Freedom of Information

Property surveys and building permit records

The City of Burlington’s Routine Disclosure service provides copies of property surveys and building permit records that have been filed with the City through a building permit application, pursuant to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.  In order to apply for access to these types of records, the applicant must be the current registered property owner, owner’s agent, property manager and/or ‘Other Authorized Requesters’.  

How to apply

To request a copy of a property survey or building permit records on file with the City of Burlington, please complete our Building Services application for routine disclosure.

Submit Application for Routine Disclosure

Fees

All routine disclosure applications are subject to an application fee to process the request. Additional fees may apply. The application fee must be received at time of application and is non-refundable. If payment is not received at time of application, the application will be deemed incomplete, and a new submission is required. Fees include taxes where applicable.

• Application fee for property survey request is $49.39
• Application fee for building permit records is $49.39
• Combined application fee for property survey and building permit records is $98.78

Additional processing and reproduction fees for routine disclosure include (taxes included where tax is applicable):

• Processing fee per 30 minutes (includes search and processing time): $27.32
• Digital copies/images - per image (beyond the 20 copies included with the initial application fee): $18.52
• External vendor - printing and processing: As invoiced
• Routine disclosure request fee if cost is greater than $100: 50 per cent of fee estimate minus application for routine disclosure

What types of Records can I request through Routine Disclosure?

• Surveys
• Building Permits
• Building Permit Applications
• Building Plans/Drawings
• Orders Issued under the Building Code Act

*All other types of records must be requested, view the application form for Freedom of Information.

When will I hear about my application?

When an application is submitted through the online application form, you will receive a confirmation email. 

Once your application has been processed, any available records will be sent to you electronically, typically within 30 business days. If records are not available, you will be notified. Please note that due to the high volume of routine disclosure requests, the search for records may take longer than 30 business days. Processing fees may apply. You will be notified of the applicable fees, including scanning/photocopy fees.  All applicable fees must be paid before responsive records, if any, will be disclosed to you.

If you have submitted an Application for Routine Disclosure form without payment, the request is considered incomplete and will be cancelled.  A new application must be submitted.

Terms of use

The release of property surveys is pursuant to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).

Please note where the survey is not a legal survey it is subject to the Copyright Act - pertaining to use and reproduction.  The survey only speaks as of the date it was created and does not include any features changed, added or deleted after that date.

The City of Burlington does not warrant the accuracy, quality or fitness for purpose of any information found on the building permit record(s) or property survey(s) and refunds will not be provided.

What if the City does not have the required records on file?

Although the City keeps property surveys and building permit records, we cannot guarantee your property has the records you require.  Depending on the age of the building, permit records may not be available and where surveys are available, they may not be the most up-to-date current version of the property survey.  For a current up-to-date and legal survey, you may want to consider contacting an Ontario Land Surveyor or organizations that have access rights to legal surveys, including but not limited to:

• Teranet – www.teranet.ca
• Mackay, MacKay Peters Limited
  3380 South Service Rd, Burlington
  905-639-1375
  surveysearch@mmplimited.com - They may have older property surveys on file
• Service Ontario – 1-800-267-8097, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m
• protectyourboundaries.ca
• landsurveyrecords.com
• Land Registry Offices – the document may be registered on title or by contacting the previous owner or creator of the record – architect, consultant, engineer or surveyor

For any questions about routine disclosure, or, to follow up on an application, please email buildingrecords@burlington.ca or call 905-335-7731 ext. 7180.  

Environmental assessments and reports

The Region of Halton has primary responsibility for environment-related matters within the City of Burlington, including:

• Records relating to sanitary sewers (such as discharge sampling and violations as well as spills that may affect specific properties) are disclosed by the Wastewater Services Division of the Public Works Department

• Environmental Source Information Searches to identify potentially contaminated sites and causes of contamination (e.g. waste generators, landfills), as well as groundwater information, are conducted by the Legislative and Planning Services Department

• Public Health records relating to health hazards and/or environmental inspections and investigations as well as historical septic system records are disclosed by the Health Department

Contact the Region directly for details on their request processes and applicable fees:

Phone: 311 (from within the Region only) or 905-825-6000 

Email: accesshalton@halton.ca

Fire incident reports

Fire incident reports are released routinely and do not require a formal FOI request. You can request these records with the Burlington Fire Department by phone at 905-637-9536 or by email at firedepartment@burlington.ca. Fees will apply.

Planning records (made under the Planning Act)

Information and material that is required to be provided to the City under the Ontario Planning Act is available to the public.

You can request records with the Committee of Adjustment by phone at 905-335-7777, ext. 7629. You can direct all other planning record requests to 905-335-7777, ext. 7642 or planning@burlington.ca. Applicable fees will apply.

Our response

Upon receiving your completed application form and payment, we provide a response within 30 calendar days. For requests that involve a large number of records, extensive search or consultation with an external third party, this time may be extended. We will advise you of any time extensions.

Due to privacy concerns, we do not send records electronically. When your records are ready, we will contact you to pick them up with Service Burlington at City Hall or have them couriered to you.

Fees

You must submit a mandatory, non-refundable $5 application fee along with each formal FOI request. If you are requesting multiple property addresses, we require a separate application form and fee for each address. Please make all cheques payable to the "City of Burlington." You may be required to submit additional fees as part of your application.

Personal information requests

If you are requesting personal information about yourself, the following additional fees may apply:

• Copies: $0.20 per page
• USBs: $10 per item

General information requests

If you are requesting information about someone other than yourself, a property, municipal service, program or activity, the following additional fees may apply:

• Copies: $0.20 per page
• Records preparation (required to prepare records for release): $7.50 per 15 minutes
• Search time (required to search and retrieve records): $7.50 per 15 minutes, per person
• USBs: $10 per item

Fee estimates and appeal fees

If anticipated fees total more than $25, we will provide a fee estimate. If the estimate is $100 or more, you may need to pay a 50 per cent deposit.

You have the right to appeal to the City's decision to the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC). The commissioner is an independent body which makes impartial decisions under the MFIPPA.

To file an appeal, contact the commissioner in writing and request a review of the City's decision within 30 calendar days of receiving the decision letter. You must also provide:

• A copy of the original request for information
• A copy of the City's decision letter
• Appeal to a personal information request: $10, or
• Appeal to a general information request: $25

Visit the IPC's website for contact information and office locations.

Exemptions

In many cases, we grant full access to your requested information, however the Act contains some mandatory and discretionary exemptions. These allow for the protection of certain types of information. For example, if a record contains someone else's personal information, or other information that was provided to the City in confidence, we will sever or blackout the information from the record provided to you. Listed exemptions are provided in the decision letter we send all requesters.

Mandatory exemptions

• Personal information
• Relations with governments
• Third party information

Discretionary exemptions

• Advice or recommendations
• Danger to health and safety
• Draft bylaws and records of closed meetings
• Economic and other interests
• Law enforcement
• Limitations on access to own personal information
• Published information (available publicly/routinely)
• Solicitor-client privilege