Renovation is the highest-stakes hire on this site and the least regulated. Ontario does not license renovation contractors. Anyone can print a business card, and the province's protection for you sits in contract law and the Consumer Protection Act rather than in any credential you can look up.
That makes the written agreement the single most important thing in the entire project. Most renovation disputes are not about competence. They are about a scope that was never written down precisely enough to be argued about later. Time spent on the contract before work starts is worth more than any amount of vigilance afterwards.
One protection worth knowing: under Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, a direct agreement worth more than $50 that is signed somewhere other than the contractor's place of business - your kitchen table, for instance - must be in writing, and you generally have ten days to cancel it without reason. Contractors rarely mention this. It exists specifically because of high-pressure in-home sales.
What renovation contractors do
- Kitchen renovation and reconfiguration
- Bathroom renovation, including relocating fixtures
- Basement finishing and legal secondary suites
- Additions and structural changes
- Whole-home renovation and gut jobs
- Coordination of trades, permits and inspections
Does a renovation contractor need a licence in Ontario?
No. Renovation contractors are not licensed in Ontario - but the sub-trades they hire may be, and the permits are the real accountability mechanism.
Written contract with a defined scope
Should include a fixed price or a clearly capped cost-plus arrangement, a payment schedule tied to milestones, a start and substantial completion date, a change order process, and what happens if either party walks away.
General liability insurance and WSIB clearance
Two million minimum. Confirm the policy covers the type and value of your project - some policies exclude structural work.
Building permit, pulled by the contractor
Insist the contractor pulls it in their name, not yours. A permit in your name makes you the constructor and shifts liability onto you. This is a genuinely important detail that many homeowners agree to without realising.
Verify with: Your municipal building department.
Licensed sub-trades for regulated work
Your renovator need not be licensed, but the electrician and plumber must be. Ask who they are and verify them independently.
HCRA licence - new homes only
If the project is a new home rather than a renovation, the builder must be HCRA-licensed and the home enrolled with Tarion. Verify before any money changes hands.
Verify with: The Home Construction Regulatory Authority publishes the Ontario Builder Directory.
Open the official lookupWhat it costs in Ontario
Renovation quotes are only comparable when the specification is identical, which it almost never is. Two bathroom quotes $12,000 apart usually differ on tile, fixtures, whether plumbing is being moved, and how much contingency is built in. Ask every contractor to quote the same written specification, or you are comparing nothing.
| Job | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Bathroom renovationMoving plumbing, and the tile specification, drive most of the variance. | $15,000 – $40,000 |
| Kitchen renovationCabinetry is typically 40 to 50 percent of the total. | $25,000 – $80,000 |
| Basement finishing, per square footA bathroom, egress window or legal suite requirements push well past this. | $40 – $90 |
| Legal secondary suite conversionFire separation, egress and parking requirements are what cost the money. | $60,000 – $150,000 |
| Whole-home renovation, per square footA gut renovation approaches new-build cost per foot. | $150 – $350 |
| Addition, per square footFoundation, roof tie-in and servicing make additions expensive per foot. | $300 – $550 |
These are planning estimates for Ontario, not quotes, and they move with material prices and demand. Use them to sanity-check a quote, not to argue one down.
Questions to ask before you hire
- 1Will you pull the building permit in your company name?
- 2Can I see the written scope, and does it list specific products and models rather than allowances?
- 3What is the payment schedule, and is it tied to milestones rather than dates?
- 4How are change orders priced and approved - in writing, before the work happens?
- 5Who are your electrician and plumber, and can I verify their licences?
- 6What is your contingency assumption, and what happens if you open a wall and find a problem?
- 7How many projects will you be running simultaneously while mine is open?
- 8Can I speak to two customers whose projects finished more than a year ago?
Warning signs
- A large up-front deposit. Materials deposits are normal; a third or more of the contract value before work starts is not.
- Any suggestion that you pull the permit yourself, or that the job does not need one when it clearly does.
- A quote on a single page for a $40,000 project.
- Verbal change orders. "We'll sort it out at the end" reliably means a dispute at the end.
- No written start and completion dates.
- Cash discounts. You forfeit your warranty, your lien rights in practice, and your recourse.
- Pressure to sign at the kitchen table on the first visit - and note you likely have ten days to cancel if you did.
How to read reviews for this trade
Renovation reviews need the most careful reading of any trade here. A five-star review written the week of completion tells you about the finish, not about whether the contractor came back to fix the door that stopped closing in month four. Look hard for reviews mentioning warranty callbacks, and for how the company replied to negative reviews - the reply is often more revealing than the review. Be wary of a review profile that is all five stars and all recent on a company that claims decades of history.
Some of this you can do yourself
Not every job in this trade needs a contractor. These guides cover the ones that do not, and say plainly where to stop.