Cost to Build a House in Canada: Per Square Foot by Province

A per-square-foot price for a new house counts the construction and nothing else: not the land, the design, the permits, the development charges or the tax. On a 2026 national planning range that construction runs about $150 to $300+ a square foot, and custom builders quote $220 to $800+. Which end you pay depends mostly on the province and city you build in.

Cost per square foot to build a house, by province

On 2026 national figures, a new house costs about $150 to $200+ a square foot for a simpler entry-level project, $200 to $300+ for standard construction and $300+ for custom or high-end work, before land. Custom builders, who design one house for one lot, quote their own ranges, and the provinces sit far apart.

On the Alberta builder's 2025 figures, mid-range custom builds in Calgary run $270 to $340 a square foot against $240 to $310 in Edmonton, and the luxury tier starts about $20 higher in Calgary. For Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina and Atlantic Canada, start from the national planning range and test it against two or three local quotes.

Standard build or custom build: what moves the price

The spread inside each row comes from a handful of decisions, most of them made before the drawings are finished.

• Plan or custom design. A stock plan arrives drawn; a custom design is drawn for your lot and your brief, and its fees sit outside the per-foot figure. Architectural drawings run $8,000 to $25,000+ on 2026 Ontario figures.
• Finish level. On 2025 Calgary figures the step from standard ($240 to $280) to luxury ($350+) is $70 a square foot or more, about $175,000 on a 2,500 sq ft house.
• Shape. A bungalow can cost more per square foot than a two-storey of the same floor area, because it needs a larger foundation and a larger roof.
• Basement. A full basement adds about $40 to $60 per square foot of basement area on one Ontario builder's figures, so ask whether a quote's square footage counts it.
• The lot. Steep slopes, poor soil or tight access can add $50,000 or more before framing starts, on a BC builder's 2026 figures.
• Energy rules. In BC, meeting the Energy Step Code adds about $15 to $40 a square foot, depending on the step, on the same figures.
• The builder's margin. The builder's overhead and margin sit inside a fixed per-foot price rather than on a line of their own, which is why two quotes for one plan can differ before any finish changes.

What a house costs by size

Multiply the floor area by the range for your market. The table does it for four common sizes; none of these figures include land, permits, development charges or tax.

On the Alberta builder's own averages, a 2,500 sq ft house runs $625,000 to $850,000 in Calgary, close to the computed column above, and $575,000 to $775,000 in Edmonton.

Costs outside the per-square-foot price

Per-foot figures cover construction only. Land, permits and design fees sit outside them, and a BC builder's 2026 figures add 20 to 30% for soft costs outside the hard construction number. Here is a mid-range house in Ontario once the other lines are added.

Land

Land is the largest line outside the build. An Alberta builder's 2025 guide budgets land at 20 to 40% of the total project in the province, and in Calgary it is often 30 to 40%.

Development charges

Development charges are a municipal levy on new homes, separate from the permit, and in Toronto they fall due when the occupancy permit is issued. The charge there on a new single or semi-detached house that is not a rental is $137,846 under the schedule effective June 26, 2025, which the City's development charge rates page still lists as current. Elsewhere in Ontario, a 2026 price guide puts the charge at $20,000 to $100,000+, and a BC builder's 2026 figures put development cost charges at $30,000 to $100,000+.

A lot that already holds a house is a different sum. Toronto lists credits for redevelopment of land, so a rebuild can owe less, and the real comparison becomes a full-home renovation of the existing house against tearing down a house and starting again.

Building permit fees

Permit fees are small next to the charges above, and each city sets them its own way: by floor area in Toronto, by construction value in Calgary and by a flat fee per size band in Edmonton's 2026 fee schedule.

Lot servicing

A serviced lot needs utility hookups such as hydro, which a 2026 Ontario price guide puts at $5,000 to $30,000. A rural lot needs its own well, at $10,000 to $25,000 to drill, and a septic system at $15,000 to $40,000; one Ontario builder prices the pair at $30,000 to $60,000+.

Warranty enrolment

Ontario's Tarion enrolment fee is set on the price, which includes the value of a construction contract: $585 on a home up to $300,000, $2,075 between $950,000 and $1,000,000 and $6,055 above $4,000,000, plus 13% HST, on the Tarion fee schedule effective September 1, 2025. In BC, every new home built by a licensed residential builder must carry home warranty insurance, with 5 years on the building envelope and 10 on the structure (BC Housing).

Alberta requires warranty coverage on new homes whose building permit was applied for on or after February 1, 2014. An owner builder's authorization costs $95 with warranty and $750 without (alberta.ca), and the province's new home warranty rules bar an owner builder without coverage from selling the house inside the 10-year warranty period unless the required coverage is bought.

HST or GST on a new house

Sales tax applies to the build contract: 13% HST in Ontario, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, 14% in Nova Scotia, and 5% GST in Alberta. In BC the builder pays 7% PST on the materials inside its price and charges you 5% GST on the contract. Manitoba charges 5% GST and 7% PST and Saskatchewan 5% GST and 6% PST; ask the builder which appear on the contract.

If you built a house, or hired someone to build one, on land you already owned, the CRA's new housing rebate for owner-built houses can return part of the GST or HST, claimed on Form GST191.

A worked budget: 2,500 sq ft in Calgary

The same lines, priced for a mid-range custom house in Calgary on the Alberta builder's 2025 rates and the City's 2026 permit schedule.

How builders price and bill a new house

Builders quote a new house as a fixed price on finished drawings or as a cost-plus contract, where you pay the costs plus a fee, typically 15 to 20% of construction costs on a Toronto builder's 2026 figures. Either way the money moves in draws tied to the stages of the build, such as foundation, framing, lock-up, drywall and completion.

Ontario's Construction Act (s. 22) has the owner retain 10% of the price of work and materials as they are supplied until lien rights expire or are dealt with, BC's Builders Lien Act (s. 4) sets the same 10%, and Alberta's Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act (s. 18) has the owner retain 10% of the value of the work done and materials furnished for 60 days after substantial performance or completion, so each draw is paid less a 10% holdback.