Kitchen Renovation Cost in Ottawa: 2026 Price Ranges and What Moves Them

The short answer first. Renos Group’s 2026 Ottawa pricing guide puts a kitchen renovation in three bands (Renos Group Ottawa pricing guide):

Tier	Published Ottawa range	What it usually means
Refresh	$25,000 – $45,000	New cabinets and countertops in the existing layout. The sink, range and walls stay where they are.
Mid-range remodel	$45,000 – $80,000	New cabinets with a quartz island, tile backsplash, new flooring, upgraded lighting and electrical, and modest layout changes.
High-end / custom	$80,000 – $130,000+	Open-concept conversions with wall removal, custom millwork, luxury stone counters, and moving the sink, range or gas line.

These are third-party figures, not our quotes, but they are what most Ottawa homeowners start from. They also run higher than the figures published a few years ago, so a number a neighbour paid in 2021 is not much of a guide now. What matters is which tier your kitchen sits in, and that is decided by a handful of things you can check before anyone gives you a price.

Where the money in a kitchen goes

Bathrooms are mostly labour. Kitchens are not. The same guide calls kitchens “product-weighted” and says finishes can make up 30% to 50% of the total budget. Its sample kitchen breakdown puts 44% into cabinets and countertops and 52% into labour and subtrades.

That has a practical consequence. In a kitchen, your selections decide a large part of the price, and a quote is only as reliable as the cabinet line and counter material it assumes. The guide puts the gap between standard and custom millwork on the same footprint at $15,000 to $40,000. That is the width of a whole tier from one decision.

1. Does the layout stay or change?

This is the biggest fork in any kitchen quote, as it is in a bathroom. If the sink, dishwasher and range stay where they are, plumbing, gas and electrical are reconnections, and the floor and walls stay largely closed.

Moving the sink to an island means running a drain and a vent across the floor, often through joists. Moving a gas range means a licensed gas fitter and a new line. Neither is unusual, but both turn a refresh into a remodel. A layout that keeps the sink on its current wall and changes everything else gives you most of a new kitchen for much less.

Our guide to what an Ottawa kitchen renovation actually involves covers how that decision affects the schedule as well as the price.

2. Is a wall coming out?

Opening the kitchen to the living or dining room is the most-requested change in older Ottawa houses, and the most expensive single item on the list. Renos Group prices removing a load-bearing wall at $8,000 to $20,000 or more, and that work needs a City of Ottawa building permit.

The range is wide because the wall is rarely just a wall. It may carry a floor or roof load that needs a beam and posts down to the foundation. It may also hold a duct, a plumbing stack or a circuit that has to be rerouted. In the 1960s to 1980s houses of Nepean and older Kanata, it is often all three. Our guide to kitchen renovations in Nepean walks through what that wall usually hides.

If the wall is not load-bearing, the cost drops sharply. Finding that out costs very little and is the first thing we check.

3. Cabinets: stock, semi-custom or custom

Cabinets are the largest single line in most kitchens and the one most worth getting right, because you open them every day for twenty years.

• Stock and builder-grade lines cost the least and come in fixed sizes. Filler panels close the gaps.
• Semi-custom lines offer more sizes, finishes and interior fittings, and fill most walls without visible fillers.
• Custom millwork is built to the room. It costs the most and has the longest lead time, often several weeks before work can start.

The box matters less than the hardware. Soft-close full-extension drawer slides and solid hinges are what make a kitchen feel solid in year ten. That is a cheap place to spend, and the most common place quotes cut corners.

4. Counters, backsplash and flooring

Counters. Quartz is now the default in most Ottawa kitchens we build, because it is durable, consistent and needs no sealing. Natural stone and large waterfall islands push the counter line up.

Backsplash. Subway tile, as in the photo above, is economical and timeless. Large-format slab backsplashes in the counter material look seamless and cost considerably more.

Flooring. If the new cabinet layout differs from the old one, the floor under the old cabinets is usually unfinished or a different material. Plan to replace the kitchen floor whenever the layout changes. Often the adjoining rooms get the new floor too, so the transition does not show.

5. What is behind the walls

Ottawa’s housing spans about a century, and what demolition uncovers is the main source of real surprises.

• Older wiring. ESA notes that homes built between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s may have aluminum wiring, which needs proper handling when a kitchen is rewired.
• Hazardous materials. Health Canada notes that in older homes, floor or ceiling tiles and insulation may contain asbestos. Testing comes before demolition.
• Panel capacity. An induction range, a second oven or under-cabinet lighting can exceed what an older panel was sized for.

Electrical work you hire out in Ontario must be done by a Licensed Electrical Contractor, who files the notification with the Electrical Safety Authority. A kitchen quote should show that work as its own line.

Newer Barrhaven, Kanata and Stittsville builds are more predictable behind the drywall. The questions there are about upgrading a builder kitchen rather than rescuing an old one, which our guides to kitchen renovations in Barrhaven and planning a kitchen renovation in Stittsville cover.

We write a contingency into kitchen quotes for what the walls reveal, as a visible line. A quote without one is not cheaper. It just postpones the conversation until halfway through, when your kitchen is already gutted.

How long it takes

Renos Group puts kitchen construction at roughly three to six weeks. Our own mid-range kitchens with new cabinets, counters, flooring and backsplash typically run four to six weeks once material is on site. Structural changes can stretch that to eight to ten weeks.

The clock that catches people is before construction starts. Cabinets, and quartz templating after the cabinets are installed, set the schedule. Order cabinets early, and do not start demolition until they have a firm delivery date.

The permit question

Replacing cabinets, counters, floors and fixtures in the same layout generally does not need a building permit in Ottawa. Removing or altering a load-bearing wall does. Moving plumbing, adding a gas line or changing ventilation can. Confirm your scope with City of Ottawa Building Code Services at 613-580-2424. When a permit is needed, we prepare the drawings and handle the application as part of the job.

HST: the 13% that changes the comparison

Ontario’s 13% HST applies to renovation labour and materials. On a $60,000 kitchen that adds $7,800. Ask every contractor whether their number is before or after tax, and compare like with like.

How to read a kitchen quote

A kitchen quote you can actually compare lists these items separately:

• Demolition, disposal and protection of the rest of the house.
• The layout, stating plainly whether the sink, range or gas line moves.
• Structural work, with the beam and permit spelled out if a wall comes out.
• Cabinets, named by line and finish, not just “new cabinets”.
• Counters, with the material and edge profile.
• Electrical, done by a licensed electrical contractor.
• Allowances, each with a dollar figure. A $4,000 cabinet-hardware-and-fixtures allowance and a $12,000 one produce very different totals.
• A written contingency for what the walls reveal.
• HST, shown as its own line.

Ontario gives you two protections worth knowing. The final price cannot exceed the estimate by more than 10% unless you agree to new work or a new price, and the same guidance recommends a deposit of no more than 10% and at least three written estimates. Our guide to choosing a renovation contractor in Ottawa covers the rest of the checks.

Where the money is well spent

Spend first on what you cannot change later without tearing the kitchen out again: the layout, the structure, the electrical capacity and the ventilation. Then on what you touch every day: drawer slides, hinges, the tap and the counter. Save on the decorative layer. Pendant lights, paint, hardware pulls and even a backsplash can all be changed in a weekend.

For how a kitchen compares with bathrooms and basements on the same budget, see what a home renovation costs in Ottawa, and for the bathroom figures, bathroom renovation cost in Ottawa.

Getting a real number for your kitchen

No published range replaces a site visit. We quote kitchens at a fixed price after seeing the room, with the layout decision, the structure, the cabinet line, the allowances and the contingency written out line by line. You can see which part of the price is the kitchen you chose and which part is the condition of the house.

The full scope is on our interior renovations page. We renovate kitchens across Stittsville, Nepean, Kanata and Barrhaven, and our guide to kitchen renovations in Kanata covers what each era of house needs.

Book a free on-site estimate. We will check whether the wall is load-bearing, tell you which tier your kitchen really sits in, and send a written, fixed-price scope.