The City has a dedicated Utility Cut Permit group under the Permits and Enforcement section to review and issue the permits related to the utility works within the City’s Right of Way.
Who can apply for a Permit?
These permits are issued to pre-approved public utility companies when work is required in the City’s Right of Way. Members of the Toronto Public Utility Coordination Committee (TPUCC) such as Enbridge, Rogers, Bell, Toronto Hydro, Telus, etc. are pre-approved utility clients. Utility maintenance work for Toronto Water and TTC are also considered as utility clients. All utility companies must have a pre-approved client code set up through the Utility Cut Permit group for the permit and billing process. New clients that require a new client code setup must complete the following application.
Any excavation or construction work that does not fall under the above public utility definition can obtain a cut/construction permit from the Right of Way Construction Permits group.
Submitting an Application
In our continuing efforts to be green and environment friendly, the Utility Cut Permit group has been paperless since 2017. All applications, drawings, permits and correspondence will be processed via email.
Emergency and Short Stream Application – For emergency and short stream application, a pdf application must be completed, signed and emailed to utcuts@toronto.ca.
Full Stream Application – For full stream application, a pdf application must be completed, signed and emailed to fsutcuts@toronto.ca along with the pdf drawing and no-conflict mark-ups from the other TPUCC members. Any notification, justification and concurrence provided to the resident/business must be submitted along with the application.
There are generally four types of permits issued from the Utility Cut Permit group.
Emergency Permit – In general, work to be submitted through the emergency application stream includes work requiring a new excavation and be limited to the repairs or actions required in response to a failure of, or damage to, existing plant that results in, or has the potential to result in, danger to the public, a loss of an essential service, and/or damage to infrastructure or other utility plant. These works are generally done within two days.
Short Stream – In general, work to be submitted through the short-stream application stream includes boreholes, service drops, replacement of existing infrastructure, replacement of a pole, installation or relocation of anchoring and guy wires for pole, replacement of frame and cover for existing underground structure such as manhole, replacement of casing for above ground boxes/pedestals, road crossings from existing plant to existing plant, etc. These works are generally localized maintenance and repair works.
Full Stream – In general, work to be submitted through the full-stream application stream includes construction of new underground or surface infrastructure involving the relocation, removal or alteration of adjacent infrastructure, and any work not classified as emergency or short-stream. These works involves large scale construction activities and may require multiple weeks to finish the work.
Utility Site Servicing Permits – In general, any work that does not require a surface cut or excavation needs a utility site servicing permit to occupy the Right of Way. Site servicing permit includes overhead/aerial cables installation/maintenance, accessing maintenance holes, traffic lights maintenance, flushing water/sewer pipes, maintaining media screens, materials storage, etc. Generally a blanket annual permit issued to the utility company for their site servicing activities. A site servicing permit application can be downloaded from here.
Emergency and Short Stream – These permits are reviewed and issued by the Utility Cut Permit group. Work proposed on a moratorium road may be refused. Utilities and/or their vendors are required to follow the conditions of the permit such as coordinating with the work zone coordinator, notify the affected resident/business and submit RoDARS etc.
Full Stream – These permits are reviewed by the Utility Review group under the Permits and Enforcement section of Transportation Services. Once the proposed work has been satisfactorily reviewed and accepted, a permit will be issued by the Utility Cut Permit group. Utilities and their vendors are required to follow the conditions of the permit such as coordinating with the City’s Work Zone Coordinator and the Utilities Inspector, notify the affected resident/business and submit RoDARS etc.
All utility cut permit applications are subject to a fee that depend on type of permit application. All fees are subject to an annual inflationary increase based on the City’s User Fee Policy Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 441, Fees and Charges and can change without prior notice
| Fee Description | Fee Basis | Fee | Additional Fee | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short Stream/Emergency Permit | Per Permit | $208.17 (No HST) | Inspection Fee $115.72 + HST $15.04 | $338.93 |
| Full Stream – Utility Review and Inspection | Per Application (for excavation up to 1 km) | $1,602.60 (including HST) |
Utility companies are responsible to conduct the permanent repairs for any cuts done by them on the sidewalk and the road surface. The repairs need to be done according to the City’s standards (TS 4.60, TS 4.70 and MCR). Utility companies will also be responsible for a 2 years warranty for any permanent repairs from the completion date of the permanent repairs. Utility companies are also responsible to restore the sods damaged due to the construction activities on the boulevard (TS 5.0).
The construction Inspection and Maintenance group oversees this permanent restoration activities.