Kitchen Renovation Cost in Toronto (Prices by Kitchen Size)

A full kitchen renovation in Toronto runs $15,000 to $45,000 for a small kitchen, $40,000 to $85,000 for a medium one and $70,000 to $150,000 or more for a large one. Those are Route Homes' published bands, before 13% HST. Other firms band lower, so read any single ladder as one company's price list. Cabinets take 30% to 45% wherever you land. The permit is the smallest line: Toronto's minimum building permit fee is $214.79 in 2026, and plumbing filed with that application carries no additional fee.

What a kitchen costs by size

The firms disagree, and the gap is the useful part. Easy Renovation stops at $28,000 for a galley under 70 square feet; Route Homes runs to $45,000 for a condo kitchen under 80: $45,000 − $28,000 = $17,000 apart on rooms of the same size. They are selling different scopes, so match the band to the scope, not your floor area. Nor are small kitchens proportionally cheap: Route Homes warns they "do not always save as much labour as homeowners expect".

The jump happens at the wall, not the square footage. Magic Reno prices a full house kitchen from $12,900 but an open-concept conversion from $25,000, with structural work an extra $6,000 to $18,000 on top; Castle Kitchens puts a load-bearing wall removal at $10,000 to $20,000 or more.

What a Toronto condo kitchen costs

Condos are a separate market, not a small house. Magic Reno starts them at $13,900 and publishes a completed 100-square-foot full gut at about $16,000; Castle Kitchens quotes $25,000 to $60,000, Route Homes $15,000 to $60,000 or more.

Part of that spread is scope, not access: Magic Reno's figure is "appliances owner-supplied by default", while Castle's mid-range band includes a $9,000-$15,000 appliance package. Route Homes puts it plainly: "appliances, HST, permit fees, engineering… are sometimes left outside the first number." Magic Reno adds $1,000 to $3,000 for condo coordination and $200 to $500 per elevator booking, names board approval and restricted hours as the drivers, and notes Toronto condo kitchens are "almost always induction-first" because most buildings have removed gas. Castle Kitchens says the layout is usually fixed by the building; Route Homes puts a cosmetic condo update at $15,000 to $30,000.

Where the money goes, and why cabinets dominate

On a $60,000 mid-range kitchen Castle Kitchens puts cabinetry at 30 to 40 per cent ($18,000 – $24,000), appliances 15 to 25 per cent ($9,000 – $15,000), labour and management 15 to 20 per cent ($9,000 – $12,000) and permits and contingency 3 to 5 per cent ($2,000 – $3,000). Route Homes puts labour higher, 30% to 50%, plus a 10% to 20% contingency.

Cabinetry leads every published split: 30% to 45% at Route Homes, 35 to 45 per cent at Magic Reno, 30 to 40 per cent at Castle Kitchens. It is also the only line priced by the foot. Magic Reno lists MDF semi-custom from about $300 per linear foot, custom at $600 to $1,300 and European cabinetry at $1,200 to $3,000 or more. A 20-linear-foot galley is therefore 20 × $300 = $6,000 of cabinetry at the bottom and 20 × $1,300 = $26,000 in the identical footprint at the top, a choice Magic Reno says moves the total by $10,000 to $50,000. TF Renovations publishes installed packages at $8,000 to $15,000 stock and $15,000 to $25,000 semi-custom. Countertops are a much smaller lever: Route Homes prices standard quartz at $4,000 to $10,000 installed against marble at $10,000 to $25,000 or more.

Keeping the sink, range and dishwasher where they are is the cheapest decision in the project: Castle Kitchens says it saves $3,000 to $8,000, and Route Homes prices a same-location sink hookup at $500 to $1,500 against $2,000 to $8,000 or more to move one. Electrical is where older houses bite: Route Homes puts a panel upgrade at $3,000 to $8,000 or more, and Castle Kitchens says pre-war stock in the Annex, the Beaches and Cabbagetown often needs one, or knob-and-tube rewiring.

What a permit actually adds

Toronto's When Do I Need a Building Permit? list is the test. A building permit is required to add or remove walls and to "install or modify heating and or plumbing systems", and not for "repairing and replacing plumbing fixtures" or "installation of cabinetry and millwork". A same-layout kitchen therefore needs no building permit, though new circuits still go to the ESA either way.

Which plumbing fee applies depends on the City's two streams. A stand-alone permit is "for work which is not related to other construction proposed for a building": that is where the $23.20-per-fixture rate lives, and the $214.79 minimum still applies, so a three-fixture kitchen is $214.79, not 3 × $23.20 = $69.60. A related permit covers work that is related to other construction, and the City states its fee plainly: "No additional fee if submitted with building application." A kitchen where a wall comes out and the sink moves is the second case.

The building permit is a service index per square metre, but the minimum swallows most kitchens: $214.79 divided by $11.53 per square metre is 18.6 square metres, about 200 square feet. There is no published all-in number: the City fee and the ESA notification come from different authorities and are quoted separately, so adding them invents a figure neither publishes.

Electrical never goes to the City. The Electrical Safety Authority says the Ontario Electrical Safety Code "requires almost all electrical work be reported to the Electrical Safety Authority by filing a notification of work". Its 2026 minimum residential fee is $92; an 11-to-30-outlet kitchen alteration is $92 filed by a licensed contractor or $143 at the non-contractor rate. But those are the rows for a residential dwelling unit; a unit inside an apartment building of five or more with a common entrance, which is most Toronto condos, is $115 (or $125 non-contractor), and $150 or $257 with service work. That non-contractor rate is for genuine DIY: ESA says "whoever is doing the electrical work must be the one to file", and that it is "a red flag if a contractor asks you to file a notification of work in your name". ESA's FAQ page still shows an older $88 minimum; the April 1, 2026 guide is current.

If the kitchen is in a rented unit, a Rental Renovation Licence Screening Form goes in with the application. The City requires it for all permits to repair or renovate a residential unit, to determine "whether the work proposed will also require you to obtain a rental renovations license". The form is universal; the licence is not. Where one is required the schedule lists $728.00 per unit.

Where people overspend for no resale return

Castle Kitchens puts Toronto resale recovery at 60 to 80 per cent, with a pre-sale cosmetic refresh of $15,000 to $30,000 recovering close to 100 per cent. CIBC, citing the Appraisal Institute of Canada, puts kitchen facelifts at about 75 to 100 per cent, a national figure, not a Toronto one. Route Homes is explicit that "the highest spend does not always create the highest return": buyers respond to layout, storage, lighting and durable neutral surfaces. Two upgrades carry most of the excess:

• Luxury appliance packages. Castle Kitchens prices a basic package at $5,000 to $8,000, mid-range at $12,000 to $20,000 and luxury at $35,000 to $70,000 or more. Stepping from mid-range to luxury is $35,000 − $12,000 = $23,000, on a line Castle puts at 15 to 25 per cent of the budget.
• Stone over quartz. Magic Reno lists natural stone as an extra $3,000 to $8,000 over quartz, on a surface Route Homes already prices at $10,000 to $25,000 or more against $4,000 to $10,000.

Easy Renovation frames the match: a $35,000 kitchen suits a condo or starter home, a $75,000 kitchen a detached family home. TF Renovations is blunter: "a luxury kitchen in a modest home rarely returns what it costs." Ontario's 13% HST then applies to labour and materials, on quotes usually shown pre-tax: TF Renovations notes a $50,000 kitchen is $56,500 out of pocket.