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Toronto: Building Permits Doubled in a Decade

April 21, 2026

Over ten years, Toronto doubled its building permit count: 7,715 in 2015, 15,749 in 2024. The estimated value declared in those permits grew by more than four times. This boom masks a growing divide: construction and demolition are accelerating in parallel, while a new housing type born of municipal policy, the laneway suite, is quietly reshaping the residential fabric.

Four times the money in ten years

In 2015, Toronto issued 7,715 building permits. By 2024, that figure reached 15,749, a doubling in a decade. The estimated value declared in permits, a partial indicator since not all permits include a cost estimate, rose from $2.88B to $12.32B over the same period. The progression is not linear: values spiked sharply after 2020, driven by increasingly large projects.

2.04x

increase in permit volume, 2015–2024

4.3x

increase in declared estimated value, 2015–2024

$12.32B

declared estimated value in permits in 2024

Toronto Building Permits, 2015–2024

Volume and value: an unprecedented acceleration

Bars: permit count (left axis). Line: total permit value in billions of dollars (right axis). Source: BuildData, City of Toronto open data.

The rise in value far outpaces the rise in volume. This means individual projects are getting larger: apartment buildings and condominium towers are gradually replacing more modest residential projects in the overall permit mix.

Building on rubble

As cranes multiply, so do excavators. In 2015, Toronto recorded just 15 demolitions, with two housing units lost. By 2024, that figure reached 380 demolitions and 319 units lost. A 25x increase in nine years. Nearly all demolished structures are single-family homes, replaced by higher-density projects.

25x

increase in demolitions, 2015–2024

380

demolitions in 2024

319

housing units lost in 2024

Demolitions in Toronto, 2015–2024

The demolition wave accelerates

Number of demolition permits issued per year. Source: BuildData, City of Toronto open data.

This phenomenon is driven by land pressure. Vacant lots are scarce in Toronto; developers buy existing homes to demolish them and build at higher density. It is the process of replacing the older residential stock with new construction, more profitable per square foot.

The laneway as alternative

In response to this pressure, Toronto legalized laneway suites in 2018. The idea: allow homeowners to build a small independent unit in their backyard, along the laneways running through residential neighbourhoods. The first permits appeared in 2019. By 2024, the city had issued 707, up from 18 in the inaugural year.

laneway suite permits before 2019 (type was illegal)

707

laneway suite permits in 2024

39x

increase in laneway suite permits, 2019–2024

Laneway and Rear Yard Suites, Toronto, 2019–2024

A new housing type takes root

Permits classified as laneway suite or rear yard suite per year. Source: BuildData, City of Toronto open data.

The growth curve is exponential. These units represent a ground-level response to the housing crisis: homes added without demolition, without acquiring additional land, by densifying existing lots. The model directly contrasts with the demolition wave. Two ways to intensify land use, with very different consequences for existing residents. Both dynamics play out within a net balance that remains, despite everything, fragile.

The race between creation and loss

Toronto's net housing balance is positive, but the trajectory is concerning. In 2024, the city created 21,596 units, an absolute record since at least 2015. But it lost 319 to demolitions, compared to just 53 in 2015. The gap between units created and units lost remains strongly positive, but the loss curve is rising faster than the gain curve.

Housing Unit Balance, Toronto, Selected Years

Units created vs. units lost

Housing units created and lost (demolitions) per year, for years available in the data. Source: BuildData, City of Toronto open data.

The year 2022 illustrates the system's vulnerability. Units created dropped to 7,262, the low point of the period, while losses were rising. The rebound in 2023 and 2024 is encouraging. But it depends on continued massive investment in real estate development, in a context where interest rates and construction costs remain elevated.

          The data reveal a city in full reinvention. Toronto is building more, spending more, demolishing more, and inventing new housing types. But the race between construction and demolition, between housing creation and loss, remains open. While cranes raise towers and laneways come alive, 380 structures were razed in 2024. The outcome of this race will depend as much on municipal policy as on economic cycles.
        

Methodology

Data sourced from the BuildData API (building permits canada), which normalizes building permits from municipal open data portals. The analysis covers 236,525 Toronto permits in the database (1979–2026); charts cover 2015–2024 to ensure year-over-year comparability.

Units created and lost correspond to the dwelling_units_created and dwelling_units_lost fields normalized by BuildData. Demolitions are identified via permit_type_canonical = "demolition". Laneway suites include both laneway suite and rear yard suite types.

Example query to replicate the analysis:

GET /permit?municipality=toronto
    &issued_after=2024-01-01
    &issued_before=2024-12-31
    &sort_by=date&limit=500

The municipality, issued_after, and issued_before parameters let you build your own time slices. 17 cities, daily updates, 100 free requests per day.

Access building permit data for Toronto and 16 other Canadian cities.

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