What Architectural Drawings for a Permit Cost in Toronto 2026

A 2,400-square-foot addition in Scarborough came in at $12.50 per square foot for the permit set last month: $30,000 for architectural drawings, structural engineering and the site plan. A 1,600-square-foot Victorian whole-home gut in Leslieville landed at $16 per square foot the week before, pushed higher by heritage documentation and a minor variance for the rear addition. The range we see across Toronto and the GTA in 2026 runs from about $8 per square foot for straightforward additions that meet zoning, to $18 per square foot for projects that need Committee of Adjustment hearings, heritage approvals or complicated structural coordination.

That per-square-foot number covers the architectural drawings stamped by a BCIN-qualified designer or licensed architect, the structural engineering for any load changes, and the site plan or survey certificate the municipality requires. It does not cover the permit application fee itself, HST, or the mechanical and electrical design that some projects need separately. When a homeowner asks what drawings cost, the answer depends on whether the house is being added to, gutted, or built from scratch, and whether the zoning allows it.

A worked example: what drawings cost for a 2,400-square-foot two-storey addition

Take a common project: a two-storey rear and side addition on a detached house in North York, adding 2,400 square feet to bring the total house to 4,200 square feet. The addition meets zoning for height, setbacks and lot coverage, so no minor variance. The architect produces floor plans, elevations, wall sections, a roof plan, door and window schedules, and a site plan showing the addition in relation to the lot lines. A structural engineer designs the new foundation, the floor framing that ties into the existing structure, and the roof beam over the open-plan kitchen. The mechanical designer sizes the upgraded HVAC and shows duct routing; the electrical load calculation goes on a separate sheet.

At $12 per square foot, the architectural and structural package lands at $28,800. Add the mechanical layout at roughly $2,200 and the permit application fee to Toronto Building at about $4,500, and the line before HST reads $35,500. HST at 13 per cent adds $4,615. The homeowner writes a cheque for $40,115 to get a complete permit set and the application filed. If the project had needed a minor variance, add $8,000 to $12,000 for the planning rationale, the hearing attendance, and the supporting drawings that show compliance with the forty-five-degree angular plane or whatever metric the Committee will test.

Design fees, permit application fees and HST: the line items people forget

The per-square-foot number architects quote is for drawings only. Three other line items appear on every invoice. First, the municipal permit application fee, which in Toronto runs from about $2,000 for a modest interior alteration to $6,000 for a large addition; confirm the current fee schedule with Toronto Building because the rates change. Second, HST at 13 per cent on everything: the design fee, the engineering, the permit fee. Third, if the scope includes concept design and renderings before the working drawings, that phase is billed separately, typically as a percentage of the anticipated construction budget.

Soft costs as a whole, design plus engineering plus permit fees, typically total 6 to 12 per cent of construction value. On a $600,000 addition, expect $36,000 to $72,000 for the full design and permitting package before the first shovel. The lower end of that range applies to projects where the program is simple and the zoning is cooperative. The higher end covers projects with structural complexity, heritage overlays, or multiple rounds of municipal comments that require redrawn sheets.

Why a heritage property or Committee of Adjustment hearing adds to the cost

A house inside a Heritage Conservation District in Toronto, or one individually designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, requires a heritage permit on top of the building permit. The architect prepares a heritage impact statement, photographs the existing conditions, and draws elevations that show how the addition respects the original massing and material palette. That documentation adds $5,000 to $15,000 to the fee, depending on how much of the house is changing and how many rounds of revision the heritage planner requests.

A minor variance application costs several thousand dollars in municipal fees, plus $3,000 to $10,000 in supporting reports: a planning rationale written by the architect or a planning consultant, sometimes a shadow study or a tree preservation plan if the Committee asks for one. The application takes three to six months to reach a hearing, and the decision becomes final about 20 days later if no neighbour appeals to the Toronto Local Appeal Body. A TLAB appeal adds six to twelve months and another round of professional fees. We design close to the zoning envelope first, because every variance is a schedule risk and a line item.

What you get for the money: working drawings, site plan, elevations and schedules

A complete permit set for a house includes floor plans at one-quarter-inch scale showing every wall, door, window and stair; building sections cut through the structure to show floor heights, ceiling heights and foundation depth; four elevations showing what the house looks like from each side; a roof plan with slopes, drainage and any rooftop mechanical; a site plan or survey certificate showing the building footprint in relation to property lines and setbacks; door and window schedules listing every opening by size, type and fire rating; and wall sections detailing how the foundation, floor, wall and roof assemblies meet the Building Code for insulation, air barrier and structural support.

The structural drawings include foundation details, beam schedules with span tables, floor framing plans, and connection details for anywhere the new structure bears on or ties into the existing house. Drawings submitted for a permit must be prepared by a qualified designer with a Building Code Identification Number, or by a licensed architect or professional engineer; structural changes need an engineer's stamp. The mechanical and electrical sheets show equipment locations, duct or pipe routing, panel schedules and load calculations, but the detailed electrical layout is often left to the electrician's shop drawings once the permit is issued.

How a design-build firm prices drawings differently than a standalone architect

An architect working on a fee-only basis typically charges a percentage of the estimated construction cost, commonly 8 to 15 per cent depending on project complexity, or a fixed fee based on square footage and scope. The drawings go out to tender after the permit is approved, and the homeowner discovers the real construction price when the bids come back. A design-build firm produces the same drawings but prices them with live feedback from the trades who will build the project. Beam sizes, window counts, and finish selections are costed as the design develops, so budget surprises surface on paper where they are cheap to fix.

At Top House, we bill the design phase as a defined percentage of the anticipated construction budget, typically in the range our design and build services page describes, and a portion of that fee is credited against the build contract if the client proceeds with us. The homeowner owns the drawings either way. That structure aligns the design fee with the actual scope and gives the client a fully priced project before committing to construction. The difference between how design-build firms price and how standalone architects price is not the drawings themselves but when the real cost becomes visible.

When you need a structural engineer on top of the architect

Every project that changes a load path, removes a bearing wall, adds a floor, underpins a foundation or spans more than about 4 metres with a beam needs a structural engineer's stamp. The engineer designs the footings, calculates the beam sizes, specifies the connections, and signs and seals the structural sheets that go into the permit package. On a typical addition, the structural fee runs about 20 to 30 per cent of the total design cost. On a whole-home gut with multiple beam removals, a cantilevered second floor, or underpinning, the structural work can be half the design budget.

The architect and the engineer work together: the architect draws the program and the elevations, the engineer makes sure it stands up and gets the loads to the ground without cracking. Some architects have engineers on staff; most coordinate with an independent structural firm. Either way, the homeowner sees one combined permit set. Underpinning a basement, which lowers the foundation by extending the footings downward in alternating sections, needs particularly detailed engineering for the shoring sequence and the shared-wall loads if the house is semi-detached. That level of documentation is why underpinning drawings for a Toronto semi often land at the top of the per-square-foot range.