You probably didn’t have to go far to smell the fresh lumber and hear the sounds of hammers and drills in Innisfil last year.
There were 751 building permits issued by the town in 2023, data on the municipality’s website shows. Of those, 680 were classified as residential, with the remaining 71 falling into the industrial, commercial and institutional category.
Combined, the permits have a $290-million construction value — a figure often used to represent the total worth of all work, services and materials associated with the construction to which a permit is applied — and they will lead to the building of 430 new residential units. Approved permits will also create 13,385 square metres of industrial, commercial and institutional space.
While this is a good indication the town is growing, the numbers aren’t directly linked to new housing starts — permits can be issued to homeowners and developers for a variety of building or renovation projects.
So, you also can’t say it’s correlated with the town far exceeding its 2023 housing target set by the Ontario government.
“The issuance of the building permit does not always translate immediately to a housing start,” town planning and growth director Andria Leigh said. “Although the town has had a strong level of housing approvals over the past several years, the number of housing starts were potentially delayed due to the market and interest rates, labour or material supply shortages, or other conditions that impacted a builder/developer/homeowner from commencing their construction.”
Last year’s numbers are actually about average for the municipality, historically speaking. In 2022, the town issued 741 permits, worth $292.3 million in construction value. These created 490 new residential units and 10,079 square metres of industrial, commercial and institutional space.
Here’s how the town did in the four before that:
- 2021 — A total of 1,270 permits were issued with a construction value of $307 million. This created 690 new residential units and 14,680 square metres of industrial, commercial and institutional space.
- 2020 — Overall, 722 permits carried a value of $155 million, creating 438 new residential units and 9,988 square metres of industrial, commercial and institutional space.
- 2019 — There were 601 permits issued at a total value of $76 million. One hundred new units and 6,020 square metres of industrial, commercial and institutional space were approved.
- 2018 — A total of 987 permits were issued for a value of nearly $204 million. That led to 455 new units and 12,781 square metres of industrial, commercial and institutional space being created.
For more information on the town’s permit process, visit innisfil.ca.
