# Niagara Falls Building Permits 2015–2023 API (`loudtzu/niagara-falls-permits`) Actor

All 8,182 City of Niagara Falls, Ontario completed building permits (2015-01-05 to 2023-12-15): permit number, date, type, work type, status, street and ~1 km location. JSON/CSV, Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. $0.003 per permit; the full set is about $24.55.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/loudtzu/niagara-falls-permits.md
- **Developed by:** [Travis M](https://apify.com/loudtzu) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$3.00 / 1,000 permits

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Niagara Falls Completed Building Permits

**8,182 completed building permits for the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario**, dated 2015-01-05 to 2023-12-15 (as published Oct 16, 2026), newest first.

- **Per permit:** permit number, permit date and year, permit type (Residential, Commercial, Pools, Sewer …), work type (e.g. Single Family, Townhouse, Restaurant, Deck), status, street, ~1 km location.
- **Licence:** Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls; every record carries the attribution.
- **Output:** structured JSON or CSV/Excel. Filter by permit type, work type and street.
- **Privacy:** civic numbers and parcel IDs dropped. The data is reduced, not anonymous.

**Why not build it yourself?** No ArcGIS paging or cleanup to write and maintain — the full set is 5 requests and done.

**Price:** $0.003 per permit (three-tenths of a cent), no start fee. All 8,182 permits cost about $24.55.

> Completed permits only; the source ends December 2023.

### Who it is for

Contractors, building-supply and pool companies, real-estate and housing analysts, and researchers studying construction in Niagara Falls.

### Input

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `permitTypes` | Keep only these permit types |
| `workType` | Text in the work type |
| `street` | Text in the street name |
| `dateFrom`, `dateTo` | Permit date range (YYYY-MM-DD, inclusive) |
| `yearFrom`, `yearTo` | Source year range |
| `status` | Text in the status (all current records are "Final") |
| `issuedFrom`, `issuedTo` | Older names for `dateFrom`/`dateTo`, still accepted |
| `maxItems` | stop after this many records (default 1000, at most 50,000) |
| `fetchAll` | `true` returns every matching record, up to 50,000 per run (default `false`) |

A run returns at most 1,000 permits unless `fetchAll` is `true`, and never more than 50,000.

### Output

`permitNumber`, `permitDate`, `year`, `permitType`, `workType`, `status`, `street`, `locationWithheld`, `latitude`, `longitude`, `source`, `licence`.

### Archive modes

Besides a live query (`mode: live`, the default), the Actor can read its own archive. The archive is a snapshot Oct 17, 2026 03:08 ADT; refreshes may be added later.

| `mode` | Extra input | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| `changesSince` | `since` (YYYY-MM-DD) | permits added, changed or removed on or after that day in the snapshot Oct 17, 2026 03:08 ADT; removed ones listed (ID + `_deletedOn` only, not charged) in the run's key-value record `DELETED` |
| `asOf` | `asOf` (YYYY-MM-DD) | each record as it stood at the end of that day in the snapshot Oct 17, 2026 03:08 ADT |
| `history` | `ids` (up to 1,000) | every archived version of those records, oldest first (snapshot Oct 17, 2026 03:08 ADT) |
| `archiveExport` | – | the current version of every archived record (snapshot Oct 17, 2026 03:08 ADT) |

When refreshes are added later they are compared against a complete pull; until then the archive is a snapshot Oct 17, 2026 03:08 ADT. Permits that disappear from the source are kept only as an ID and the date they were removed. Privacy rules are applied again when the archive is read, so a rule tightened later also covers older rows. The normal filters, `maxItems` and `fetchAll` apply in every mode, and each row returned is billed at the normal per-result price. Archive modes return at most 50,000 rows per run.

### Large pulls

Apify stops a run once its charges reach the account's per-run limit (about $85 by default, which is about 28,000 rows at $0.003). For more than about 25,000 permits, split the pull into several runs by date range (`dateFrom` / `dateTo`) or by another filter, and combine the results.

### Privacy

- The source has no owner, applicant or contractor fields, and work types are short codes (no free text).
- Most permits are for homes, so the civic number is dropped (only the street is kept, e.g. "DUNN ST"), latitude and longitude are rounded to 2 decimals (about 1 km), and the parcel ID is not output.
- Group homes, bed & breakfasts, and boarding, lodging and rooming houses also lose their street and location (`locationWithheld: true`): 61 permits on the Oct 16, 2026 data.

### Source and licence

- **Source:** City of Niagara Falls open data, layer "Niagara Falls Completed Building Permits" ([FeatureServer layer 0](https://services9.arcgis.com/oMFQlUUrLd1Uh1bd/arcgis/rest/services/Niagara_Falls_Completed_Building_Permits/FeatureServer/0)), read through the ArcGIS REST API in pages of 2,000 with a 2-second pause (5 requests for the full set).
- **Licence:** [Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls](https://open.niagarafalls.ca/pages/terms-of-use) (based on version 1.0 of the Open Government Licence – Ontario), linked from the dataset's licence field. It grants use "including for commercial purposes" with attribution. Every record carries "Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls." The licence does not cover personal information.

### Pricing

$0.003 per result, no start fee. The full dataset costs about $24.55.

### Limits

- **Not current:** the city's layer ends at December 2023. Each run reads the live layer, so newer permits appear if the city adds them.
- Only completed (Final) permits; no construction value. 3 permits have no date.
- The layer has no per-record edit date (only a layer-wide last-edit time, March 2025), so it cannot be asked only for records changed since a date.

### Run settings

Default memory is 256 MB (allowed range 256–1024 MB).

# Actor input Schema

## `permitTypes` (type: `array`):

Keep only these permit types.

## `workType` (type: `string`):

e.g. Single Family, Restaurant, Deck.

## `street` (type: `string`):

e.g. LUNDY'S LN.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD. Filters on permitDate.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD, inclusive. Filters on permitDate.

## `yearFrom` (type: `integer`):

Source year field, e.g. 2018.

## `yearTo` (type: `integer`):

e.g. 2023.

## `status` (type: `string`):

All current records are Final.

## `issuedFrom` (type: `string`):

Older alias kept for existing users; use the date range above.

## `issuedTo` (type: `string`):

Older alias kept for existing users; use the date range above.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many records (default 1000, at most 50,000). Ignored when 'Fetch all' is on. Each record is billed.

## `fetchAll` (type: `boolean`):

Off by default. Turn on to return every matching record, up to 50,000 per run. Each record is billed; split larger pulls by date or filters.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

live = normal query. The other modes read the archive (snapshot Oct 17, 2026 03:08 ADT).

## `since` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD. Records added, changed or removed on or after this day. Removed records come back as ID + deleted-on only. From the snapshot Oct 17, 2026 03:08 ADT.

## `asOf` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD. Each record as it stood at the end of this day. From the snapshot Oct 17, 2026 03:08 ADT.

## `ids` (type: `array`):

Up to 1,000 permit numbers. Every archived version, oldest first. From the snapshot Oct 17, 2026 03:08 ADT.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 1000,
  "fetchAll": false,
  "mode": "live"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All items returned by the run, in the 'overview' table view.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("loudtzu/niagara-falls-permits").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("loudtzu/niagara-falls-permits").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call loudtzu/niagara-falls-permits --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,loudtzu/niagara-falls-permits"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/t5Ix9hpFe5Z82rKTn/builds/XsPyv2KtKcSI0mGCa/openapi.json