Film permits in
Toronto

Application portal

FilmPal, the City's web portal at secure.toronto.ca/FilmPal/Start.jsp. Document upload inside FilmPal is currently disabled. Insurance certificates, park maps and letters of notification must be emailed separately to filmtoronto@toronto.ca. Revisions cannot be made online at all; they go by email to the assigned Film Permit Coordinator. Approved permits are paid through a separate City payment portal.

Minimum lead time

Two full business days, not counting the day of submission. Three full business days if the request includes a City park. Applications received after 4:30 p.m. are date-stamped the next business day. Road closures and complex requests need more, but no number is published for them.

When the permit actually lands

By the business day before the earliest filming, coning or parking date. The published table works backwards: a Monday shoot must be submitted by Wednesday of the previous week; a Saturday, Sunday or statutory-holiday shoot by the previous Wednesday.

Permit fees, itemised

Production Registration $100 (features/series/mini-series/pilots and commercials/docs/reality/music videos/short films; free for local news and students, non-refundable in all cases). Grid Permit $100 / $100 / free. Location Permit $300 features and series, $150 commercials and docs, not issued to students. Parks Permit $200 / $200 / free. Scouting Permit free. Road Closure Fee $500 all tiers. Rush Hour Fee $500. Power drop usage $400 per day. Identical figures appear on the Film Office page and in Municipal Code Chapter 441, Appendix C, Schedule 6 (refs 127–131, 132, 141). The two sources agree.

When fees are charged

Only on permits that are approved and issued. Nothing is charged for a denied or cancelled permit, and nothing for revising an existing request. A refund request form is available from the Film Office, answered within 30 days; registration fees are never refunded.

Permit types

Grid permits cover roving b-roll, stand-ups and driving shots with a one-hour maximum at any one site, no parking privileges and no use of parks or squares. Location permits cover anything over one hour on City property, or use of City streets to support filming on private property, and carry the parking permissions. Parks permits are location permits for City parks. Scouting permits cover tech surveys and camera tests with limited parking for location crew.

What requires a permit

Occupying any highway, City property or park for filming. Municipal Code § 459-2 is the operative provision; Chapter 608 § 608-47 mirrors it for parks. A location permit is also required for special effects, pyrotechnics, fire, simulated gunfire, or public display of a replica firearm even where all activity is on private property. The location fee is waived if the work is in-studio.

What is exempt

Three separate exemptions. Chapter 459 excludes current affairs, news casts, street interviews and home movies from the definition of filming. The Guidelines further exclude live-to-air event broadcasting, real estate advertisements, construction and technical surveys, filming of special events, demonstrations or marches, film premieres, advertising pop-ups without continuous filming, and internal corporate training videos. None of which qualify for a film permit but may need other divisional approvals. And filming contained entirely to private property, including all vehicle parking and arrival, needs no permit at all provided everything happens between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Students

Student filming is not commercial filming and needs no permit; the Film Office issues grid and parks permits to post-secondary students as an academic exercise but never location permits. High school students need no permit on City property. Students cannot film 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. under any circumstance, and cannot shoot anything requiring police supervision. Road closures, traffic stoppages, special effects, prop weapons in public view, exterior camera mounts.

Changing an issued permit

48 hours notice to affected residents and businesses plus two full business days notice to the Film Office. Anything less cannot be accepted. Changes include adding streets, parking meters, dates, prep/wrap/coning dates, special effects, drone work or major set dressing, or extending times.

Security deposit

Required where a City department deems it necessary, and standard for civic centres and squares. Published estimate ranges: $5,000–$10,000 for features, series, mini-series and pilots; $500–$5,000 for commercials, documentaries, reality, music videos and short films; $0 for students. Refundable less City staffing costs and damage. Payable by credit card or certified cheque to 'Treasurer, City of Toronto'.

Fire hydrant use

A separate Toronto Water permit, available April 1 (weather permitting) to November 15 only. Online application and payment at least 10 business days before the requested date.

Civic centres and squares

Additional lead time is required to coordinate filming at civic centres, squares and select City facilities, but no number of days is published. Preliminary holds are accepted to check availability. City staffing at these facilities is charged by the hour under Chapter 441: co-ordination $77.88, security $82.02, building operator $62.82, custodial $56.53, foreperson $94.22, electrician $188.45, audio-visual $106.79.

Road closure lead time

not published

Chapter 459 is titled FILMING, not 'Film Shoots', and it is a thin enabling by-law. Eight sections over three pages. It sets no fee, no lead time, no insurance amount and no notification requirement. Every operational rule lives in the Guidelines for Filming in Toronto, which § 459-4A(1) makes contractually binding, and every fee lives in Chapter 441. A producer reading only the by-law would learn almost nothing.

Who must be notified

Affected residents, occupants, business owners and Business Improvement Areas. Both sides of the street should be lettered where filming activity takes place, or as otherwise instructed by Film Office staff. Ward Councillors are notified by the Film Office itself, not by the production.

Notice period

A minimum of 48 hours before the earliest arrival, and that includes prep days and coning. Not just the shoot day.

Notification radius

not published

What the notice must contain

Film company, production type and title on company letterhead; location manager and assistant location manager names and phone numbers; duration and times of filming; proposed parking locations including street, side and parameters; the dates and times coning and production vehicles arrive plus wrap date and time; proposed alternate parking for displaced permit holders; any street dressing, gunfire or special effects; road and lane closures; sidewalk obstructions; lighting positions; the Film Office's general contact details; and links to the Filming Guidelines and Code of Conduct.

Film Office pre-approval of the letter

Mandatory. Letters must be emailed to filmtoronto@toronto.ca with the project title in the subject line and reviewed and approved by Film Office staff before delivery, so that variances from the guidelines are clearly stated.

Polling and consent

Toronto does not require signed consent and does not publish a consent percentage. It runs the opposite test: a 'Have Your Say' letter is distributed to the impacted area and the exemption fails only if a MAJORITY of affected residential property owners or authorized personnel object. Silence counts as no objection. Objections go confidentially to filmtoronto@toronto.ca with name and address and are never shared with the production. This is the sole means used to decide whether a guideline exemption is granted.

When a Have Your Say letter is triggered

Three triggers: filming or parking between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. in a residential zone; exceeding the limit of two occasions per calendar year per residential block; and filming or parking in a residential zone for seven consecutive days or longer. Late-night work in areas not zoned residential may also require one where residential properties are impacted.

Have Your Say timeline

Published as a day-of-week table rather than a day count. For a Monday arrival the letter goes out the Tuesday of the prior week and the objection window closes Friday at 10 a.m. before the shoot; a Friday arrival needs the letter the prior Monday with objections closing Thursday at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday arrivals both use the Tuesday-prior letter and Friday 10 a.m. close. These are minimums; any deviation needs the Film Commissioner's approval.

High-impact special effects notice

Beyond the letter, the production must post visible sidewalk signage around the location no later than 48 hours before filming, explicitly naming the effect and its likely public impact. During the seven business days before a high-impact SPFX shoot the Film Office runs enhanced community notification through ward Councillors' offices, City Communications, Transportation, Fire and Police. Social media, geo-targeted advertising, councillor newsletters, BIA and residents' association lists.

Compensation for disruption

Not required. The City explicitly states productions are under no obligation to compensate residents, occupants or business owners for film-related disruption, though they may do so voluntarily.

The usage cap is the rule most likely to surprise a producer: two occasions per calendar year per residential block, city-wide, regardless of production. Larger productions can be granted priority or even exclusive use of a residential area for a season, so a block may be spoken for before you apply. Student filming does not count against the cap.

Lead time

not published

Cost

$500 Road Closure Fee added to the location permit, all production tiers including students. A further $500 Rush Hour Fee is charged for each arterial road occupied during posted no-stopping times. Both are in Municipal Code Chapter 441, Appendix C, Schedule 6 (refs 131 and 141). No per-day, per-block or per-metre lane occupancy charge is published for filming. The film fee schedule replaces the Transportation Services street-event fees.

When a closure is granted at all

Only where there is a technical or safety need. The examples given are stunt driving, parade scenes, extensive set pieces or large equipment on the road. It is the Film Office that grants it, in consultation with other divisions, not Transportation Services directly.

Traffic management plan

Required for any closure, and must comply with Ontario Traffic Manual Book 7. Temporary Conditions. Local and emergency access must be maintained at all times.

Intermittent traffic stoppages

Permitted to a maximum of three minutes, or as otherwise negotiated, outside rush hours only and under the supervision of a Paid Duty Police Officer. TTC vehicles and bicycles are prioritised through on-street film locations.

Statutory authority for closure

Municipal Code § 459-7 gives the closure power to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services, not to the Film Commissioner. The film permit alone does not close a road. During a closure no one may use the highway except pedestrians or under the authority of the permit.

FIFA World Cup 2026 restriction

It has lapsed and been withdrawn. During the tournament the City barred filming inside the 'Last Mile', bounded by Dufferin Street, King Street West, Bathurst Street and Lake Ontario, including Liberty Village, from May 1 to July 31, 2026, and barred filming in Centennial Park and the Eringate-Centennial-West Deane neighbourhood. On match days and the days either side, road closures were not permitted on arterial roads in the downtown core (Lansdowne to Bayview, Lake Ontario to Bloor) or on arterials linking downtown to the Gardiner, DVP, Allen Road, 401 or 427; non-arterial routes stayed open to filming. The Plan Your Shoot page was rewritten on July 31, 2026 and the section is gone from the live site; the Film Permitting page, last modified March 27, 2026, still links to the now-dead accordion anchor. Text below is from the Internet Archive capture of April 13, 2026.

Rush-hour restriction is framed as congestion and emissions policy rather than traffic engineering, and the $500 Rush Hour Fee is described in the by-law as a 'Rush Hour Exemption'. I.e. it buys you the exemption, it is not a penalty. It is charged per arterial road, so a multi-street occupation multiplies.

Permit required for unit parking

Yes, but not as a separate permit. Parking permissions for commercial production vehicles are written into the location permit; each black-plated vehicle is issued a permit that must sit on the dashboard with the parking pages of the film permit. Grid permits carry no parking privileges at all. Blue-plated personal cars belonging to cast and crew are never issued permits and must park where legally available; a personal car can only be treated as a production vehicle if declared before the permit issues, never retroactively.

Vehicle count caps

Long format is limited to 40 red vehicle permits per production unit. Main unit, second unit each. Short format is limited to 20 per production. Long format means anything larger than a commercial, music video, industrial or short film. Absolutely no cast or crew vehicles within the permitted area. These caps date from a 2000 Film Liaison Industry Committee agreement and are still the published figures.

Cost

No fee for the parking permissions themselves. Where a production occupies metered spaces it is charged the posted public rate for the number of spaces, for the whole occupation including coning time before vehicles arrive. Described by the City as a net-zero cost-recovery charge, not a film fee.

Advance posting period for temporary no-parking signage

not published

Basecamp

not published

Parking prohibition distances

Published as a table and binding on production vehicles: no stopping within 18.5 m before / 30.5 m beyond a bus stop; 15 m before a streetcar stop and 36.5 m beyond on roads under 16.5 m wide, 24.5 m beyond on wider roads; 9 m from a corner unsigned or 15 m signed; 18.5 m before / 30.5 m beyond a pedestrian crosswalk; 3 m from a fire hydrant; 7.5 m from a fire hall entrance on the same side and 30.5 m opposite; 15 m from railway tracks, TTC safety islands, and traffic lights where a Paid Duty Officer is in the intersection, 30.5 m without one; 0.6 m from a ramp; nothing on bridges or underpasses. TTC and GO may relocate a stop at the production's expense.

Displaced residents and towing

Towing to make room for filming or film parking is prohibited outright. The production must make an effort to find alternate parking for residents holding valid street permits, and must propose those arrangements in the notification letter. Vehicles may not idle at any time, and driveways cannot be blocked without the owner's permission.

Removing meters and bike racks

on request

Because Toronto folds parking into the location permit rather than selling it separately, the practical cost driver is metered frontage, which is charged at the public rate for the entire hold including coning. On a downtown block that is the largest single line item after paid duty.

When police are required

Paid Duty Officers are required for the use of prop guns visible to the public, pyrotechnic and simulated-gunfire special effects, intermittent traffic stoppages, and traffic control on public property. The Film Office, with the Toronto Police Film Liaison Officer, sets the number of officers. Specialised officers are required for detonation of pyrotechnics or simulated gunfire.

Police rates

Police Constable, all classifications, $94.50/hr with a $283.50 minimum. Sergeant, when in charge of four or more officers, $107.10/hr, $321.30 minimum. Staff Sergeant, when in charge of ten or more, $117.60/hr, $352.80 minimum. The minimums are a three-hour call-out. Equipment: motor vehicles and motorcycles $37.38/hr with a three-hour minimum; motorized boat $350.47 for the first three hours then $105.61/hr; horse or dog $53.27 per assignment; trailer or bicycle $21.50. Horses require an extra hour of the assigned officer's time. All fees attract 13% HST. Published as 'INCREASE IN PAID DUTY RATES AS OF JANUARY 1, 2025' and headed '2025 Rates'. Still the current table in August 2026.

Police administration fee

15 per cent of the fee charged for officers, per event, to cover the cost of administering the paid duty program. This is in Municipal Code Chapter 441, Appendix B, Schedule 2, ref 6. The Toronto Police paid duty page itself does not quantify it.

Police booking lead time

Traffic paid duty requires a minimum of five days notice to process; security paid duty requires a minimum of two weeks. A production that has never used TPS before must first open a customer account, which can take up to two weeks on its own. Payment must clear before the duty is posted for officers to apply, and there is no guarantee it will be filled.

Cancellation

Written cancellation with more than 24 hours notice, during Central Paid Duty Office business hours, is voided with no fees owing. Less than 24 hours and the production owes the three-hour minimum for each officer plus applicable fees and taxes.

How a paid duty is requested

The two authorities disagree. The City's Plan Your Shoot page says requests go to the Central Paid Duty Office by fax at 416-808-5042. Toronto Police say new customers email a New Paid Duty Customer form to NewCustomer@torontopolice.on.ca, then email the Paid Duty Request form to Newrequests@torontopolice.on.ca, with changes to changes@torontopolice.on.ca. Both cite the same fax number for the CPDO. Explosives paid duties are filed directly with the Public Safety Unit – EDU or faxed to 416-808-4901.

Explosives technicians

Only qualified police explosives technicians may do film paid duties supervising explosives or firearms. Police Explosive Technician Assistants may attend where benzoyl peroxide is not in use and are trained in proving firearms safe and small squib devices, but may never work a duty involving high explosives including det cord. The production must state at request time what equipment will be used. Blast pressure analysis, decibel measurement or a video demonstration of the effect may be required before a permit issues.

When fire attendance is required

Toronto Fire Services approval is required for special effects, pyrotechnics, fire or flammable liquids whether the scene is interior or exterior, on private or public property, and the Fire Department must be advised in advance of any use of flammable liquids or materials. SPFX forms go to TFS_Events@toronto.ca. High-impact exterior pyrotechnics need seven days; everything else 72 hours.

Fire rates

Fireworks Display / Special Effect Pyrotechnics Permit, covering review of documentation and a site visit, $613.23 per permit. Special Request Services, minimum four hours: Fire Fighter or Inspector $110.41/hr, Captain $133.48/hr, District Chief $153.30/hr. Re-inspection arising from a pyrotechnics permit site visit is charged at the same three hourly rates. Chapter 441, Appendix B, Schedule 1.

Fire watch

not published

Paramedics

Qualified EMS personnel must be on set during filming of dangerous situations such as special effects or stunts. Toronto Paramedic Services standby fees under Chapter 441, all minimum four hours plus travel time: Basic Life Support / Primary Care Paramedic unit $222.00/hr, Advanced Life Support unit $228.00/hr, Paramedic Supervisor $164.00/hr. Booked through the Planning Team at emsplanning@toronto.ca.

Who pays

The production, in every case. The City states plainly that production companies are responsible for all associated costs when hiring police, fire or paramedic personnel, and TPS bills the hiring organisation directly, prepaid, before the duty is posted.

Paid duty is the real scheduling constraint in Toronto, not the film permit. The Film Office can turn a permit in two business days; Toronto Police need five days for traffic and two weeks for security, will not post the duty until payment clears, and explicitly do not guarantee the request will be filled. Film productions are also not permitted to include police officers, film in police buildings, borrow police uniforms or accompany officers on patrol without the Deputy Chief of Field Operations' permission.

Residential filming hours

7 a.m. to 11 p.m. in areas zoned residential. Filming activity outside those hours is not permitted unless an exemption is granted in the film permit, and the exemption fails if a majority of affected residential owners object to the Have Your Say letter. Students are never granted the exemption.

Private property after hours

The 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. restriction reaches onto private property. Film activity between those hours requires both a film permit and a Guideline Exemption from the Film Office even when every element of the shoot, including vehicle arrival and departure, is contained exclusively to private property.

How the noise exemption is obtained

Through the film permit, not through Municipal Licensing and Standards. An exemption granted for late-night film activity carries with it an exemption from the noise by-law for the activity authorized in the permit. That collapses what would otherwise be a 28-calendar-day process into the same two-business-day permit clock.

Noise by-law limits

Chapter 591 sets real numbers, not a nuisance standard. § 591-2.1 caps amplified or instrument sound measured at an outdoor point of reception in a living area at 50 dB(A) or 65 dB(C) from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., and 55 dB(A) or 70 dB(C) from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., each as a ten-minute Leq; measured indoors the caps are 42/57 and 50/65. § 591-2.8 caps stationary sources at 45 dB(A) overnight and 50 dB(A) by day as a one-hour Leq. § 591-2.6 bars power devices from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m., 9 a.m. weekends and holidays. § 591-2.4 bars loading and unloading from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., 9 a.m. weekends and holidays. § 591-2.9 catches unreasonable and persistent noise at any hour.

No film exemption in the noise by-law itself

Chapter 591 contains no reference to filming, film production or motion pictures anywhere in its text. The exemptions in § 591-3.1 cover only public-safety sirens, emergency measures, emergency highway work, government work and waste collection. A production's noise relief therefore rests entirely on the film permit condition, not on the noise by-law.

Standalone noise exemption permit (the fallback route)

If a production ever needs the general route, § 591-3.2 requires the application at least 28 calendar days before the activity, with a noise mitigation plan and, for sound not feasible to control, a certificate from a professional engineer or acoustical consultant. Ward Councillors are notified and have 14 calendar days to object for Level 1 and 2 applications; Level 3 requires their affirmative no-objection. Fees under Chapter 441: $114.40 Level 1, $353.60 Level 2, $592.80 Level 3, plus an $88.40 late fee if filed inside 28 days. Notice of the permit must be posted 7 days before the activity. Sound is then capped at 85 dB(A) or 105 dB(C) at the lot line. Refusal is appealable to Community Council within 21 days.

Advance warning of loud noise

Affected residents, occupants and business owners should be advised in advance of any loud noises on location such as special effects or simulated gunfire, and the effect must be named explicitly in the notification letter.

Generators, lighting and idling

Generators used on residential streets and in City parks should be soundproofed, and generators and portable washrooms should not be parked near residential units without prior notice; washrooms never near patios. Lighting should be oriented away from neighbouring residences unless residents have been contacted and do not object, and must not interfere with traffic safety. Vehicles are not permitted to idle at any time.

The two-tier design is the thing to understand: Toronto has a numeric, measurable noise by-law with no film carve-out, and a film permit that can override it for the authorized activity. That makes the permit condition, and the majority-objection test behind it, the entire game. Get the exemption written into the permit and the decibel limits do not bind the permitted activity; miss it and a ten-minute Leq of 50 dB(A) at a neighbour's property line is enforceable at 11:01 p.m.

Municipal rule on top of Transport Canada

Minimal. The City states drone operations are regulated by Transport Canada and points to the federal site. Its only added requirement is that if the production is taking off or landing on City property, including roads or parks, it must speak to its Film Permit Coordinator about submitting copies of the federal approvals.

Separate municipal drone permit

not published

Drones in City parks

Municipal Code § 608-19 prohibits operating powered models of aircraft in a park unless authorized by permit; § 608-20 does the same for tethering, launching or landing a hot air balloon, hang glider or ultra light aircraft. The by-law language predates modern RPAS and does not use the words drone or UAV, so whether it captures a camera drone is a question of interpretation. But it is the only park-level aerial rule Toronto has.

Adding drone work to an issued permit

Treated as a significant permit change: 48 hours notice to affected residents and businesses and two full business days notice to the Film Office. It cannot be added on the day.

Restricted airspace or zones

not published

Toronto's drone posture is unusually hands-off for a city with two international airports, a downtown heliport and Billy Bishop on an island in the middle of the film district. The practical restriction is federal, not municipal. But the City still gets a veto through the location permit and the take-off/landing approval.

Who controls parks

Parks & Recreation, but the Film Office coordinates every request on the production's behalf. Producers do not apply to Parks directly for filming. Municipal Code § 608-47 makes filming for remuneration in a park an offence unless permitted under the film by-law and authorized by the film office.

Parks lead time

Three business days notice before the filming date for small format and four business days for large format, on top of which the Film Office needs three full business days rather than two to issue any permit that includes a park.

Park conditions

Vehicles and equipment must not block driveways or access ramps and must leave at least two feet of clearance on either side. No staking or digging anywhere in any park at any time, including grounding stakes, without prior stake-out clearance from utilities and parks staff. Vehicles off the turf unless the park supervisor permits it and it is on the permit. Requests to film near environmentally sensitive areas or natural features, or to set-dress City-owned trees, are restricted and subject to thorough review under the Chapter 813 tree by-laws.

City museums and historic sites

Toronto History Museums, Fort York National Historic Site, Spadina Museum, Mackenzie House, Colborne Lodge, Gibson House, Montgomery's Inn, Todmorden Mills, Scarborough Museum, Zion Schoolhouse, are booked separately through thmrentals@toronto.ca or 416-338-0030, not through the film permit. Chapter 441 publishes the rates: interior filming at all museum sites $262.50 per hour with a three-hour minimum; exterior filming at all sites except Colborne Lodge $105.00 to $210.00 per hour, three-hour minimum. No lead time is published for museum bookings.

Museum booking channel

Museum and cultural centre rentals are handled by Toronto History Museums, not the Film Office. An application is submitted to thmrentals@toronto.ca or 416-338-0030. Montgomery's Inn is explicit that permits are needed for both interior and exterior photography. The rentals page itself publishes no rates, minimum hours or lead times.

Designated heritage properties

Filming is not a trigger for a heritage permit. Toronto's heritage permit regime under the Ontario Heritage Act covers altering, demolishing or removing a building, structure or heritage attribute. Temporary set dressing and filming are not in the trigger list. If a production proposes actual alteration to a designated property, the Act requires a decision within 90 days of a complete application, which is far outside any shooting schedule.

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority land

on request

TTC property

The TTC permits its own subway, streetcar, bus and Wheel-Trans property. Major movie and commercial productions must apply at least three weeks in advance, with a work plan 13 business days before the shoot for track or train work and 5 business days for platform-only work; location scouts at track level need 13 business days notice, platform surveys 2 business days. A TTC representative responds within 10 business days with pricing and a contract. No rate card is published.

Categorically off-limits

Filming the United States Consulate at 360 University Avenue is strictly prohibited. Filming inside any Toronto Water treatment or supply facility is not permitted, though exteriors may be, at Toronto Water's discretion on its own timelines and fees. Filming on controlled-access highways, the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway, requires special consideration. Locations deemed sensitive by the Film Office because of tragic or violent incidents require extra lead time and a copy of the script, and violent or alarming content will not be approved there. The Film Office also reserves the right to refuse permits to companies that have previously breached the guidelines.

Civic centre and square lead time

not published

The marquee Toronto heritage locations a producer actually wants, Casa Loma, the Distillery District, Old City Hall, Union Station, are not City film-permit locations and are not covered by any published City schedule. The City-controlled heritage inventory that does have published rates is the museum portfolio, and those rates are hourly with a three-hour floor.

Minimum general liability

$2,000,000 per occurrence comprehensive general liability, evidenced by a certificate of insurance delivered to the Film Office before the permit issues, 'or such higher limits as the City of Toronto reasonably requires depending on the nature of filming'. The by-law adds that the certificate must be in a form satisfactory to the City Treasurer.

Additional insured wording

The certificate must name 'The City of Toronto, 100 Queen St. W., Toronto, Ontario M5H 2N2' as an additional insured. The City publishes the address as part of the required wording. The policy must also state it will not call into contribution any other insurance available to the City, and may not be cancelled or amended without the City's prior written consent via the Film Office.

Higher limits for drones, watercraft or pyrotechnics

not published

Indemnity

A statutory condition of the permit, not just a contract term. Municipal Code § 459-4A(2) requires the applicant to agree to indemnify and save harmless the City from any action, claim, damage or loss whatsoever and to pay legal fees reasonably incurred by the City arising from the permit or the use of the highway, property or park.

Alias titles

Productions using an alias project title for privacy or security must tell their Film Permit Coordinator, and may be asked to revise the certificate of insurance so that all necessary parties are sufficiently insured.

Students

Students filming as school work apply under the school's name and provide the educational institution's certificate of insurance. A post-secondary student shooting a commercial project outside their coursework must provide a separate certificate, and the production company name on the application must match the name on that certificate.

Private property owners

The City advises property owners to ask to be named additional insured on the production's policy with a cross-liability clause, and to obtain the certificate before filming starts, plus a damage deposit by certified cheque held uncashed until inspection. This is guidance to residents, not a permit condition.

Other authorities' insurance limits

on request

Toronto's insurance ask is light on paper, one limit, one named entity, an address, but the discretionary 'or such higher limits as the City reasonably requires' is unbounded and unpublished, so a stunt or pyro-heavy schedule should assume the number will be set in conversation with the coordinator rather than read off a page.