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Wiring a New House in Ontario (2026): What It Costs, Wiring an ICF House, Kitchen and Bathroom Requirements, and Rewiring an Older Home
Electrical & LightingWiring
Wiring a New House: Decide It at the Walkthrough, Pay for It Once
Costs per square foot, ICF walls, kitchens and bathrooms, and rewiring older houses. Ontario, October 2026.
Wiring is the one trade where the cheap time to change your mind is short and clearly marked: between framing and insulation. Before that you are guessing, and after it every change is a hole in a finished wall. This part of the section covers what the wiring costs, how we wire ICF walls, what the code wants in kitchens and bathrooms, and what it takes to rewire a house somebody else wired in 1962.
The numbers
$10per sq ft, complete package with 200 A service ($8 to $12)
$20,000a 2,000 sq ft house, before fixtures
$750+EV-ready circuit at rough-in ($2,000 to $2,800 after drywall)
$150 to $400core drill allowance for a forgotten sleeve in an ICF wall
What a wiring price includes, and what it quietly leaves out
The only itemized Ontario price we found, from an Eastern Ontario licensed contractor in April 2026, includes a 200 A underground service, the meter base and panel, every circuit and device, smoke and CO alarms, the HRV, furnace and AC circuits, exterior receptacles, basic exterior light rough-in, the permit and the inspections. That is what a complete package looks like, and it is the yardstick for every other quote.
It leaves out the light fixtures themselves (hanging them is included), low voltage, the EV charger unit, a generator, solar, a battery, trenching if there is no machine on site ($400 to $800) and the utility connection fees ($200 to $800). On a typical job the money goes about 10 to 15 percent to the underground service, 55 to 65 percent to rough-in and 25 to 30 percent to finish, which is roughly how the draws should be scheduled too.
Where the circuits go is a separate question, and the site already answers it: how to wire a new house for the next 30 years and lighting and outlet planning before drywall. Read those before the walkthrough with the electrician, not after.
ICF walls wire differently, not expensively
In an ICF house the outside walls are foam forms filled with concrete. Boxes fasten to the plastic or steel webs moulded into the forms, and the cable runs in channels cut into the foam with a hot knife or a router, at the depth the code requires, then protected. The interior walls are ordinary frame and wire the ordinary way. A good electrician who has done one ICF house does the second without complaint.
The catch is anything that goes through the concrete: the service entrance, the heat pump line set, exterior lights and receptacles, hose bibs, the dryer and range hood vents, a generator inlet, the feed to a detached charger. Each needs a sleeve in the form before the pour. Forget one and it is a core drill and a patch, which we carry as a $150 to $400 allowance a hole. Wiring an ICF house has our penetration list, and ICFPro.ca covers the walls and foundations themselves.
The guides
What wiring a new house costs
Per square foot and per house, what a complete package includes and leaves out, the stage split, the add-ons priced at rough-in against later, and three houses worked out.
Wiring an ICF house
Boxes on the webs, channels in the foam, sleeves before the pour, the penetration list, exterior lights in concrete walls, and what a forgotten sleeve costs.
Kitchen and bathroom electrical requirements
Counter receptacle spacing, islands, appliance circuits, induction, GFCI near sinks, the AFCI exceptions, fans and heated floors, and what the inspector checks.
What rewiring an older house costs
When to do it, the price with and without the panel, plaster and drywall patching, living in the house during it, and insulating while the walls are open.
How to wire a new house for the next 30 years
Already on the site: the circuits people wish they had run, low voltage, and the walkthrough with the electrician.
Lighting and outlet planning before drywall
Already on the site: room by room, the three layers of light, and where a run of empty conduit pays for itself.
Smart home planning for a new build
Already on the site: what to wire for now so the gadgets of 2035 have somewhere to plug in.
Home security wiring
Already on the site: cameras, contacts and the cable that is easy in an open wall and miserable in a closed one.
Electric heated tile floors
Already on the site: the mat, the thermostat, the circuit and what a bathroom floor costs to run.
Smoke and CO alarm rules
Already on the site: where the Building Code and the Fire Code want them, hard-wired and interconnected.
The before-drywall checklist
Already on the site: the last walk through an open house, with the wiring near the top of the list.
What it costs, October 2026
| Item | Ontario range, installed | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Whole-house wiring, new, per sq ft of finished area | $8 to $12 | $10 is the number to budget |
| 2,000 sq ft house, complete package with 200 A service and permit | $16,000 to $24,000 | excludes fixtures and low voltage |
| Light fixture allowance, supply only, 2,000 sq ft | $3,000 to $6,000 | our allowance, $4,000; not a researched price |
| EV-ready 240 V circuit at rough-in | $750 to $1,200 | $2,000 to $2,800 to add after drywall |
| AC or heat pump circuit | $300 to $600 | |
| Hot tub 50 A GFCI circuit | $750 to $1,100 | |
| Electric floor heat, per zone | $400 to $700 | the circuit, not the mat |
| Generator inlet | $700 to $1,200 | |
| Whole-home surge protector | $250 to $400 | |
| Cat6 data drop | $80 to $150 | $150 to $300 retrofit |
| Garage or outbuilding subpanel | $1,500 to $3,500 | |
| Whole-house rewire, 1,500 to 2,000 sq ft | $8,000 to $22,500 | plus $2,000 to $8,000 of patching |
| Core drill through ICF for a forgotten sleeve | $150 to $400 a hole | allowance, plus the patch |
Worked example, 2,000 sq ft house: wiring at $10 a sq ft is $20,000; add the $4,000 fixture allowance, a $1,000 allowance for an EV-ready circuit, a $300 surge protector and six Cat6 drops at $120 ($720), and the electrical budget is $26,020 before HST.
Why Ontario prices are all over the map: the contractors and published price guides we checked for this page quoted very different prices for the same house. An Ottawa contractor published $4 to $7 a square foot, a London contractor $6 to $8, and an Eastern Ontario contractor $18,000 to $24,000 for 2,000 to 2,500 sq ft with the underground service and the permit in. At 2,000 sq ft that is anywhere from $8,000 to $24,000. The gap is scope: the service, the permit, the exterior and appliance circuits, and who supplies the fixtures. Budget $10 a square foot plus fixtures, and get two or three quotes on the same written scope.
Rules of thumb worth keeping
- Walk the framed house with the electrician and a marked-up plan. Every receptacle, switch and fixture, in the room, with the furniture in your head. The before-drywall checklist.
- Run the circuits you might want. EV, hot tub, generator inlet, garage subpanel: each one is a fraction of the price at rough-in.
- In ICF, list every penetration before the pour. Then check the list again with the forms standing.
- Count on two inspections at once. ESA for the wiring and the building inspector for the permit; insulation waits for both.
- Price the fixtures as an allowance in writing. A quote that says “fixtures by owner” is a different number from one that includes them.
Have quotes in hand? Let a builder read them first
For $99 I read up to three electrical quotes, or one quote plus photos of your panel, and put them on one grid: the service and panel, the circuit count, the devices, who supplies the fixtures, the pot light count, the exterior work, EV and low voltage, the ESA notification, the utility, patching and the warranty. You get a written answer on what each one left out, in dollars, and which one I would sign.
There is no contractor network behind it and no referral fee on who you hire. We are a builder, not an electrical contractor: on our own builds and renovations in Simcoe, Muskoka and Georgian Bay the electrical is done by the licensed electrical contractors we hire, under their licence and their ESA notification. Outside that area I will tell you honestly whether I know anyone.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to wire a 2,000 sq ft house in Ontario?
About $16,000 to $24,000 for a complete package with a 200 A service, devices, alarms, exterior receptacles and the permit, so budget $20,000. Add $3,000 to $6,000 for light fixtures and whatever low voltage you want. What wiring costs prices three houses.
Is an ICF house harder to wire?
Not much. The outside walls take boxes on the webs and cable in channels cut into the foam; the inside walls are ordinary frame. The real cost is a sleeve forgotten before the pour, which becomes a $150 to $400 core drill.
Does every circuit need arc-fault protection?
Most 125 V receptacle circuits of 20 A or less in a dwelling do, under Rule 26-658 of the code. The exceptions are a bathroom receptacle circuit, the kitchen counter receptacles, the fridge receptacle and a labelled sump pump receptacle. Laundry is not exempt. Kitchen and bathroom requirements.
How far apart do kitchen counter receptacles go?
Close enough that no point along the counter wall is more than 900 mm from a receptacle, ignoring sinks, built-in equipment and counter pieces under 300 mm. Within 1.5 m of the sink they need GFCI protection.
Can we live in the house during a rewire?
Usually, with planning: the electrician works a few rooms at a time and the power is off for parts of days. Budget $2,000 to $8,000 for patching on top of the wiring. What rewiring costs.
Price your house before the walkthrough
The whole-house electrical cost calculator takes your square footage, new house or rewire, and the add-ons you want, and counts each one once. Take the number to the walkthrough and to the quotes, and if you have quotes already, send up to three to the $99 review.
Sources and further reading
- Ontario Electrical Safety Code: ESA on the 2024 (29th) edition in force since May 1, 2025, and what changed for houses, EV loads and energy storage.
- ESA notifications and inspections: when a notification of work is needed, who files it, and the rule that nothing is covered until an inspector authorizes it.
- ICFhome.ca: where I build the ICF houses these wiring and electrification notes come from.
