Most of the cost questions we get about interlock are about patios, and the numbers people find online are patio numbers. Then they apply them to a driveway and the quote comes back higher than expected.
It is higher for reasons worth understanding, because they are the same reasons a cheap driveway quote should worry you.
The starting range
Installed interlock in Ottawa broadly lands in an $18–$45 per square foot band, with material grade doing most of the moving within it. Allen Landscaping puts economy work at $18–22, mid-range at $25–35 and premium above $45, noting most high-quality projects land in the mid-to-high $30s. Maverick Landscaping puts concrete pavers at $18–25 and natural stone at $30–40 and up.
Driveways sit toward the upper half of that range, and the two reasons are structural.
Reason one: the paver is thicker
Patio pavers are typically 50 mm. Driveway-grade pavers are 80 mm, because they are carrying vehicle loads rather than a table and chairs. That extra thickness runs roughly $2 a square foot on material alone.
This is the one place where there is no sensible saving. A 50 mm paver under a car will crack, and it will crack in the wheel tracks where it is most visible. If a quote comes in noticeably under the range, the paver spec is the first line to check.
Reason two: the base is deeper
This is the bigger difference and the one you cannot see once the job is finished.
A patio base is built to keep a surface flat under foot traffic. A driveway base is built to distribute the weight of a vehicle down through the ground without rutting, while still draining freely enough that Ottawa’s freeze-thaw cycle has nothing to lift.
That means more excavation, more granular material, and compaction in more lifts. On the clay and compacted clay fill that much of Ottawa, Kanata and the newer Barrhaven subdivisions sit on, it means more again — clay holds water rather than letting it through, so the base has to do the draining the soil will not. The reasoning is set out in full in our piece on patio base depth and Ottawa’s freeze-thaw cycle, and everything in it applies with more force under a driveway.
Base work is where the cheap quote gets cheap. It is invisible on handover day and it is the entire reason the driveway is still flat in year eight.
What else moves the number
Tear-out. Removing an old asphalt driveway, a concrete pad or first-generation interlock is real labour and real disposal cost. It belongs in the quote as its own line rather than buried.
Access. Every cubic yard of base material and every yard of excavated spoil has to get in and out. A driveway is usually the easiest access on any property, which helps — this is one respect in which driveways are cheaper than backyard patios, where a 36-inch side gate can add days.
Grade and drainage. A driveway slopes water somewhere. Where that somewhere is matters, both for your foundation and for your neighbour’s. Correcting a grade that has drifted over decades is frequently a meaningful part of the work on an older lot.
The street edge. Where your driveway meets the road is City right-of-way, not your property. Changing that interface has its own approvals.
Permeable systems. Worth asking about if drainage is a live problem on your lot. Maverick puts the premium at 10–20% over a standard system.
The repairability advantage
One point in interlock’s favour that rarely makes it into cost comparisons: it comes apart.
When a utility has to be reached, or when one section settles, interlock is lifted, the problem is corrected and the same pavers go back down. Asphalt and poured concrete get cut and patched, and the patch is visible forever. Over the life of a driveway in a freeze-thaw climate, that difference is worth something real.
Getting a number for your driveway
We quote as a fixed-price scope with the paver spec, the base depth and the tear-out written out as separate lines, so you are comparing the actual work rather than a round number. If another quote is materially cheaper, those three lines are where the difference will be.
Since March 1, 2026 the City of Ottawa has required hardscaping contractors to hold a municipal business licence. Ask to see it before you sign — this trade has attracted operators who do not stay around for the second winter.
The full service is on our hardscaping page. For patios specifically, our interlocking patio cost guide breaks down the same question for backyard work.
Book a free on-site estimate and we will measure the driveway, check what is under it and price it inside five business days.
Published August 9, 2026 by ALM Construction & Landscaping. General information for Ottawa-area homeowners, not a substitute for the City's determination on your specific project.