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Roof Truss Cost in Ontario (2026): How a Truss Plant Prices, Span and Pitch, Girders and Hips, the Crane, the Sealed Drawings and a Bungalow Worked Out
Framing & Building Systems
Roof Trusses: Cheap by the Foot, and Only One Part of the Roof
A truss package for a plain gable bungalow is one of the better bargains in house building. A plant builds the roof frame off site and a crew can often set a simple one in a day. But the truss price is the groceries, not the dinner: girders, hips, delivery, the crane, the framer, the bracing, the sheathing and the shingles are all somebody else’s line. This page shows what trusses cost, how a plant prices them, a bungalow worked out, and what the quote has to say.
The numbers
$5.00 to $9.00per foot of span, delivered gable trusses (Level 1)
$3,750 to $11,300simple gable package, our estimate (Level 1)
$900 to $1,400boom truck and crew, half a day
$10,000 to $30,000whole roof structure per house, a finance guide
| Roof truss item | Level | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prefab gable trusses, delivered, per foot of span | Level 1, kit | $5.00 to $7.50 | a Canadian calculator site |
| Gable truss, per foot of span | Level 1, kit | about $9 | another calculator site, derived |
| Simple gable package: 30 to 36 ft span, 25 to 35 trusses | Level 1, kit | $3,750 to $11,300 | our estimate, before girders, hips and delivery |
| Hip roof | Level 1, kit | about 15% more than gable | a Canadian calculator site |
| Gambrel roof | Level 1, kit | about 25% more than gable | same calculator site |
| Crane, per day | Level 2, setting | $700 to $1,500 | a Hamilton crane company |
| Boom truck and crew, half day, 21-truss house | Level 2, setting | $900 to $1,400 | a calculator site |
| Journeyman framer | Level 2, labour | $50 to $80 an hour | a GTA framing contractor |
| Whole roof structure, per house | Level 2, scope not stated | $10,000 to $30,000 | a Canadian finance guide |
October 2026, before HST. Level 1 is what the plant builds and ships. Level 2 is the trusses set, braced and fastened on your walls. Neither one is a roof: the sheathing, the underlayment and the shingles are on the roofing pages. Do not compare a Level 1 truss price with somebody’s Level 2 roof structure price and decide one of them is a crook.
Why Ontario prices are all over the map: the price guides and companies we checked for this page did not agree on what a roof frame costs. One Canadian calculator site said $5.00 to $7.50 a foot of span for delivered trusses, another worked out to about $9. A Canadian finance guide said $10,000 to $30,000 for the whole roof structure. A Hamilton crane company quoted $700 to $1,500 a day, and a half-day boom truck ran $900 to $1,400. The gap is trusses alone vs trusses set and braced, roof shape, and whether delivery and girders are in. Budget about $7 a foot of span for the trusses, our estimate, and get two or three quotes on the same written scope.
How a Truss Plant Prices Your Roof
The plant does not price by the square foot of house. It prices the trusses it has to design and build, and the designer runs every one through engineering software. The things that move the price are the ones that add wood, plates or design time.
- Span. Longer trusses mean longer chords, more webs and more plates. That is why the price is quoted by the foot of span.
- Pitch. A steeper roof is a taller truss with more wood in it. A 12/12 roof is a lot more truss than a 4/12.
- Heel height. A raised heel lifts the truss at the outside wall so there is room for full-depth attic insulation over the wall plate. It adds a little wood and saves a cold strip of ceiling.
- Girder trusses. Wherever a truss has to carry other trusses, at a hip, a valley or a change in the roof, it is a girder: two or three plies nailed together and hung with heavy hangers. Girders are expensive and they put a big point load on the wall and down to the foundation.
- Hips and valleys. Each hip end is a set of stepped trusses and jacks, each one a separate design. Hence the 15 percent.
- Snow load. The truss is designed for the snow your town gets. Georgian Bay and the snow belt are not Toronto, and the trusses can be heavier for it.
- Number of different designs. Thirty identical trusses are cheap. Thirty trusses in nine different shapes are not.
A Bungalow, Worked Out
Take a plain gable bungalow 48 ft long with a 32 ft span. Trusses at 24 inches on centre is 48 x 12 / 24 = 24 spaces, so 25 trusses including the two gable ends.
| Line | Level | Basis | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gable trusses, low | Level 1 | 25 x 32 ft x $5.00 | $4,000 |
| Gable trusses, middle | Level 1 | 25 x 32 ft x $7.50 | $6,000 |
| Gable trusses, high | Level 1 | 25 x 32 ft x $9.00 | $7,200 |
| Same house as a hip roof | Level 1 | $4,000 to $7,200 x 1.15 | $4,600 to $8,280 |
| Boom truck and crew, half day | Level 2 | $900 to $1,400 | $900 to $1,400 |
| Gable trusses delivered and lifted | Level 1 plus the lift | $4,000 + $900 to $7,200 + $1,400 | $4,900 to $8,600 |
| Hip trusses delivered and lifted | Level 1 plus the lift | $4,600 + $900 to $8,280 + $1,400 | $5,500 to $9,680 |
October 2026, before HST, our estimate from the calculator-site prices. Not included: girders and hangers if the plan has any, delivery if the plant charges it, the framer’s time to set and brace, hurricane ties and anchorage, sheathing and roofing. Across the range of simple gables (30 to 36 ft span, 25 to 35 trusses, $5 to $9 a foot) the trusses alone come to 30 x 25 x $5 = $3,750 up to 36 x 35 x $9 = $11,340, about $11,300.
On a lot with a steep driveway or no room for a truck beside the house, the lift is the line that grows. If the boom truck cannot reach, it becomes a crane, and a crane is a day rate. GeorgianBaySiteworks.ca covers crane and truck access on Georgian Bay lots.
The Drawings, the Bracing and the Inspector
Trusses are engineered products. The truss supplier provides shop drawings sealed and signed by a Professional Engineer, and your building department will want them, usually for the permit or before the framing inspection. Every truss on the roof has a matching sheet.
Bracing has three owners, and homeowners rarely know it. The truss designer marks on the drawings where individual truss members need restraint. The building designer specifies the permanent bracing and the anchorage. The framer installs temporary bracing while the trusses go up. If nobody did the permanent bracing, the inspector notices, and it is cheaper to have it on the drawings than to argue about it on the roof.
- Nobody cuts, notches or drills a truss. Not the electrician, not the HVAC installer, not you with an attic hatch idea. A damaged truss is repaired to the truss engineer’s written detail.
- Trusses sit on the walls the drawings show. An interior wall under the middle of a clear-span truss is not a bearing wall, and trusses are not nailed hard to it. The truss uplift page explains why ceilings crack at those walls.
- The anchorage is real. The 2024 Code increased anchorage and nailing requirements, including rafter-to-joist connections; every truss gets the tie or connector the drawings show at the wall.
- Keep the drawings on site. The framer sets to them and the inspector checks to them.
On our ICF houses the roof is wood trusses set on top of the ICF walls, so a truss plant and a framer are on every job. The rest of the frame is on the house framing cost page.
What the Truss Quote Must Say
- The drawings and revision it was priced from, and the snow load used.
- Every truss type and count, including girders, hip sets, jacks and gable ends.
- Hangers and connectors: supplied or not.
- Sealed shop drawings and the layout sheet included.
- Delivery, and whether the lift is in the price or yours to book.
- How long from the signed order to delivery.
Comparing truss quotes to framing quotes is a job for the framing quote comparison page, and trusses vs a stick-framed roof is on the trusses vs rafters page.
Questions people ask
How much do roof trusses cost in Ontario?
About $5.00 to $9.00 a foot of span for delivered gable trusses, from two Canadian calculator sites. A simple gable bungalow package comes to about $3,750 to $11,300 by our estimate, before girders, hips, delivery and the lift.
Are hip roof trusses more expensive?
About 15 percent more than gable, and gambrel about 25 percent more, according to a Canadian calculator site. Hips need girders and stepped trusses, each a separate design.
Do I need a crane for roof trusses?
Usually a boom truck: about $900 to $1,400 for half a day to set a 21-truss house. Where the truck cannot reach, it is a crane at about $700 to $1,500 a day.
Who designs roof trusses?
The truss supplier, with shop drawings sealed by a Professional Engineer. Your building designer specifies the permanent bracing and anchorage, and the framer installs the temporary bracing.
Can I cut a truss to make room for an attic hatch or duct?
No. Nobody cuts, notches or drills a truss except as the truss engineer allows in writing. Plan hatches and ducts before the trusses are ordered.
Price the trusses with the rest of the frame
The house framing cost calculator includes a truss package and crane estimate alongside the framing. If you have truss or framing quotes in hand, the $99 review reads up to three of them and tells you what each one left out.
Sources and further reading
- Residential building permit requirements (Clarington): truss shop drawings sealed by a Professional Engineer, and when professional design is needed outside Part 9.
- The 2024 Ontario Building Code: Ontario on the 2024 Code: in force January 1, 2025, and harmonized with the national codes.
- CMHC Builders Series: drywall application: why trusses lift in the first winter and how drywall clips and floating corners handle it.
