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Whole-House Electrical Cost Calculator Ontario (2026): Wiring a New House or Rewiring an Old One, With the Service, Pot Lights, EV Circuit, Generator Inlet and Cat6 Priced Once
Electrical & LightingFree Calculator
What Will the Electrical Cost? Price the Whole House Once, and the Extras Once.
New house or rewire, the service, pot lights, EV, generator, Cat6 and the fixtures, in October 2026 Ontario prices. No email address required.
Electrical quotes are hard to compare because nobody prices the same thing. One includes the service and the permit, one says “200 A panel” and stops there, one has 40 pot lights and one has “lighting as per plan”. This calculator starts from a complete package per square foot, the way the most complete Ontario quotes are written, and then adds each extra once, so the pot lights in the package are not paid for twice.
Step-by-step
Whole-House Electrical Cost (Ontario, October 2026)
1
The job
New construction is priced with the walls open; a rewire includes fishing wire through finished walls.
Every finished floor, including a finished basement. Unfinished basement counts as about a quarter.
New house $8, $10 or $12 a sq ft; rewire $8, $10 or $13 a sq ft.
2
The service
A full panel is not a full service. Run the service capacity calculator before paying for an upgrade.
Toronto Hydro charges $120 at the meter; new-house connections $200 to $800; long rural runs are quoted by the utility.
3
Extras, each priced once
The package already includes ordinary lighting outlets. Count only the extras. New $140, retrofit $220 each.
New construction $115, retrofit $225 each.
Attached garage or basement about $1,500 each.
$300 to $600 each.
$400 to $700 a zone for the circuit and thermostat; the mat is extra.
Supply only. We carry $3,000 to $6,000 for a 2,000 sq ft house. Set to 0 if the quote you are checking includes fixtures.
An EV circuit at rough-in is $750 to $1,200; after drywall $2,000 to $2,800.
Sizing it: the generator and battery calculator.
4
Where is the house?
Sets the installed-price adjustment. Labour rates in the GTA run higher than in the rest of the province.
Used only to tell you whether the house is in our direct service area. Not stored.
Enter a postal code to see service coverage.
BuildersOntario.com
Your Electrical Budget
Illustrative budget
| Line | Cost |
|---|
Total including 13% HST–
Example only, in October 2026 Ontario prices before HST, then HST added. The package per square foot is the complete job: service (on a new house), panel, every circuit, devices, smoke and CO alarms, exterior receptacles, the ESA notification and inspections, and hanging the fixtures you supply. Extras are added once. Real prices swing widely between electricians; the range shown is plus or minus 12 percent and the real spread is wider. Not a quote.
Request a Real Quotation
Your square footage, the service and every extra become a written scope a Licensed Electrical Contractor can price without guessing, so three quotes come back on the same job. It goes straight to our inbox, and a copy comes back to you; reply to that copy with the house plans for a new build, or photos of the panel with the door open and the meter for an existing house.
What a complete package includes, and what it does not
The per-square-foot package in this calculator is the whole job as the most complete Ontario quote we found writes it. If the quote in your hand is cheaper per square foot, check it against this list before you celebrate.
| Usually in a complete new-house package | Usually extra |
|---|---|
| 200 A service, meter base, main panel and breakers | Light fixtures (supply), fans |
| Every branch circuit, range and dryer feeds | EV charger unit, generator, solar, battery |
| Receptacles, switches, plates; GFCI and AFCI where required | Low voltage and smart home, $1,500 to $5,000 |
| Interconnected smoke and CO alarms | Trenching if no machine is on site, $400 to $800 |
| Furnace, HRV and AC circuits; exterior receptacles; basic exterior light rough-in | Utility connection fees, $200 to $800 |
| ESA notification and inspections; hanging your fixtures | Extra pot lights, Cat6, floor heat, hot tub, subpanels |
Package contents from an Eastern Ontario Licensed Electrical Contractor’s published April 2026 price page, 1,500 to 3,200 sq ft houses. Rough-in is 55 to 65 percent of the job, underground service 10 to 15, finish 25 to 30.
Why Ontario prices are all over the map: the contractors and price guides we checked for wiring a new house ran from $4 to $7 a square foot (an Ottawa contractor) and $6 to $8 (a London contractor) up to about $9 to $10.50 (an Eastern Ontario contractor whose price includes the underground service and the permit). At 2,000 sq ft that is $8,000 to $24,000 for what sounds like the same job. Most of the gap is scope: the service, the permit, the exterior and who supplies the fixtures. Budget $10 a square foot for a complete job, and get two or three quotes on the same written scope.
Three houses, worked out
| House | Lines | Before HST |
|---|---|---|
| New 2,000 sq ft, standard | 2,000 x $10 = $20,000; EV-ready circuit $975; heat pump circuit $450; surge $325; utility $300; fixtures $4,000 | $26,050 |
| New 2,000 sq ft ICF, all electric, rural | Package $20,000; EV charger $1,675; 2 heat pump circuits $900; 2 floor heat zones $1,100; generator inlet $950; surge $325; utility $500; fixtures $4,000 | $29,450 |
| 1,600 sq ft 1950s house, rewire | 1,600 x $10 = $16,000; patching 1,600 x $2.50 = $4,000; 200 A overhead $3,800; surge $325; utility $300 | $24,425 |
Central Ontario, October 2026, before HST. In the GTA add about 8 percent.
Where homeowners go wrong
- Comparing a $14,000 quote with a $22,000 quote as if they were the same job. Put the service, the permit, the pot light count, the exterior and the fixtures on one line each. The comparison grid.
- Adding the EV circuit after drywall. $975 at rough-in, $2,000 to $2,800 later. The wiring for the next 30 years page lists the rest of the circuits people wish they had run.
- Paying for pot lights twice. A complete package includes the ordinary lighting outlets. Count only the extras.
- Upgrading the service because the panel is full. A subpanel adds spaces; only the load calculation says whether the service is too small. Subpanel or upgrade.
- Hiring a handyman. In Ontario anyone you hire for electrical work must be a Licensed Electrical Contractor. How to hire one.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to wire a new house in Ontario in 2026?
About $8 to $12 a square foot for a complete job with the 200 A service and permit, so $16,000 to $24,000 for 2,000 sq ft, before fixtures and HST. Lower per-square-foot quotes usually leave something out. Cost to wire a house.
How much does it cost to rewire an old house?
$8,000 to $22,500 for 1,500 to 2,000 sq ft, plus $2,000 to $8,000 of patching. Knob-and-tube houses with plaster run higher, $12,000 to $25,000 and up.
Does the price include the light fixtures?
Usually not. Most packages include hanging fixtures you supply. Carry a fixture allowance; we use $3,000 to $6,000 for a 2,000 sq ft house.
Is the ESA permit included?
On a complete quote, yes. ESA’s fee for a new house up to 200 A is $253 at the contractor rate. If a quote shows “permit $500”, the difference is the electrician’s time to file and meet the inspector.
Can I do my own wiring to save money?
In your own home, yes, if you file the ESA notification yourself before you start and pass the inspections. On a whole new house it is a lot of code to get right the first time, and most owner-builders hire a licensed contractor for it. ESA permits.
Quotes in hand?
The $99 quote review puts up to three electrical quotes on one grid, checks each licence, and prices what each one left out.
