Waterloo Building Permits – Open Data API

Building Permits for Waterloo only, from the city's official open dataset (~33,500 source rows), via the ArcGIS REST API — no website scraping.

• Key fields: permitNumber, permitType, workType, status, issuedDate, estimatedValueCad, unitsCreated, bedrooms.
• Licence: Waterloo Open Data User Licence; credit is optional under the licence (every record still carries the City's suggested credit line and licence link).
• Output: structured JSON, or CSV / Excel from the Apify dataset. Filters run at the source (type, status, issued dates and more), up to 50,000 permits per run.
• Privacy: street addresses and free-text descriptions removed; postal codes cut to FSA and coordinates rounded to ~1 km where present.

Why not build it yourself? No ArcGIS/Socrata paging, field mapping, date normalising or de-duplication to write and maintain. You get one tidy row per permit with consistent field names and ISO dates.

Price: $0.003 per result (three-tenths of a cent; 1,000 results = $3.00), no start fee. You pay only for permits returned.

What it does

This Actor reads building permits from the City of Waterloo's official open dataset (Waterloo open data, about 33,500 source rows) through the ArcGIS REST query API. It does not scrape any website.

Rows are deduplicated so you get one record per permit number.

Free open data vs. this Actor

The dataset is free on the Waterloo open-data portal. Use that for a one-off download. This Actor is for:

• Filters at the source: permit type, status, issued dates, minimum value, keyword
• Clean JSON: ISO dates, consistent field names, one row per permit
• Privacy trimming: no street addresses, no free-text descriptions, no names
• Scheduled runs and Apify API / Sheets / Make / Zapier exports

Who it's for

• Contractors and suppliers (windows, HVAC, roofing, landscaping) watching new work in Waterloo
• Developers and real-estate analysts tracking construction activity
• Housing researchers counting permits and new units

What data you get

Field	Meaning
permitNumber	City permit number
permitType	Permit type / class
workType	Kind of work
subType	Sub-type of work
status	Permit status
issuedDate	YYYY-MM-DD
estimatedValueCad	Estimated construction value (CAD)
unitsCreated	Dwelling units created
bedrooms	Bedrooms
latitude	Latitude
longitude	Longitude
source	Source portal
licence	Optional credit line in the City's suggested wording, plus the licence link
futureDate	True if the issue date is after today

Input

Field	Key	Notes
Permit type contains	permitType	e.g. New - Residential Building Permit (case-insensitive).
Work type contains	workType	e.g. New, InteriorWork, AdditionalDwellingUnits.
Status contains	status	e.g. Issued, Closed.
Issued on/after (YYYY-MM-DD)	issuedFrom	Optional start date.
Issued on/before (YYYY-MM-DD)	issuedTo	Optional end date.
Minimum construction value (CAD)	minValue	Optional.
Keyword	keyword	Server-side filter on description, type and permit number (descriptions are not returned).
Max permits	maxItems	Stop after this many permits.

Bad dates or an inverted date range fail before any API call, with a clear error.

Example input:

{"permitType": "New - Residential Building Permit", "issuedFrom": "2025-01-01", "maxItems": 200, "minValue": 1000000}

Pricing

Pay per result: you are charged only for permits returned (one result = one permit). $0.003 per result (three-tenths of a cent), no start fee.

Licence and privacy

• Licence: Waterloo Open Data User Licence. The licence lets you copy, publish, distribute and adapt the data and "use the Information commercially". Credit is not required; if you give credit, the City asks for the text "Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence", which every record carries. You must not misrepresent the data or its source, and your use must follow applicable law. The licence does not cover personal information.
• No endorsement: this Actor is independent. It does not suggest any official status or City of Waterloo endorsement, and does not use City logos, trademarks, slogans or crests.
• Privacy: Street addresses (civic number, street name and unit) and free-text work descriptions are removed. Postal codes, where present, are cut to the first 3 characters (FSA) and coordinates are rounded to 2 decimals (about 1 km). Owner, applicant and contractor names are not exported. Records still include permit number, permit type and category, status, dates, construction value and unit counts, and (where the source has them) ward, neighbourhood or building-use category. Also not exported: address IDs and legal descriptions (LOCATION: plan, lot and condo unit).

Limits

• Coverage is the City of Waterloo only.
• Data freshness and completeness match the Waterloo open-data feed. This Actor does not add or correct permits.
• Max 50,000 permits per run. Pages of 1,000 with a 1 s pause between pages.
• Fields can be null when the source left them blank.

FAQ

Is this scraping? No. It queries the city's public ArcGIS REST API.

Does it include owner or applicant names or addresses? No. Street addresses, names and descriptions are removed, but the data is reduced, not anonymous: a permit number can be looked up in City records and may relate to a specific property.

Can I use it commercially? Yes. The Waterloo Open Data User Licence allows commercial use. Credit is optional (suggested wording is in each record). Don't imply City endorsement or misrepresent the data.