Vancouver city council has unanimously approved a motion directing staff to look into the pros and cons of guaranteed wait times for building permits amid a soaring number of requests across the city. 

Submissions for residential and commercial renovation permits are up 25 per cent from last year, according to the city, while the number of permit applications for new builds of single-family homes, duplexes and laneway houses has more than doubled.

The city says the surge comes as pandemic restrictions begin to ease, and while it’s reporting progress speeding up the processing of permit applications, construction firms say the permit backlog has led to disrupted and stalled projects over the last year, in addition to rising construction costs.

“Building applications are exploding in our city,” acknowledged Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart. “We’re full-on recovering from the pandemic, and folks want to get building new homes and renovating.”

Other North American cities have already implemented guaranteed wait times for permits, including the City of Surrey, which introduced the practice last year. 

Doug Langford, the president of construction company JDL Homes, says the permit backlog has created logistical difficulties leaving projects in limbo. 

“We risk just cancelling projects altogether,” said Langford. “If we’re relying on the city to process a permit and I don’t have any permits, I really can’t do any work. Nobody’s getting employed, and nobody’s getting paid, so it’s all a trickle-down effect.”

In the interim, he says the cost of materials and services has increased. One project took 13 months to be approved. 

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