Cost to build a house in Canada 2026 – Price per sq ft by province

Typical cost per square foot (hard costs, CAD)

Vancouver and Lower Mainland, BC: often around $400–650+ per sq ft for custom homes, driven by labour, seismic design and the BC Energy Step Code.

Greater Toronto Area, Ontario: often around $350–550+ per sq ft.

Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal: often around $250–400 per sq ft.

Smaller towns and the Prairies: often around $220–330 per sq ft. A 2,000 sq ft home can therefore range from roughly $450,000 to well over $1 million before land.

Laneway houses and garden suites

Toronto, Vancouver and many other cities now allow secondary suites in back yards. Because of servicing, small footprints and fixed costs, these often cost more per sq ft than a full house – frequently $450–700+ per sq ft in the big metros.

Soft costs you must budget for

Development charges (DCs) and permit fees can add tens of thousands of dollars in Ontario and BC – in some municipalities $50,000–100,000+ for a new single-family home. Check your municipality's current DC by-law.

Architect or designer, structural and energy engineering, surveys, geotechnical report, utility connections and HST/GST also need room in the budget. Soft costs commonly add 15–25% on top of construction.

What drives the price most?

Location and labour market, house size and shape, basement (very common in Canada and a large cost item), finish level, energy performance requirements, winter construction and ground conditions such as rock or clay.

Construction prices keep rising; plan for escalation between estimate and start of construction.

Estimate your own Canadian house

Our calculator works in CAD and square feet. Choose Canada, size and standard to get a breakdown per building part with owner costs (K1) and contractor costs (K2), sales tax shown separately, a construction-cost escalation reserve and a full PDF report.