Heated Driveway Permits in Toronto and the GTA
Around Toronto, putting in a heated driveway may involve two permits. Your town or city issues the first, and it covers work on the curb plus the small public strip where the street and your driveway meet. A second permit, for the wiring behind an electric heating system, comes from the Electrical Safety Authority.
Permits in Each Town
The boulevard is the narrow band of land the city owns between sidewalk and roadway. The town owns it, even though it looks like your driveway. Putting heating under it is treated as a rebuild, so the town wants its sign-off before the job starts. Each of the seven towns handles this a little differently.
| Municipality | What you need | Timing or limit |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | Driveway work that crosses City property needs a street work permit first | File your application at least 8 weeks in advance |
| Mississauga | No building permit is needed to widen a driveway, but changes to the curb or a culvert call for an Access Modification Permit | The zoning rules on width still apply |
| Brampton | Work on the curb or in the right of way needs a Road Occupancy and Access Permit | A driveway can run up to 6 m wide on a lot under 22 m in mature neighbourhoods |
| Vaughan | Submit an application for a curb cut or a wider drive | Roughly 4 weeks |
| Markham | A curb modification request is involved; the City must take part in any curb change. | |
| Richmond Hill | A permit for a curb cut | The service runs May through November |
| Oakville | Anything done in the right of way falls under a driveway permit | Apply at least 10 working days before you begin. |
The dipped part of the curb that lets your car leave the roadway and enter the drive is a curb cut. Along the road sits a wider stretch of public land called the right of way, and it includes the curb as well as the boulevard. Changing one of these, or both, is what nearly every permit in the table covers.
A couple of extra rules apply in Toronto. The driveway you build cannot cross onto the neighbour's boulevard, and restoring the boulevard afterwards is the owner's job.
Who Is Allowed to Work on the Curb and Paving?
Working on the public side of a driveway is not open to just anyone. When the work sits on its property, Toronto requires a City-licensed paving contractor, and in Brampton licensed contractors alone may pave a driveway.
Curbs get even closer attention. In Richmond Hill, City rules allow a curb to be changed only by City staff and contractors with proper authorization; Markham will not let a homeowner change one unless the City is involved. Ask your installer early where they hold licences, because some of these permits rely on that.
Before any digging starts, Vaughan has one safety rule worth knowing. The water curb box beside the road has to stay untouched and uncovered, because the City needs to be able to reach it.
Before Digging Starts
Before any digging starts, Vaughan directs owners to contact Ontario One Call, so buried utility lines are located and marked first.
Is There a Permit for the Electrical Work?
In Ontario, a notification of work must reach the Electrical Safety Authority before electrical work can start. The heating cables and their power supply fall under this permit, which stands apart from whatever your town grants for the curb.
The Electrical Safety Authority suggests hiring a Licensed Electrical Contracting Business for the job. That business is the one that files the notification, so a first-time owner can skip working through the forms alone.
The Gas Line and the Boiler
Hot water flowing through pipes is what warms the driveway in a hydronic system, and that water is usually heated by a gas boiler. The boiler, along with its gas line, falls under fuel work, and the Technical Standards and Safety Authority is the body that certifies the fuels safety technicians permitted to do it.
A hot-water system may therefore need as many as three approvals. The town covers the curb and boulevard, a certified gas technician covers the boiler, and the Electrical Safety Authority covers the pump and control wiring. For an electric system, typically the first and the last of these are all it needs.