Do You Need a Permit for Interior Demolition in Toronto?

It depends on the scope. The City of Toronto requires a building permit for material alterations, such as removing walls in a way that changes room sizes or uses, altering plumbing, or demolishing part of a building. Replacing finishes often does not. Confirm with Toronto Building or your contractor before work starts. Condos usually also need management approval, set work hours, and a booked service elevator. This guide expands that short answer. It is not legal advice, and it is not a permit decision.

Start at the City of Toronto building permit page: https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/building-construction/building-permit/. The linked page that lists common projects is https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/building-construction/building-permit/before-you-apply-for-a-building-permit/when-do-i-need-a-building-permit/. Check both for the current rules, application steps, and fees. This guide does not quote a fee, a form number, or a timeline. If those pages and this guide ever differ, follow the City.

The notes below use Toronto as the worked example. Junk 'Of' Urs serves Toronto, York, and Durham. What a soft-strip is, as a definition, is at junkofurs.com/blog/what-is-selective-demolition. Kitchen and bathroom prices are separate guides, at junkofurs.com/blog/kitchen-demolition-cost-toronto and junkofurs.com/blog/bathroom-demolition-cost-toronto. A basement gut price is at junkofurs.com/blog/cost-to-gut-a-basement-toronto.

When Toronto usually requires a permit

Under the Building Code Act, the City of Toronto says a building permit is required for the construction or demolition of a new building, an addition, or a material alteration of any building or structure. The City says the building owner is responsible for complying. It also says that failing to get a required permit can lead to construction delays, legal action, or removal of work already completed. The City says its lists are not exhaustive. If you are unsure, contact Toronto Building.

On the City's list of work that requires a permit: adding or removing walls in a way that changes room sizes or uses, new windows or doors where there were none before, and enlarging or relocating existing windows or doors. The same list includes demolishing or removing all or a portion of a building, installing or modifying heating or plumbing systems, and changing a building's use even when no construction is proposed. The City's change-of-use examples include a house becoming a multi-unit house, or a residential building becoming an office.

Opening a new doorway is on that required list, because it is a new door where there was none before. Enlarging a doorway, or moving it, is on the list too. Closing a doorway is not given its own line. If closing it changes room sizes or uses, treat that as a conversation with Toronto Building before any wall comes out.

Installing or modifying a heating or plumbing system is on the required list. Replacing a plumbing fixture is not the same thing, and neither is every furnace swap. Those sit on the City's other list, in the next section. Electrical work is not given its own line on the City's examples. Have a qualified electrician make electrical safe before a tear-out, and ask Toronto Building if the scope changes wiring as part of a material alteration. We do not disconnect electrical, plumbing, or gas.

Structural work is outside our scope. Load-bearing walls, beams, posts, roofs, foundations, and a full building or garage demolition need a structural engineer, permits, and a demolition or general contractor. We do not remove load-bearing walls. A wall stays until your contractor or a structural engineer has confirmed in writing that it is not load-bearing.

Finish-only work that often does not

The City's examples of work that do not require a building permit include installation of cabinetry and millwork, and repairing or replacing plumbing fixtures. Replacing a furnace or boiler in a house is on that list. So is adding a cooling system, a gas fireplace, an air cleaner, an in-line humidifier, or a hot water tank in a house. Replacing a window or door in an existing opening does not require a permit in a detached house, a semi-detached house, or a row house with a single dwelling unit, when the opening stays the same size and place, the structural support is not changed, and no new exit is created. The City says this list is not exhaustive. Zoning can still apply when a building permit is not required.

Many finish-only jobs often do not need a permit. That includes taking out cabinets, a vanity, flooring finishes, or drywall finishes when room sizes and uses stay the same, and hauling debris that is already down. Do not read that as never. The City does not name flooring or drywall finishes as their own exception. If the drywall is really a wall coming out, or the room's size or use changes, you are back on the required list. Confirm with Toronto Building or your contractor before work starts.

A haul of debris that someone else has already torn out is not, by itself, a building alteration. The permit question belongs to the work that created the pile. We still ask what the scope was, so we do not load material that should have been tested first.

Condos, York, and Durham

A condo or apartment can need building management approval even when the City does not require a permit. Management approval, set work hours, a protection deposit, and a booked service elevator are common. Get those rules in writing before you book a crew. Elevator windows, padding, and hours are covered at junkofurs.com/blog/condo-renovation-demolition-toronto. This page stays on the permit and approval question.

Municipalities in York Region and Durham Region have their own building departments. This guide does not state their rules. If the property is in Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, or another municipality in York or Durham, check that local building department before work starts. Our crew still serves Toronto, York, and Durham once the approvals for that address are clear.

Older homes and suspect materials

Older homes can hide asbestos in vermiculite insulation, some flooring, plaster, and joint compound. Health Canada says that before 1990, asbestos was mainly used to insulate buildings and homes and to fireproof them. Health Canada also says asbestos may still be found in older building materials, including cement and plaster, floor and ceiling tiles, drywall, and spackling, and that vermiculite-based insulation may contain asbestos.

Have suspect material tested before anything is opened. Health Canada says to hire a professional to test before renovating or remodelling, and, if asbestos is found, to hire a qualified asbestos removal specialist. Junk 'Of' Urs does not test for, handle, or remove asbestos or any hazardous material. Work stops until that is cleared. The page to read is Health Canada's Asbestos and your health: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/air-quality/indoor-air-contaminants/health-risks-asbestos.html.

After the approvals are clear

Once the City or condo paper trail is clear, the visit we do is an interior, non-structural soft-strip and a haul, so the next trades walk into a ready site. We're not a junk company. We're your site-clearing crew. Stop renting a bin. Hire a crew. How a crew compares with a bin, with no bin prices, is at junkofurs.com/blog/junk-removal-vs-bin-rental-toronto.

For contractors and project managers, book the soft-strip and the haul as one visit after the owner, or you, has the approvals in hand. Send the scope, photos, access, parking, and the start date. What that service includes is at junkofurs.com/services/selective-demolition. Debris that is already down is at junkofurs.com/services/demolition-debris-removal. Leftovers from a renovation that is already open are at junkofurs.com/services/renovation-debris-removal.

Every figure below is before HST. HST is extra. There is no package price and no price per square foot. Junk and debris are priced by how much of the truck the pile fills, not by the hour. The hourly rate is only for tear-out labour.

Light mixed renovation and demolition debris, before HST, is a small pile at $99 to $150, an eighth of a load at $150 to $220, a quarter at $250 to $400, a half at $400 to $550, three quarters at $550 to $700, and a full load of about 15 cubic yards at $650 to $850. Each full load includes 60 to 90 minutes of loading and tear-out time.

Tear-out labour after that included time is $100 to $150 per hour for a two-person crew. The work stays interior and non-structural.

Tile on mortar, plaster, and other dense material in bulk use the heavy schedule. A heavy call-out is $300 to $450, then about $100 to $160 per tonne after the allowance. If the load weighs more than the photos suggested, we re-quote from the scale ticket.

Stairs, a basement, or a long carry to the truck add $50 to $150 or more. Debris that is already curbside-ready can take 5 to 15 percent off the haul when that discount applies.

Photos and a written price

For a fast quote once approvals are sorted, send a wide shot of each room, the walls or finishes coming out, the stairs and the exit path, anything heavy, and the driveway or curb where the truck can sit. Note what should stay, whether Toronto Building or your contractor has already confirmed the scope, and whether suspect material has been tested.

We confirm volume, access, and weight from those photos, then in writing, before anything is removed. Send them for a written price at https://junkofurs.com/quote. Great projects start with a clean slate.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a permit for interior demolition in Toronto?

It depends on the scope. The City of Toronto requires a building permit for material alterations, such as removing walls in a way that changes room sizes or uses, altering plumbing, or demolishing part of a building. Replacing finishes often does not. Confirm with Toronto Building or your contractor before work starts. Condos usually also need management approval, set work hours, and a booked service elevator. This is general information, not legal advice.

Does removing cabinets or flooring need a building permit?

Often it does not, when the job is finishes only and room sizes and uses stay the same. The City of Toronto lists installation of cabinetry and millwork among work that does not require a permit. It also says that list is not exhaustive. Flooring and drywall finishes are not named as their own exception, so confirm with Toronto Building or your contractor before you start.

Does a condo need management approval as well as a City permit?

Often yes. Building management approval, set work hours, a protection deposit, and a booked service elevator are common even when a City permit is not required. Elevator bookings and hours are in the condo renovation demolition guide. Confirm the City question and the building's rules before you book a crew.

Will you remove a wall during an interior demolition?

Only when your contractor or a structural engineer has confirmed in writing that the wall is not load-bearing, and the permit question is already settled with Toronto Building or your contractor. We do not remove load-bearing walls, beams, posts, roofs, or foundations, and we do not demolish a building or a garage.

What if the house might contain asbestos?

Stop and have it tested before anything is opened. Health Canada says to hire a professional to test before renovating, and to hire a qualified asbestos removal specialist if asbestos is found. We do not test for, handle, or remove asbestos or any hazardous material.