Permitting for a development and a single-family home are substantially different. If you will be permitting the construction of a single home, keep in mind that your job will be a lot simpler that what’s presented in this section, though similar. There are two kinds of developments: those that need a Master Plan (plan maestro)and those that don’t. Whether you need a Master Plan is determined by density. Developments or subdivisions that exceed a certain maximum density (set by the zoning plan or, in absence of one, the national construction law) need a Master Plan that has to be approved by INVU. A Master Plan should describe everything from waste water disposal to green space to construction plans to parking to estimated increase in traffic density. This chapter refers exclusively to the kind of development that needs a Master Plan (which is the majority of them); the main part of permitting for such a project is getting the Master Plan approved by INVU.

As mentioned previously, there’s no single correct way to permit a development, and the rules are different in every municipality. Though there exist flow charts that supposedly show the official progression of the process, the reality is that everything depends on who you hire to do it for you. With the right connections, paperwork can be submitted half-done and then completed once some other concession or permission comes through from some other regulator. Often, everything’s done at once. The following, therefore, simply describes the things you need for CFIA, SETENA, INVU, and municipality approval of a development, not the order in which you get them.