Terms of Service

1. The Service

CanPermits ("the Service") aggregates publicly available building permit data from municipalities across Canada and makes it searchable through a web interface. Use of the Service is subject to these Terms.

2. Eligibility

To use the Service you must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract. If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent that you are authorized to bind that organization to these Terms.

3. Permitted use

You may use the Service and any data you obtain from it for any lawful purpose, including commercial purposes, subject to the following:

• You must comply with the attribution requirements of the underlying municipal licences (see Section 6).
• You must not use the Service in a way that suggests endorsement by any municipality.
• You must not use the Service to harass, spam, or target individuals using personal information contained in permit records.
• You must not resell or sublicense bulk access to the Service or its underlying database.
• You must not attempt to scrape, crawl, or systematically download the Service in a way that disrupts its operation.

4. Subscription & billing

5. Data accuracy & freshness

Permit data is sourced from municipal open data portals and is updated regularly on the cadence published by each municipality (typically daily, weekly, or monthly). We make reasonable efforts to keep data current and accurate, but we make no warranty as to the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the data. Permit records may be amended or cancelled by municipalities after publication.

Some municipal feeds may be temporarily frozen or paused by their upstream publishers, meaning new permits issued during that period may not appear in the Service until the municipality resumes publication. Where possible, we display "last updated" indicators per city so you can judge data freshness. Always verify permit details directly with the issuing municipality before relying on them for business decisions.

6. Data attribution

The permit data available through this Service is published by Canadian municipalities under Open Government Licences (OGL) and Creative Commons licences (typically CC BY 4.0). If you republish or incorporate this data into your own products, you must include attribution to the originating municipality in the form required by that municipality's licence:

• For OGL-licensed sources: "Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – [Municipality Name]."
• For CC BY-licensed sources: "Source: [Municipality Name] (CC BY 4.0)" with a link to the licence text where practical.

The following municipalities are excluded from the public Service due to restrictive, revocable, or unclear licences: Richmond, Burlington, and the City of North Vancouver. Their data is held internally for research only and is not displayed, exported, or otherwise made available to subscribers.

For a full list of municipal licences and the exact attribution required for each, see our data attributions page.

7. Privacy

Your use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which describes how we collect, use, and protect personal information in accordance with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

8. Removal requests

Permit records published by municipalities are public information. However, if you believe a specific permit record contains personal information that should not be displayed, or if you are the property owner or contractor named in a record and have a reasonable basis to request its removal from the Service, please contact [email protected]. We review removal requests within 7 business days. Removing a record from the Service does not affect the underlying public record held by the municipality.

9. Suspension & termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, with or without notice, if you breach these Terms, including but not limited to violations of Section 3 (Permitted use), non-payment, or use of the Service in a manner that harms other users, the Service, or any third party. We will refund any prepaid amounts covering the period after termination unless the termination results from your breach. You may terminate your account at any time by cancelling your subscription as described in Section 4.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that any data is complete or accurate. Your use of the Service is at your own risk.

11. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits or data, arising out of your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the 3 months preceding the claim.

12. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless CanPermits and its operators from any claim, demand, loss, liability, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any third-party right, including any privacy, intellectual property, or contractual right; or (d) any content or data you publish, distribute, or otherwise act upon based on information obtained through the Service.

13. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify active subscribers by email at least 14 days before material changes take effect. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict of laws principles. Any disputes shall be resolved exclusively in the courts of British Columbia.

15. General

• Entire agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service and supersede any prior agreements.
• Severability: If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.
• No waiver: Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
• Assignment: You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• Force majeure: We are not liable for any delay or failure to perform caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including upstream data source outages, network failures, or acts of government.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms? [email protected]