The roofing industry in Toronto runs on two things: storm damage and referrals. After a bad hailstorm or an ice-dam winter, phones ring. The rest of the year, roofers are knocking doors, buying Google ads, or waiting. Most of them are not looking at permit data — and that's a real advantage for the ones who are.
Toronto requires a permit for re-roofing residential structures. Every homeowner who goes through proper channels has to file before the work starts. That filing is a public record. It shows the address, the permit type, and the application date. And it shows up 3 to 10 days before most homeowners have committed to a contractor.
The permit description on a re-roofing application typically includes the structure type and sometimes the square footage or material specification. You'll know it's a detached house versus a semi-detached. You'll know the address, which tells you the neighbourhood and the property profile. In Scarborough or Etobicoke, a detached house re-roof is typically a $12,000–$22,000 job depending on pitch, materials, and existing layers.
You're not guessing whether this person needs a roof. They've already decided they do. They've paid the permit fee and signed a document committing to the project. What they haven't done yet, in most cases, is signed with a contractor.
March through May is when Toronto's re-roofing permit volume spikes. Homeowners who spent the winter watching their roof deteriorate — ice damming, shingle loss, interior moisture — file in the spring as soon as they can get measurements and quotes together. The city's permit office processes these applications and they show up in the open data feed within 24 to 48 hours.
This spring window is the highest-value period in the roofing calendar. There are more homeowners actively looking for quotes in April than in any other month. Roofers who are working permit leads in April have a pipeline that doesn't depend on the weather or on storm damage. They've built a systematic approach to finding work that exists independently of the variables they can't control.
The downtown core — the Annex, Roncesvalles, Trinity-Bellwoods — has a lot of Victorian and Edwardian housing stock, but those homes are often subject to heritage considerations that complicate re-roofing and slow permits down. They also tend to have smaller footprints and steeper pitches that add complexity and cost.
Scarborough and Etobicoke are different. The bungalows and raised ranchers built between 1950 and 1975 are now at or past their second or third roof cycle. The houses are large, low-pitch, and straightforward to re-roof. The permit volumes are higher. The jobs are bigger. And the homeowners in these areas are more likely to be making the decision themselves rather than going through a property manager or board.
A roofer working permit leads in Scarborough — Kingston Road corridor, Lawrence Avenue East, Sheppard — is fishing in a well-stocked lake. The equivalent effort in downtown Toronto gets you fewer leads with more complications per job.
Door knocking and cold calling work on probability. You knock enough doors in a neighbourhood and eventually someone needs a roof. The conversion rate is low because most of them don't. A permit lead inverts the equation entirely.
"I saw you filed a re-roofing permit for your property on Brimley Road. We do a lot of work in that area — I wanted to reach out before your schedule fills up."
That's not a cold call. The homeowner knows exactly why you're calling and it's a legitimate reason. The work is already on the public record. You're not interrupting someone who might not need your service — you're reaching someone who has already decided they need it. The conversation starts at a different place.
Permit leads also give you a narrow and well-defined scope. You know it's a re-roof, not a patch or a repair. You know the address. You can estimate job size before you call. That lets you prioritize the permit leads worth chasing and move on from the ones that aren't the right fit for your business.
Nova Essentials pulls new roofing permit applications from Toronto's open data every day and sends you the leads by neighbourhood. Seven days free, $29/month after that.
Start Free Trial →