Building Permits API for Canada
Every municipality publishes permits differently. Neighbourly normalizes them into a single schema — sources, types, statuses and structure types — so you can search renovation activity and growth signals the same way everywhere.
Permit data, normalized across 20 Canadian cities.
- 20 cities across ON, QC, BC, AB, MB, NS, NB
- Filterable by source, type, status, cost and date, with geo filtering
- Renovation history on listings, activity dashboards, investor signal
Query by
- By coordinate
- By address
- By bounding box
What the Building Permits layer gives your team.
One schema across cities
Every municipality's format is normalized into shared sources, types and statuses, so you query the same way everywhere.
A true leading indicator
Permits are filed before work begins, making them the earliest signal of renovation, growth and investment.
Filter and map together
Search by source, type, status, cost and date with geo filtering, from one endpoint.
Use cases.
A few of the things teams build on the Building Permits layer.
Renovation history
Show a property's permit history on its listing.
Activity dashboards
Track development momentum by neighbourhood.
Investor signals
Spot growth and investment patterns early.
Supplier targeting
Find active construction by area and type.
See it in a request.
curl -H "Api-Key: $NEIGHBOURLY_KEY" \ "https://api.neighbourly.io/api/v1/locations/search/permits_by_viewport?viewport=%7B...%7D"
{
"permits": [
{
"id": 40218,
"type": "Renovation",
"status": "Issued",
"cost": 85000,
"date": "2026-03-14"
}
],
"total": 132,
"estimated_cost_max": 4200000
}Building Permits API — common questions
What is the Building Permits API?
It normalizes municipal building-permit data into a single schema across 20 Canadian cities, so you can search renovation activity, growth signals and investment patterns consistently.
Which cities are covered?
20 cities across ON, QC, BC, AB, MB, NS and NB — including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Mississauga, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Halifax and more — covering most of urban Canada.
What permit fields are available?
A normalized schema with sources, types, statuses, structure types and standard types, filterable by source, type, status, cost and date, with geo filtering.
Can I search permits by map viewport?
Yes — /search/permits_by_viewport returns permits inside a map view, with attribute filters and sorting, plus an estimated cost maximum.
What can building-permit data be used for?
Renovation history on listings, neighbourhood activity dashboards, market intelligence and early investor signals — because permits are filed before work begins.
Can I get permit statistics for an area?
Yes — boundary statistics return totals, new-permit counts, average cost and monthly trends for a neighbourhood or municipality over a time range.
More data layers
Build with the Building Permits API.
One API key, ten data layers, Canada-wide. Get access or talk to our team.