvals?

Houses slow when applications pile up; laneways and alterations barely do

Extra median days per 10 more applications of that type in a month, with month and year controls. Line is the 95% range; filled dots are statistically clear.

Supporting evidence · 2017–2025 cohorts

Month submitted

Timing matters for new buildings and late-year alterations

Days vs the average month in the same year, by month opened.

Supporting evidence · 2017–2025 cohorts

A site is a demolition and a new building at the same address, issued within two years of each other.

Demolitions issued

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Followed by a new building

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Whole-site approval, median days

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Issued the same day

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What replaces the demolished building

Multiple dwellings became the largest replacement

New building on each site, by specific use. Some LTM Sep-2026 sites still wait for their new building, so pairing is lower this year.

Where teardowns happen

Westside areas are rising

Redevelopment sites by local area, top 10 in LTM Sep-2026. A March 2026 City memo notes demolition permits are being decoupled from building permits, which fits the fall in same-day issue.

Budget and staffing are published by calendar year, so this page uses calendar years, not the LTM periods.

Staffing and processing time

Staff grew while the median fell from its 2022 peak

Development, Buildings and Licensing FTE (bars; 2024–25 are budget forecasts, hatched) and median days to issue by year issued (line). A match in timing, not proof of cause.

Cost per permit, three ways

The division-level figure is the fairest

2025 budget divided by permits issued in 2025.

An upper bound. The division also handles other permit types and works on applications that are never issued.
Department-wide staffing. FTE covers inspections and licensing too.
Other changes at the same time. The City also credits simpler rules, digital tools and review changes.

About the data

Source. Issued building permits, City of Vancouver Open Data. The snapshot is loaded into a database (raw, staging, model and mart layers) and every chart reads a mart.
Issued only. Pending, withdrawn and refused applications appear only as gaps in the permit numbers.
Privacy. Applicant and contractor names and addresses are removed at the first step. Property addresses are used only to link permits on one site and never shown.
Periods. Every page uses LTM Sep-2024, Sep-2025 and Sep-2026, except Resources (calendar years) and cards tagged supporting evidence.
Salvage and abatement excluded. Separate permits stop in late 2025, so keeping them would distort comparisons.
Recent cohorts are incomplete. Analyses by submission month stop where nearly all of that type's permits are normally issued.
Project value break. Declared values for new buildings shift to round numbers between late 2023 and mid 2024.
Independent analysis. Not affiliated with the City of Vancouver.

Glossary

LTM Sep-2026: The 12 months from Oct 1, 2025 to Sep 30, 2026; the other periods likewise. Permits count in the period they were issued unless a card says submitted.
Days to issue: Calendar days from the permit number being created (application) to issue, including time waiting on applicants.
Median: Half of permits are issued faster than this.
P90: Nine in ten permits are issued within this many days; only the slowest tenth take longer.
Project value: Construction value declared by the applicant; not a sale price.
Application: One permit number, issued or not, rebuilt from the numbering sequence.
Cohort: Permits grouped by the month or period they were submitted.
Carryover: Permits issued in a period that were submitted in an earlier one.
Property use: Use recorded on the permit, grouped into housing only, mixed use with housing, other mixed use and single non-residential uses.
Specific use: The detailed category within a use, such as laneway house or general office.
Multiple dwelling: The City's category for buildings with three or more homes; includes most multiplexes.
Redevelopment site: A demolition and a new building at the same address, issued within two years of each other.
Volume effect: Extra median days when a month has 10 more applications of the same type, controlling for season and year.
Supporting evidence: A finding based on older cohorts, outside the three LTM periods.
FTE: Full-time equivalent staff; two half-time roles count as one.

Sources for process changes and costs

Development Building Permit for multiplexes: City news release, October 2024 (marker 1).
Salvage and abatement: no separate permits after early November 2025, seen in the data; no City announcement found (marker 2).
New online permit application system: AIBC notice, November 2025 (marker 3).
Council memo on reducing home demolition, March 2026.
City of Vancouver 2025 Budget: Permitting Services budget and department FTE.

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