Permits and urban planning

Are you planning to do work on your building? Set up a café-terrace in front of your business? Install a swimming pool? Register your pet? Operate a new business? All these requests require a permit issued by the City of Montréal.

The main responsibility of the City of Montréal’s urban planning department is to manage development and land-use planning, as well as to oversee the application of and compliance with zoning and urban planning by-laws.

A multitude of activities and actions are regulated by municipal by-laws and require the obtaining of a permit. Whether involving the expansion, renovation or demolition of a building, the layout of a new parking area or the installation of a swimming pool, the felling of a tree, the occupation of public property during work, or the operation of a business, the City ensures that these requests comply with the applicable regulations.

We can get involved to ensure that a permit is issued within a reasonable time, that you receive clear answers and explanations to your questions, or that a borough’s demands do not exceed the applicable regulations.

Here is an overview of the types of cases involving permits and urban planning in which we have intervened:

Verification of whether or not the acquired rights to a front-yard parking space had been lost.
Analysis of a borough’s requirements regarding the return to a building’s original architectural characteristics as part of a permit request.
Accelerating the processing of a file that had been hindered by long delays and lack of follow-ups.
Analysis of a borough’s refusal to issue a permit to fell a tree.