What renovations really cost in Ontario, with sources

How to read these numbers

The ranges below come from the Altus Group 2025 Canadian Cost Guide, Statistics Canada's residential building construction price index, and multiple independent Ontario contractor cost guides published for 2025-2026. Where several firms independently converge on a range, that's the range we show. Brantford and Brant County typically land below the Toronto figures and near the broader Ontario ones. All figures are CAD, and remember 13% HST applies to renovation labour and materials: on a $400,000 renovation that's over $52,000 in tax alone.

Context worth knowing, and worth reading carefully, because the national headline and the local reality have split apart. Statistics Canada's fifteen-city residential composite has cooled steadily, from 5.3% year over year in early 2024 to 2.3% by 2026 Q2, and Toronto has flattened to roughly zero. Southwestern Ontario has not followed: the London CMA, the nearest published market to Brantford and Hamilton, is still running at 4.2% year over year. We track that divergence quarter by quarter, with the trade-level detail, in the southwestern Ontario cost-trend tracker.

Kitchens

Toronto/GTA data for 2025: small kitchens (under about 70 sq ft) run $12,000 to $25,000; mid-size (100 to 150 sq ft) $25,000 to $50,000; large (200+ sq ft) $40,000 to $90,000+. Per-square-foot, typical quality work runs $250 to $400. The biggest cost drivers, in order: cabinetry (custom vs. stock), layout changes that move plumbing or gas, and appliance tier.

Bathrooms

A typical complete Ontario bathroom renovation runs $12,000 to $28,000 (2025). Broken down: a basic refresh (fixtures, paint, minor tile) $8,000 to $14,000; mid-range with new tile and vanity $15,000 to $25,000; high-end with layout changes, custom cabinetry and heated floors $25,000 to $40,000+. The silent budget-killer is waterproofing done wrong the first time; fixing a leaking shower assembly costs more than building it right did.

Basements

Ontario basement finishing converges at $40 to $60 per sq ft basic, $60 to $90 mid-range, and $90 to $140 high-end (2025). A legal basement apartment is a different animal: Building Code fire separation, egress windows and HVAC separation push it to $120 to $200 per sq ft, with most 700 to 1,000 sq ft suites landing around $95,000 to $135,000 (2026, GTA data). If ceiling height forces underpinning, add $40,000 to $80,000. Anyone quoting a "legal suite" at basic-finish prices is planning to skip the parts that make it legal.

Additions

Ontario additions average $350 to $500 per sq ft (2026), from about $350 basic to $600 to $800 for complex, high-end work. Second-storey additions run $375 to $550 per sq ft across Ontario, and typical 800 to 1,200 sq ft second-storey projects land in the $300,000 to $550,000+ range. Budget 15 to 25% for soft costs: design, structural engineering ($1,200 to $4,000 for the studies alone) and permits.

Whole-home and custom builds

Full home renovations in the Toronto data run $150 to $400 per sq ft, meaning a 2,000 sq ft home lands between $300,000 and $800,000 depending on finish level; a cosmetic-only refresh runs $60 to $150 per sq ft. For new custom homes, Ontario hard costs typically run $300 to $600 per sq ft (luxury exceeding $950), while production single-family construction in the GTA benchmarks at $115 to $215 per sq ft (Altus, 2025). Smaller-market builds like Brantford trend toward the lower half of the custom range.

"When a quote comes in way under these ranges, the money isn't missing, it's deferred. You'll pay it in change orders, in shortcuts behind the drywall, or in hiring someone like me to redo it. The cheapest quote is usually the most expensive way to buy a renovation."

Mitch Fraser, owner, Ontario Contracting Co.

Commercial work

We also quote commercial renovations and fit-ups: storefronts, offices and light commercial. Commercial pricing varies even more than residential (base building condition, accessibility upgrades under the Ontario Building Code, landlord requirements, and mechanical/electrical scope dominate), so published ranges mislead more than they help. One structural note for business owners: the Consumer Protection Act rules above apply to consumers, not corporations, which makes the written contract and the Construction Act holdback even more important on commercial jobs, because they're the protections that remain. Ask us for a commercial walkthrough and written quote.

The two tax credits most homeowners never claim

• Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit (MHRTC): a refundable 15% federal credit on up to $50,000 of qualifying expenses, worth up to $7,500, for building a self-contained secondary unit for a senior or a disability-tax-credit-eligible adult. If you're building an in-law suite, this is real money.
• Home Accessibility Tax Credit (HATC): a 15% federal credit on up to $20,000 of eligible accessibility work (ramps, grab bars, walk-in tubs, widened doorways), worth up to $3,000.

Two money pages worth reading before you budget anything: the Ontario rebate programmes that are actually open in 2026, and Brantford's own basement flooding grant paying 80 percent to $5,000.

In this hub

• Ontario renovation rebates 2026: what is actually open
• Brantford basement flooding grant: 80 percent to $5,000
• Ontario Renovates in Brantford and Brant County: the forgivable loan
• Southwestern Ontario construction cost trends, updated quarterly
• Ontario construction cost per square foot (2026): the full breakdown
• How much does it cost to hire a general contractor?
• Basement renovation cost guide for Brantford
• Kitchen renovation cost drivers, ranked
• Home addition cost guide for Ontario
• MHRTC and HATC: claiming the renovation tax credits