Kitchen Renovation Cost in Ontario: Published Ranges and What Moving Anything Adds
Updated · 8 min read · By Gilbert Brothers
In this guide
The short answer
Published guides put a mid-range kitchen renovation cost in Ontario at roughly $25,000 to $50,000 in 2026. Where two Ontario guides and one Canada-wide guide overlap, it is $25,000 to $39,000. Cabinets take roughly 30% of the total. A layout change that moves plumbing, gas or walls adds roughly $5,000 to $15,000 in ProScore's guide. The City of Peterborough's permit list names plumbing and walls, so confirm with Building Services before you plan a layout change. These are published ranges, not a quote.
What a kitchen costs depends on what you choose and on whether anything moves. This page sets four guides side by side, shows where they agree, and adds what the City of Peterborough's permit list and fee table do to the price. None of the guides covers Peterborough. Every figure is an Ontario figure, except the national ones, which are labelled.
What four guides say a mid-range kitchen costs
| Guide | Mid-range or average figure | What the guide says it covers |
|---|---|---|
| ProScore, March 2026 | $25,000 to $50,000 | A mid-range full renovation, Ontario-wide. A cosmetic refresh is $10,000 to $25,000 and a high-end gut $50,000 to $100,000 |
| Get a Better Quote, April 2026 | $25,000 to $50,000 | Mid-range with the layout unchanged, semi-custom cabinets and a full appliance package |
| CostCanada, 2026 | $29,750 to $40,250 average, Ontario cities | The Ontario rows of a 30-city Canadian table: Windsor is the lowest Ontario city, Toronto and Oakville the highest. Kingston $32,900, Barrie $33,250, Oshawa $34,300 |
| HomeStars, national guide, August 2026 | $20,000 to $39,000 | Mid-range, Canada-wide. Its average is $30,944 and reported spending runs $16,402 to $45,618 |
The ProScore, Get a Better Quote and HomeStars ranges overlap between $25,000 and $39,000, and the $39,000 ceiling is HomeStars' Canada-wide mid-range. CostCanada's averages for Kingston, Barrie and Oshawa fall inside that band, and its Toronto figure of $40,250 does not. The tiers matter as much as the numbers. Get a Better Quote puts a full gut with structural changes at $50,000 to $75,000 or more, and ProScore puts a high-end gut at $50,000 to $100,000. A quote above about $50,000 is being compared with that tier, not the mid-range one.
None of the four pages says how many kitchens stand behind its range. ProScore's page says its figures are "not measured from ProScore listings, contractor quotes, or a pricing survey." CostCanada's methodology page describes each city figure as the result of "a multiplier applied to national baseline costs." So read the table as informed estimates, not market prices. The four are separate publishers, but none says which jobs its figures come from, so this page can't show that they are independent of each other. Treat the ranges as approximate, not as independent proof of each other.
Cabinets are roughly 30% of the number
Get a Better Quote puts cabinets at 30 to 40% of a kitchen's total. HomeStars' budget breakdown, which it attributes to the National Kitchen & Bath Association, gives cabinetry and hardware 29% and says cabinets can take "almost 30%" of the total budget. On the $25,000 to $39,000 overlap, 30% is $7,500 to $11,700. That is hypothetical arithmetic.
Refacing keeps the existing cabinet boxes and replaces the doors and drawer fronts. ProScore puts it at $5,000 to $15,000 and Get a Better Quote at $4,500 to $13,000, so roughly $5,000 to $13,000. The same two guides price custom cabinetry differently: $15,000 to $40,000 in ProScore and $25,000 to $50,000 or more in Get a Better Quote. Get a Better Quote's custom range starts at $25,000, which is the bottom of the whole mid-range band. The cabinet choice therefore changes which tier a kitchen is in, so ask any estimate to say which kind of cabinet is in the number.
Does anything move? Same footprint or layout change
ProScore puts a layout change, "moving plumbing, gas or walls," at $5,000 to $15,000. Get a Better Quote lists the pieces: moving the sink $1,500 to $4,000, extending the gas line for a range $800 to $2,000, and taking out a non-load-bearing wall $3,000 to $10,000. Only ProScore gives one layout figure for plumbing, gas or walls, so treat $5,000 to $15,000 as one guide's estimate.
Say you have a kitchen where the sink and range stay put and everything else is replaced. In Case A the cabinets, counters, flooring and appliances are replaced in place. In Case B the sink moves and a wall comes out as well. This is a hypothetical, worked out from the figures above. It is not a quote for any job.
| What changes | Range (Case A: where the three guides overlap. Case B: Case A plus ProScore's layout line) | Add 13% if the figure leaves out HST | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case A | Everything replaced in place. Sink and range stay | $25,000 to $39,000 | $28,250 to $44,070 |
| Case B | The sink moves and a wall comes out | $30,000 to $54,000 | $33,900 to $61,020 |
Case B is Case A plus ProScore's layout line. Its upper end passes the $50,000 ceiling that two guides give for mid-range. This page adds no separate wall price to Case B. Whether a wall carries load is for an engineer or the building office to say.
Walls, plumbing and gas in Peterborough
The City of Peterborough's list of projects that need a building permit (as of October 27, 2026) includes "installing or renovating plumbing" and "installing, changing or removing partitions and load-bearing walls." Its list of projects that do not need one includes "reinstalling/replacing kitchen or bathroom cupboards without plumbing." A kitchen that also reconnects a sink and dishwasher is a different question. The City's wording points to the plumbing item for moving the sink and to the partitions item for taking out a wall. Confirm with Building Services.
The City's 2026 fee table lists residential alterations at $34.00 per $1,000 of construction value plus a $62.50 administrative fee, with a $235 minimum. It lists a plumbing and mechanical permit for ten fixtures or fewer at $146, plus the same $62.50 fee. On a hypothetical $45,000 Case B job the alteration line is $1,592.50, about 3.5% of the job, and the plumbing line is $208.50. The City decides which line your job falls under.
For a wall, the City's list of what a complete application includes has "structural engineering design sheets, stamped/signed by a qualified professional engineer (if applicable)." Whether a particular wall needs that is for the City and an engineer to say. This page doesn't give instructions for structural work.
Whether a moved gas line for a range counts as fuels work is a question for TSSA (the Technical Standards and Safety Authority) and the City. TSSA's March 2024 news item says furnaces and fuel-fired appliances "must be installed and serviced by TSSA-registered contractors who employ certified and trained gas technicians," and the City's basement finishing guide says a qualified gas technician is required for work such as relocating or changing fuel fired appliances. Ask TSSA and the City what a moved line needs.
On electrical work, the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) says hired work in your home must be done by a Licensed Electrical Contractor. It says a homeowner or occupant doing their own electrical work files any required notification of work with the ESA. It lists some exemptions and narrower cases, so ask the ESA (who can do electrical work at my property).
These are the City of Peterborough's rules. A home in a township has a different office and different fees: see renovation permits around Peterborough. Rules differ by property and change. Confirm with the City before you start.
What is inside a kitchen figure
Get a Better Quote's mid-range tier includes a full appliance package, new flooring and updated lighting. HomeStars' budget breakdown lists appliances and ventilation, flooring and lighting as their own lines. ProScore does not say what its tier holds. Ask each estimate whether appliances, flooring and lighting are in the price.
Tax is the other gap. Ontario's HST is 13% (Canada Revenue Agency). Only CostCanada states that its figures include it. On a $35,000 figure, 13% is $4,550.
What the appraisers say about resale value
From a range to a number
A range can't see the wall behind the cabinets or the pipe under the sink. The only way to get a real number is to have someone look at the space. Ask each quote to state:
- whether HST is in the price
- which cabinets are in it: stock, semi-custom, custom or refaced
- whether appliances, flooring and lighting are in it
- whether the sink, the range or a wall moves, and what permits that brings
- who applies for the permits
Gilbert Brothers gives a free estimate at your home, and the quote for the whole job comes before work starts. Start at the kitchen renovations page or get in touch. The bathroom version of this page is bathroom renovation cost in Ontario.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a kitchen renovation cost in Ontario?
Published guides put a mid-range kitchen at about $25,000 to $50,000 in 2026, and at $25,000 to $39,000 where two Ontario guides and one Canada-wide guide overlap. Those are published ranges, not a quote. The only way to get a real number is to have someone look at the space.
Do I need a permit to replace kitchen cabinets in Peterborough?
The City of Peterborough lists "reinstalling/replacing kitchen or bathroom cupboards without plumbing" as work that does not need a building permit. If the plumbing changes, the City's permit list applies. Confirm with Building Services, and if your home is in a township, call that township's building office.
Do I need a permit to move a kitchen sink or take out a wall in Peterborough?
The City lists installing or renovating plumbing, and installing, changing or removing partitions and load-bearing walls, as work that needs a building permit. Which wall carries load is for an engineer or the building office to say. Confirm with the City before you start.
Are kitchen renovation prices still rising?
Statistics Canada's kitchen remodel price index fell 0.5% in Toronto, rose 1.5% in the Ontario part of Ottawa-Gatineau and rose 2.9% in London in the year to the second quarter of 2026. Peterborough has no index of its own. The percentages are calculated from the index in Statistics Canada table 18-10-0286-01.
What is the biggest single cost in a kitchen renovation?
Cabinets, according to Get a Better Quote, which calls them "almost always the single largest line item." Two of the guides above put them at roughly 30% of the total or more. Get a Better Quote also calls choosing the right cabinet tier "the most important budget decision in the whole project."
Will a kitchen renovation pay for itself when I sell?
The Appraisal Institute of Canada's brochure, How to Value Your Renovations, lists a kitchen among its top five renovations for return on investment, for a renovation or update with quality of materials and workmanship consistent with the area. The institute's 2023 consumer guide adds that the return "tends to vary from market to market" and that it is "uncommon to fully re-coup the amount you paid for a renovation." Neither document gives a percentage, and neither does this page. The brochure says a professional real estate appraiser can help you understand what a renovation contributes to the value of the property.