Charlottetown backlog has some developers waiting 'months or more' for building permits
City's integrated planning director chalks delay up to shortage of planners, inspectors
Some developers say they are waiting too long for Charlottetown officials to approve building permits these days — though things have speeded up a bit in other parts of the province.
The Charlottetown backlog is affecting commercial builds, apartment buildings and even single-family homes, says Sam Sanderson, the general manager of the Construction Association of Prince Edward Island.
"We're hearing from a number of our members about the extended time it takes to get a building permit or an occupancy permit," he said.
Some developers have been waiting months to get occupancy permits, Sanderson said.
"Like anybody and everybody today, people are understaffed — but we really need to find ways to expedite some of those processes," he said. "Anytime you delay anything, it creates a backlog…
"Scheduling your sub trades and your workforce is more important than ever before, so any delay or, you know, change of plans certainly has a huge impact."
Things are busy at the city's planning department, with more than 1,100 building permits approved in 2023. In comparison, there were 825 building permit approvals in 2014, city staff wrote in an email.
"It's certainly a challenge when it comes to building permits at this time. The City of Charlottetown, no different than any other city across Canada, is facing a shortage with building planners and inspectors," said Michael Ruus, Charlottetown's director of integrated planning.
Ruus acknowledges the city would like to turn around permits quicker.
"It depends on the scope and complexity of the project. Some could be a number of weeks; others could take months or more," he said.
A number of other municipalities are certainly making some changes to expedite their processes. I know the time frame has diminished a fair bit in the province.— Sam Sanderson, Construction Association of P.E.I.
Turnaround time on building and occupancy permits varies, he said; it's usually quicker for single-family homes than it is for more complicated projects like apartment buildings.
Ruus said the city's participation in the federal government's housing accelerator program has staff looking at ways to speed things up.
"Part of the city's work plan is to introduce a more robust permitting system to establish those benchmarks and identify opportunities for more efficiency," he said.
Right now the city has two inspectors, but Ruus said he hopes to hire another within the next year.
Sanderson said the issue isn't unique to Charlottetown, and has been a problem across the province since new National Building Code standards came into effect a few years ago. However, progress is being made in some places to speed things up, he said.
"A number of other municipalities are certainly making some changes to expedite their processes. I know the time frame has diminished a fair bit in the province. They even had some new hires and expedited their process. I know a couple other cities — the City of Summerside, for example — have been able to expedite their process as well," he said.
Larger-scale residential buildings in particular are being designed by consultants, engineers and architects, Sanderson said. With that level of expertise involved in coming up with designs and building plans, he thinks the review process should be sped up as time goes by.
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