How much time and money need to acquire permit for expand windows in Aurora?

Yeah, you’ll definitely need a full building permit for this in Aurora, ON. Just swapping windows in the same openings is usually fine without one, but enlarging them (like knocking out that narrow brick section between the front windows or cutting bigger holes in the basement for an egress window) counts as structural work, so the town wants to sign off on it. From what I’ve seen on the Town of Aurora site, the permit itself is pretty reasonable — minimum around $342 for small residential stuff like this, plus maybe another $168 or so for zoning review if they ask for it. The big chunk is getting a structural engineer to draw up and stamp the plans (lintel details, load-bearing stuff, etc.), which usually runs $800–$2,500 depending on how detailed they get. So realistically, just to get the permit approved you’re probably looking at $1,200–$3,500 total before you even touch the actual construction. Timeline-wise, plan on 1–4 weeks to get your drawings and paperwork together (hiring a local designer or engineer really speeds this up), then the town usually takes about 10 business days to review if everything’s clean. It can stretch to 2–8 weeks if they want revisions, so overall expect 4–12 weeks from start to approval. Super easy to apply: just hop on their online portal at cvportal.aurora.ca/Portal or shoot an email to building@aurora.ca. You’ll need the application form, before-and-after drawings, and the engineering stuff. Pro tip — get a local engineer who’s done Aurora jobs before; it saves a ton of back-and-forth. If you want, fire off a quick email to the building department with your address and they’ll usually tell you exactly what they need for your place.