Permitting in North Van: Part 2: Here’s How We Fix and Expedite Permitting
Updated: Oct 2
In Part 1, I looked at some of the permit timelines in North Vancouver’s own public records.
A $20,000 commercial tenant improvement took 259 days from received to issued.
A $10,000 tenant improvement took 150 days.
And the records don’t tell us where all that time went.
That’s part of what needs to change.
The answer isn’t weaker standards or simply telling staff to work faster.
The answer is simply a better process.
1. Fast-track simple projects
A small shop renovation shouldn’t automatically follow the same process as a complex redevelopment.
I’d create a dedicated fast-track for straightforward, low-risk commercial renovations.
For example, projects under roughly $50,000, or similar criteria, with no major structural, fire-safety or occupancy changes.
Target: 30 days for a complete, qualifying application.
The exact criteria should be developed with building and fire professionals, but the principle is simple:
Review should reflect risk and complexity.
2. A five-day completeness check
Within five business days, applicants should know one of two things:
Your application is complete. The clock starts now.
or
Here is exactly what’s missing.
One clear checklist at the start can prevent weeks of unnecessary back-and-forth later.
3. Review departments together
Planning, Building, Engineering, Fire and other teams should review applications at the same time wherever possible.
And applicants should receive one coordinated set of comments, rather than separate rounds of feedback arriving weeks apart.
One review cycle. One coordinated response. One clear next step.
4. One person who owns complicated files
For more complex applications, I’ve been advocating for an account-manager style approach.
One person should understand the overall file, coordinate departments and help move issues toward a decision.
The City is now exploring a similar idea through a Development Concierge for complex development applications.
That’s a good direction.
But the principle shouldn’t only apply to major developers.
A complicated application may belong to a local business, homeowner or small builder too.
Simple files should be simple. Complex files should have clear ownership.
5. The 60-day check
No file should quietly disappear into the system.
If an application reaches 60 days without meaningful progress, it should automatically trigger a supervisor review.
That doesn’t mean every permit must be approved in 60 days.
It means someone should clearly answer:
What’s holding it up?
Who has the next action?
What still needs to happen?
What’s the updated timeline?
For permits with shorter targets, escalation should happen sooner.
6. Track it like a package
Applicants should be able to see:
RECEIVED → COMPLETE → UNDER REVIEW → REVISIONS → FINAL REVIEW → DECISION
Along with:
current stage
last action
what’s outstanding
who has the file
next step
target date
And the City should publicly report overall performance:
Median processing times.
Percentage meeting targets.
Files beyond target.
City review time versus applicant response time.
Backlog trends.
If we’re going to measure approval times, we should measure them fairly.
Better service. Same strong standards.
Faster permitting shouldn’t mean weaker safety, design or planning standards.
It should mean clear rules, coordinated reviews and predictable timelines.
My starting point:
30-day target for qualifying simple projects.
Five days to confirm completeness.
Concurrent review wherever possible.
Clear ownership for complicated files.
A 60-day check when files stall.
Better tracking and public reporting.
Simple projects should move quickly.
Complex projects should be well coordinated.
And everyone should know where their application stands.
That’s the kind of City Hall I want to help build.
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