CanPermits

CanPermits was a pioneering data platform designed to streamline access to municipal permit data across Canada. Operating from March to August 2026, it aggregated and normalized building permits, inspections, zoning information, and business licenses from 38 distinct public sources, creating a comprehensive database housed within a PostgreSQL schema. Through sophisticated algorithms, CanPermits processed approximately 1.08 million rows of data, allowing users to search for specific addresses or filter records by municipality and work type.

This archived demonstration showcases a snapshot of 985 real permit records sourced from 21 municipalities, providing insights into how the platform functioned. Though now inactive, CanPermits exemplified innovative solutions in data processing, particularly in handling the diverse and often irregular data formats from various Canadian municipalities. Accessible entirely through a web interface, the platform was built to prioritize data privacy by scrubbing sensitive information, safeguarding user anonymity while enhancing public access to essential municipal data.