Home Renovation Cost in Canada: Prices per Square Foot

A renovation price per square foot means little until you know how much of the house changes. Paint and flooring start at about $10 a square foot on a national 2026 planning range, a gut that opens the walls runs $150 to $260 or more, and a high-quality Toronto gut costs well above that. Scope picks the band; the age of the house and the city decide where in it you land.

Home renovation cost per square foot in Canada

Per square foot is where most renovation budgets start, and the scope sets the band. The table gives a national 2026 planning range for each scope: a first number for a budget, not a quote.

The full-home and gut bands overlap, and where a job lands between them depends on its exact scope. Kitchens and bathrooms cost 3 to 5 times as much per square foot as other rooms on an Ontario renovator's 2026 figures, so the per-foot price depends heavily on whether the scope includes them.

Cost to gut and renovate a house

A gut opens the walls to alter the structure, insulation and plumbing. At $150 to $260 or more a square foot, a 2,000 sq ft house costs $300,000 to $520,000 or more, and a Toronto builder's 2026 figures for a high-quality gut run $450 to $550 or more a square foot. That band is for the builder's own full guts of older Toronto houses, with detailed finishes rather than builder grade; a second Toronto builder's $250 to $500 or more per square foot renovated is its price for a major renovation, a different job.

In Toronto, decide which walls stay before you price a gut. The zoning by-law stops treating a house as lawfully existing once 50% or more of the main walls of the first storey or above are removed or replaced, which can put the project under current zoning rules.

Renovation cost by house size

Multiplying the bands by floor area gives a first total for the house. The table uses the full-home and gut bands.

Those totals leave out mould or asbestos work. Design, engineering, permits and inspections add 8 to 15% of the construction cost on an Ontario renovator's 2026 figures, and the contingency and sales tax come on top.

Home renovation costs by city

The national band hides a wide spread between cities. The figures below are not like for like: some are per square foot and some are project totals, so read each with its label. Beside them sit the two official lines: sales tax, set by province, and the permit fee, set by city.

Renovation costs in Toronto

Toronto prices follow the house as much as the finish. A Toronto builder's 2026 figures put a high-quality gut at $450 to $550 or more a square foot, and the same builder says a 1,500 to 1,800 sq ft semi or row house often comes to $750,000 to $1,000,000 or more and a 2,000 to 2,500 sq ft detached house to $800,000 to $1,500,000 or more. A GTA renovator's 2026 range for a full-home renovation is $150,000 to $400,000, depending on size, finishes and structural scope. The two describe different jobs: the builder's totals are for its own high-quality full guts of older semis and detached houses, while the renovator's range is for full-home renovations in general, with structural repairs, panel upgrades and plumbing replacement toward the top.

The housing stock is what pushes Toronto up: no laneway access, shared party walls, basements that need underpinning, structural brick that needs steel, and knob-and-tube wiring behind the plaster. The City charges $11.53 per square metre of interior alteration, with a minimum of $214.79, under its 2026 building permit fees.

Renovation costs in Vancouver

A Vancouver renovation contractor's and a building publication's 2026 figures put mid-range work at $150 to $300 a square foot and high-end work at $250 to $400 or more, or $150,000 to $500,000 or more for a complete renovation. The publication prices a 200-amp electrical panel upgrade at $3,000 to $9,000 and rewiring an older house at $15,000 to $40,000 or more, and notes that experienced contractors often book 6 to 12 months ahead.

In BC the contractor pays 7% PST on the materials it installs and you pay 5% GST on the contract, so PST is inside the quote rather than on the invoice. Vancouver's Residential Renovation Fast Track issues permits within a week for simple renovations under $250,000; structural work and additions take the regular permit path.

Renovation costs in Calgary and Edmonton

Calgary renovation prices on one premium design-build firm's 2026 list sit close to the national band: the high $200,000s to the low $300,000s or more for a complete renovation, against $250,000 to $350,000 for a 2,000 sq ft house at the national full-home rate, though the list names no house size. The same list starts a cosmetic refresh of the house in the low $200,000s and puts work that takes down walls and adds beams at $400,000 to $600,000 or more. Those are one firm's prices rather than a Calgary average, and the firm puts many of its projects at 4 to 8 months of construction.

In Edmonton, a builder prices an 800 to 1,000 sq ft basement development with a bathroom and one or two bedrooms at $55,000 to $80,000 in 2026. Alberta charges 5% GST and no PST, and Edmonton's 2026 fee schedule prices a renovation permit by construction value rather than floor area.

Renovation costs in Ottawa

An Ottawa design-build firm's 2026 guide puts renovations at $100 to $300 a square foot and says full-home renovations can exceed $150,000. Ottawa charges $12.75 per $1,000 of construction value for a permit to renovate without adding floor area, with a minimum of $117, so a $250,000 renovation pays $3,187.50 under the City's January 2026 fee schedule.

Elsewhere in Ontario, a Kitchener-Waterloo renovator's 2026 figures put a renovation of the full house at $150 to $300 a square foot, or $300,000 to $650,000, and a gut at $250 to $450 a square foot.

Kitchen, bathroom, basement and addition costs

Most renovations are priced room by room before anyone adds them up. The table gives ranges from builders' and renovators' 2026 price lists.

Labour's share of the budget differs by room: 20 to 35% of a kitchen budget where it is priced on its own, against 40 to 50% of a bathroom on Metro Vancouver pricing. Doing several rooms in one project cuts the cost per room by 15 to 25% against doing them one at a time, on an Ontario renovator's 2026 figures, because dust barriers, mechanical access, permits and design are shared.

On top of the trades sits a general contractor's fee of 10 to 20% of project cost on builders' 2026 figures from Toronto and Vancouver, shown as its own line on a cost-plus contract and built into a fixed price.

What pushes a renovation over budget

The per-foot band assumes the house behind the drywall is sound. These move a renovation to the top of its band or past it:

• The age of the house. An Ontario renovator's 2026 figures put century homes 15 to 30% above comparable budgets, and older houses often need the electrical service raised from 100 to 200 amps.
• Layout changes. Keeping the layout costs 30 to 50% less than the same work with a layout change, on the same figures, and opening up a main floor adds $30,000 to $80,000. Taking out a bearing wall alone runs $4,000 to $25,000 or more in the GTA and $12,000 to $45,000 in Vancouver on contractors' 2026 figures.
• The foundation. Full-perimeter underpinning of a Toronto basement costs $60,000 to $120,000 on builders' 2026 figures, before a room above is touched.
• Finish level. Custom cabinetry, stone counters and premium appliances move a kitchen from the Ontario mid-range band of $50,000 to $110,000 to the custom band of $95,000 to $200,000 or more without changing its size.

Of the costs above, asbestos removal is the one a test can settle before any wall is opened, and the national planning range puts it at $5,000 to more than $50,000.

How much contingency to hold for a renovation

Set aside 10 to 20% of the construction price, outside the contract, and spend it only on what demolition reveals. Builders' own 2026 allowances run from 10 to 15% for an Ontario house built before 1980 to 15 to 25% on a Toronto builder's renovations and 20 to 30% on one North Vancouver contractor's.

We would hold 20% on any house built before 1980 and on any renovation of the existing house that opens its exterior walls, because the wiring, insulation and framing behind old plaster are unknown until demolition. On a $300,000 renovation the gap between 10% and 20% is $30,000: plan for the higher figure and treat what is left as savings. For an addition, a Toronto builder's 2026 guide recommends 10 to 15% on top of the build and its soft costs.

Sales tax and permit fees on a renovation

GST or HST applies to renovation work: CRA lists construction services such as framing, plumbing and electrical among taxable supplies, so the contractor charges it on the labour and materials in the contract. The rate depends on the province, as CRA's GST/HST rate table sets out.

Permit fees are the smallest official line: $205.92 for an interior renovation in Calgary and $3,187.50 on a $250,000 renovation in Ottawa. Ontario's consumer rules make getting the permit the homeowner's responsibility, so a contract where the contractor gets it should say so. Toronto requires one to add or remove walls or to install or change plumbing or heating, but not to install cabinets or replace plumbing fixtures where they stand.

How long a full-home renovation takes

Design and permits come first, and an Ontario renovator adds 2 to 4 months before construction for them. Construction time then follows scope:

Inspections set the pace inside those windows, because the order of work does not bend: plumbing, wiring and ductwork are roughed in and inspected before insulation and drywall close the walls, and cabinets and counters come after. Windows, custom cabinetry and appliances often take 8 to 12 weeks or more to arrive, so we would order them while the permit is in review.

Renovate, rebuild or move

Renovating wins while the house you keep is worth keeping. On a Toronto builder's 2026 figures, a major renovation costs about $250 to $500 or more per square foot renovated, against $400 to $800 or more to tear down and rebuild as a custom home, plus $25,000 to $100,000 or more for demolition, basic abatement and service disconnection.

Rebuilding starts to win when the foundation is failing, every system is due and the renovation quote nears the price of a new house, which runs about $150 to $300 or more a square foot nationally before land.

Moving has a price that buys nothing in the house: a Toronto builder puts land transfer tax, commission and the move at $80,000 to $150,000 combined. If 90% or more of the interior is removed or replaced, CRA treats the house as substantially renovated, which can make the owner eligible for the GST/HST new housing rebate.

What a full-home renovation quote should include

Two quotes for the same job can sit tens of thousands of dollars apart because of what each one leaves out: allowances in place of the finishes you chose, permits, design fees, the electrical panel or disposal. Put both quotes against the same list before you compare totals.