The short answer
- If your entire shoot stays on private property, including where the crew parks, and everything happens between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., you do not need a City of Toronto film permit.
- Filming on City streets, sidewalks, parks, or squares does require a permit from the Toronto Film, Television and Digital Media Office.
- For commercial work in 2026: production registration is 100 dollars, a grid permit is 100 dollars, a location permit is 150 dollars, and a parks permit is 200 dollars. Scouting permits are free.
- Every permit requires 2 million dollars in general liability insurance with the City of Toronto named as an additional insured.
- Apply through the City’s FilmPal portal. Park requests need three to four business days of notice.
Most corporate video shoots in Toronto do not need a film permit. The City’s rule is specific: if all filming activity, including the arrival, departure, and parking of production vehicles, is contained exclusively to private property, and all work happens between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., no permit is required from the Film Office.
The moment any part of that changes, a permit does apply. Shooting b-roll from the sidewalk, interviewing someone in a park, parking a production van on a City street, or working past 11 p.m. all put you into permit territory. This guide covers which permit you need, what it costs in 2026, what insurance the City requires, and how long it takes.
When do you not need a film permit in Toronto?
You do not need a City film permit when all of the following are true.
- Every part of the shoot happens on private property, with the property owner’s permission.
- Production vehicles are parked on private property too, not on a City street.
- All activity, including crew arriving and leaving, happens between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
- There are no special effects, pyrotechnics, fire, or simulated gunfire involved.
That covers the majority of corporate work: interviews in your office, a product shoot in a studio, a facility tour inside your own building, or a training video filmed in a boardroom. Filming between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. requires both a permit and a Guideline Exemption from the Film Office even when every part of the shoot is on private property.
Private property permission is not the same thing as a City permit. If you are filming in a building you do not own or lease, such as a hotel, a mall, a co-working space, or a client’s lobby, you still need written permission from the property owner or manager. Many venues also ask for a certificate of insurance naming them.
When do you need a film permit in Toronto?
- Filming for more than one hour at any location on City property.
- Using City streets to support a shoot happening on private property, including parking production vehicles at the curb.
- Filming in a City park, on a municipal square, or at a civic centre.
- Any filming between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., including on private property.
- Special effects, pyrotechnics, fire, or simulated gunfire, even entirely on private property. These also need Toronto Police Service and Toronto Fire Services approvals.
- Taking off or landing a drone on City property, including roads and parks. Federal approvals get submitted to your film permit coordinator.
Which Toronto film permit do you need?
| Permit type | What it covers | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Grid permit | Roving exterior b-roll, stand-up interviews, and driving shots on the City right of way. Not location specific, but you cannot stay at any one site longer than one hour. No parking privileges for production vehicles. Not valid in City parks or on municipal squares. | Street b-roll, walk-and-talk shots, exterior establishing footage |
| Location permit | Filming for more than one hour at a City location, or using City streets to support a private property shoot. Location and time specific, covers prep, filming, and wrap, and includes parking permissions for commercial production vehicles. Requires notifying surrounding properties. | A fixed exterior setup, curb parking for a production van, night work |
| Parks permit | A location permit specific to filming in City parks. The Film Office coordinates the request with Parks and Recreation on your behalf. | Interviews or b-roll in a park setting |
| Scouting permit | Location scouts, technical surveys, and camera tests on City streets, with limited parking permissions for crew personal vehicles. Free of charge. | Pre-production site visits and camera tests |
| Still photography permit | Commercial photographers apply for grid or location permits to work on City streets and sidewalks. Photography in City parks goes through Parks and Recreation instead of the Film Office. | Corporate headshots or brand photography on location |
How much does a Toronto film permit cost in 2026?
Corporate video sits in the City’s commercial category, alongside documentaries, music videos, short films, and on-street stills photography. These are the fees published by the City of Toronto as of August 2026.
| Permit | Commercial work | Features, series, pilots |
|---|---|---|
| Production registration (once per production) | 100 dollars | 100 dollars |
| Grid permit | 100 dollars | 100 dollars |
| Location permit | 150 dollars | 300 dollars |
| Parks permit | 200 dollars | 200 dollars |
| Scouting permit | Free | Free |
| Road closure fee | 500 dollars | 500 dollars |
| Rush hour fee (per arterial road, during posted no stopping times) | 500 dollars | 500 dollars |
A few things worth knowing about how the City bills these.
- Fees apply only to permits that are approved and issued. Denied or cancelled requests are not charged, and there is no fee to revise an existing permit request.
- The production registration fee is an administrative cost-recovery fee. It is non-refundable and is charged whether or not permits are ultimately issued.
- If your production occupies metered street parking, you pay the posted public rate for those spaces for the duration, including coning time before vehicles arrive.
- If City staff are needed on location outside their assigned shifts, such as an electrician or security, the relevant division bills those costs at cost recovery.
- Filming at civic centres and squares requires a refundable security deposit, estimated at 500 to 5,000 dollars for commercial productions.
- The location permit fee is waived for in-studio filming that needs a permit because of special effects.
For a typical corporate shoot that needs some exterior street footage, budget about 200 dollars: one production registration plus one grid permit. Add a location permit if you need to hold a spot for more than an hour or park a production vehicle at the curb.
What insurance does the City of Toronto require?
A certificate of insurance has to be submitted to the Film Office before a location permit is issued. Two requirements have to appear on the certificate.
- Comprehensive general public liability of 2 million dollars per occurrence.
- The City of Toronto, 100 Queen St. W., Toronto, Ontario M5H 2N2, named as an additional insured.
Any established production company carries this already and can issue a certificate naming the City within a day. If you are hiring a freelancer or a very small crew, ask to see their certificate before you book them, because a shoot without it will not be permitted.
How do you apply for a Toronto film permit?
- Apply through FilmPal, the City’s online film permit portal. Complete the mandatory fields of the production information form.
- Email supporting documents to filmtoronto@toronto.ca. Document upload inside FilmPal is currently unavailable, so insurance certificates, park maps, and letters of notification go by email.
- Confirm street names, types, directions, and addresses using Toronto Maps before submitting. Bad addresses are a common cause of delay.
- Use the Special Instructions field to describe the scene and its impact on the street, park, or area.
- Keep the submission receipt. It is your proof that the application was received.
- For revisions, email your assigned permit coordinator rather than submitting a new application. To add locations, select your existing production in FilmPal and apply for additional permits under it.
- Once approved, you receive an email with a link to pay the permit fees.
How much lead time do you need?
- City parks: three business days for small format, four business days for large format.
- Special effects, pyrotechnics, or firearms: seven business days minimum, and applications submitted with less lead time can be denied.
- Civic centres and squares: additional lead time, coordinated case by case.
- Fire hydrant use for wet downs or rain towers: applied for and paid at least 10 business days in advance, and available only between April 1 and November 15.
For planning purposes, treat exterior permits as a one to two week item in your pre-production schedule. That fits comfortably inside a normal timeline: see how long corporate video production takes for how the phases line up.
What about drone footage in Toronto?
Drone operations are regulated federally by Transport Canada, not by the City. Your operator needs the appropriate Transport Canada certification for the airspace and the operation. The City layer applies when you take off or land on City property, including roads and parks: in that case, copies of the federal approvals go to your film permit coordinator.
Downtown Toronto also sits inside controlled airspace, which requires authorization on top of pilot certification. Our guide on how to fly your drone in Canada covers the federal rules, and our drone video production services page covers how we handle it on client shoots.
What about photography permits?
Commercial photographers work under the same system. Grid and location permits through the Film Office cover City streets and sidewalks. Photography in City parks is handled by Parks and Recreation through a separate permit rather than by the Film Office. If your corporate shoot combines video and stills at the same exterior location, one permit application can cover the activity as long as it is described accurately in the submission.
What this means for a corporate shoot
In practice, here is how it falls out for most Toronto corporate projects.
| Your shoot | Permit needed? |
|---|---|
| Interviews in your own office, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., crew parks in the building garage | No permit required |
| Same shoot, but the production van parks at a metered curb spot | Location permit, plus the posted meter rate |
| Exterior b-roll of your building from the public sidewalk, under an hour per setup | Grid permit |
| A staged interview in a City park | Parks permit, three to four business days of notice |
| A studio product shoot | No permit required |
| Filming continuing past 11 p.m. anywhere, including private property | Location permit and a Guideline Exemption |
| Drone launched from a City street or park | Permit plus Transport Canada approvals filed with your coordinator |
If you hire an established production company, permits are their job, not yours. What matters on your side is flagging exterior or park locations early enough that the lead time fits the schedule. For the wider planning picture, see the ultimate guide to corporate video production, and if your shoot involves gear crossing a border, our guide to ATA Carnets covers that side of the logistics.
Planning a shoot in Toronto?
We handle permits, insurance certificates, and location logistics as part of the project. Tell us where you want to film and we will tell you what it takes.
Get a free quoteFrequently asked questions
Do you need a permit to film on the street in Toronto?
Yes. Filming on City streets or sidewalks requires a permit from the Toronto Film Office. A grid permit covers roving b-roll and stand-up interviews with a one hour maximum at any single site. Staying longer, or parking production vehicles at the curb, requires a location permit.
Do you need a permit to film inside your own office?
No. If all filming activity and vehicle parking is contained to private property and everything happens between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., no City permit is required. Filming after 11 p.m. requires a permit and a Guideline Exemption even on private property.
How much does a film permit cost in Toronto?
For commercial work in 2026, production registration is 100 dollars, a grid permit is 100 dollars, a location permit is 150 dollars, and a parks permit is 200 dollars. Scouting permits are free. Road closures and rush hour street occupation each add 500 dollars.
How long does it take to get a Toronto film permit?
City parks need three business days of notice for small format shoots and four for large format. Special effects require at least seven business days. Build one to two weeks into pre-production for any exterior permit so approval and payment are not rushed.
Do you need a permit for drone filming in Toronto?
Drone operations are regulated by Transport Canada, so the pilot needs federal certification and airspace authorization. If you take off or land on City property, including roads and parks, copies of those federal approvals must be submitted to your City film permit coordinator.
Dario Nouri is a Producer and Co-Founder of Lapse Productions, a Toronto corporate video, photography, and drone production company founded in 2014. He has produced shoots across the Greater Toronto Area on private property, City streets, and in parks, and hosts Creatives Grab Coffee, a podcast on the business of video production.