Roofing in Ontario: Costs, Materials, Repairs and How to Hire a Roofer, From a Builder

RenovationsRoofing

Roofing in Ontario: What It Costs, What to Put On, Why It Leaks, and Who to Let Up There

Written by a builder who has had a few hundred roofs put on, not by a roofing company. The prices are Ontario installed prices checked October 2026, and the advice is what I tell my own customers.

A roof is the one renovation almost nobody wants. It does not add a room, nobody sees it from the couch, and the quotes come in $6,000 apart for reasons the quote does not explain. These pages are the explanation: how roofs are measured and priced, what shingles and metal really cost and last here, how to tell a leak from condensation before you pay anyone, and how to pick a roofer when you do not know one.

Price my roof Read the cost guide Review my quote, $99

The numbers

Ontario, installed, per square foot of roof surface, tear-off of one layer included, before HST. Checked October 2026. A square is 100 sq ft.

$6.75architectural shingles
$10.50exposed-fastener metal panels
$13.50interlocking metal shingles
$16.00standing seam steel

A 1,600 sq ft bungalow with a 6/12 gable roof has about 19 squares. In architectural shingles it lands at $13,000 to $17,000 with HST; in standing seam, $32,000 to $39,000. A two-storey hip roof with dormers runs 25 to 40% more in either.

Start here

Roof replacement: costs and timing

What a new roof costs by the square, how to measure yours from the ground, tear-off and decking, and whether it needs replacing at all this year.

Materials: shingles, metal and flat

Asphalt grades and brands, metal roof types and what the gauge means, flat roof membranes, and the underlayment the code requires under all of them.

Repairs, leaks, ice dams and attics

Finding a leak, every repair priced, ice dams and ventilation, flashing and valleys, and the bathroom fan that is rotting more Ontario roofs than hail is.

Hiring a roofer and reading the quote

The ten questions, the scams, the quote and contract checklists, warranties, storm damage and insurance, and a $99 review of the quotes you already have.

The calculators

Roof replacement cost calculator

Footprint and pitch to roof surface, then shingles, metal or membrane at Ontario installed rates, tear-off, decking, flashing, venting and HST. Writes a scope you can send to three roofers.

Metal roof cost calculator

Standing seam, metal shingles or panels, with snow guards and the 40-year cost against shingles done twice. The number that decides metal or not.

Roofing material calculator

Bundles, underlayment rolls, ice and water, nails and ridge cap for a given roof. For the people doing it themselves or checking the material line on a quote.

Ontario snow load calculator

The design snow load for your municipality, which is why a cottage roof in Parry Sound is framed heavier than one in Windsor.

Six things I tell every customer about roofs

  1. Measure the roof, not the house. A 2,000 sq ft two-storey has half the roof of a 2,000 sq ft bungalow. Every quote you get is priced on roof surface, and if you do not know yours, you cannot tell a fair quote from a fat one. Ten minutes with a tape and a level fixes that.
  2. The attic decides whether the roof lasts. Shingles rated 30 years last 15 over a cooked, unvented attic and 28 over a cold, vented one. If the roofer does not go in the attic before quoting, the roofer is quoting shingles, not a roof. Attic ventilation and ice dams are the two pages to read before the material pages.
  3. Half of what is called a leak is not a leak. A ceiling stain that appears in the February thaw and dries by April is usually frost in the attic melting, from a bathroom fan dumping into the insulation. A new roof does not fix it. How to tell which you have.
  4. Metal is a 40-year decision, not a 15-year one. It costs about double and lasts about double, so the money only works if you or the next owner are there for the second shingle roof you did not buy. The metal calculator runs that comparison for your roof.
  5. New flashing on everything, written down. Chimneys, walls, valleys, vents, skylights. Roofers who reuse the old flashing are selling you a leak in year three with a 25-year shingle on top of it.
  6. Nobody who knocks on your door is your roofer. After a storm, the trucks with out-of-town plates are not here to help you. The scams, and how to find a real one when, like me, you do not have a roofer you would send your mother to.

Have a quote in hand? Let a builder read it first

For $99, I read your roofing quotes and your roof photos and send back a written note: what is missing from the scope, where the price is out of line with October 2026 Ontario rates, what to ask the roofer before you sign, and whether the roof should come off at all this year. Two business days. How the roofing quote review works.

Roofing quote review, $99 Check it yourself first

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