How Much Does a Laundry Room Renovation Cost in Canada? (2026)

Last updated: 21 June 2026 · By Mossy Tariq, Founder — Property Blueprint Co.

A laundry room is the cheapest wet room in a Canadian home to renovate and the one most likely to surprise you on price, because the laundry room renovation cost has almost nothing to do with the cabinetry you can picture and almost everything to do with what is already behind the wall. Two laundry rooms with identical finishes can cost five thousand dollars apart, decided by whether the plumbing and the 240-volt dryer circuit already sit where you want the machines.

That is the trap in pricing a laundry. Homeowners budget the cabinetry, the countertop, and the sink they can see, and miss that the real variable is the rough-in behind them. A refresh that keeps the machines in place is a small job; a laundry that moves, expands, or appears in a basement where none existed is a plumbing and electrical project wearing a cabinet's clothes, and the laundry room renovation cost reflects it.

A laundry room's price is decided by whether the plumbing and the 240-volt circuit already sit where you want the machines.

What follows are the real 2026 cost ranges in Canadian dollars, what actually drives the number, where the money goes trade by trade, and why a moved or added laundry costs multiples of a refresh.

How much does a laundry room renovation cost in Canada in 2026

Laundry renovation cost is best read by scope tier. Drawing on 2026 cost data from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, a laundry renovation runs anywhere from $1,800 to $18,000 and beyond, averaging around $8,000, with the tiers breaking down like this:

1. Basic or closet refresh: roughly $1,800 to $4,000. New appliances, paint, shelving, lighting, and flooring, with the existing plumbing and 240-volt circuit left in place. The cheapest tier because nothing behind the wall moves — it is a cosmetic update, not a remodel of the systems.
2. Mid-range full renovation: roughly $6,500 to $12,000. New cabinetry, a laminate or quartz countertop for folding, a utility sink, new flooring and lighting, dryer venting, and the trade-installed plumbing and electrical to suit, on the existing machine locations. Where most homeowners land for a dedicated room.
3. Full conversion, relocation, or addition: roughly $12,000 to $18,000 and beyond. A laundry moved to a new location, expanded, or added in a basement or closet where none existed — new plumbing, a new 240-volt circuit, new venting, and often a floor drain or pan. A different project, and the cost shows it.

A basement laundry remodel averages around $7,500, and the tier you fall into is decided almost entirely by one question: do the machines stay where they are, or move? Toronto and Metro Vancouver run above these national figures on higher trade rates, while Quebec and Atlantic Canada typically sit below.

What drives the price of a laundry room renovation

Four things move the number, and the biggest one is invisible. Whether the machines move is the single largest driver: keeping the washer and dryer where they are means the plumbing, drain, vent, and 240-volt circuit already exist, while moving them or adding a laundry somewhere new means running new supply and drain lines, a new dryer circuit, and venting to the outside. That decision alone is most of the gap between a $4,000 refresh and a $14,000 project.

Cabinetry and countertop are the visible cost, sensitive to the stock-versus-custom choice the same way a kitchen is. The utility sink is a small fixture with a plumbing cost behind it when it is added where none existed. And ventilation and code work — dryer venting to the outside, a basement floor drain or pan, and any gas line for a gas dryer at $1,500 to $3,500 with its own permit — add cost that is invisible in the finished room but required under the building code.

Where does the money actually go in a laundry room

A laundry renovation is a stack of trades, and seeing the breakdown is what lets you read a quote instead of staring at a total. On a typical mid-range renovation the rough allocation looks like this:

1. Cabinetry and countertop. Usually the largest visible line, and the one most sensitive to the stock-versus-custom decision, the same as in a kitchen.
2. Labour and installation. The general contractor and subtrades, plus demolition and prep. A clear scope protects this line, because defined work is priced once and undefined work is priced as a variation.
3. Plumbing. Connecting or relocating the washer box, supply, and drain, and adding a utility sink. This balloons the moment a fixture moves away from the existing connections.
4. Electrical. The 240-volt dryer circuit, new outlets, and lighting. A new dedicated circuit where none exists is a real line, and relocation work adds $2,000 to $5,000 when new electrical and plumbing are needed together.
5. Flooring and finishes. Water-resistant flooring such as luxury vinyl plank or tile, paint, and trim — the visible layer over the systems work.
6. Venting, permits, and tax. Dryer venting, any required floor drain or pan, the permit fees that apply once plumbing or electrical work is involved, and GST or HST on labour and materials.

Why does moving the laundry cost so much more

Because a laundry is a wet room with a heavy electrical load, and both have to follow the machines when they move. A washer needs hot and cold supply and a drain; an electric dryer needs a 240-volt circuit and a vent to the outside. When the laundry stays put, all of that already exists and the renovation is finishes. When it moves — to a basement, a closet, an upstairs hallway — every one of those systems has to be run new to the location, often through finished walls and floors, which is where the $2,000 to $5,000 relocation premium comes from.

A basement or upper-floor laundry adds more: a floor drain or a drain pan with overflow protection, and sometimes a gas line at $1,500 to $3,500 with its own permit. None of this is visible in the finished room, which is exactly why a relocation surprises homeowners who priced the cabinetry and forgot the systems. The same trade-by-trade discipline applied to a wet room is in the bathroom renovation cost guide, and the failures that follow when the systems are skipped are catalogued in the laundry room renovation mistakes guide.

How to set a laundry room budget that holds

A budget holds when it is built from the trades up, not from a finish board down. Start by answering the one question that sets the tier: are the machines staying where they are, or moving? That answer tells you whether you are budgeting a refresh or a plumbing-and-electrical project, and it is the difference between two numbers thousands of dollars apart. Then estimate each line — cabinetry, countertop, plumbing, electrical, flooring, venting, permits, and tax — rather than a single hoped-for figure, and add the contingency.

Lock the design before requesting quotes so every contractor prices the same room, confirm what triggers a permit in your municipality before work starts, and decide which costs are choices you can flex — the cabinetry tier, the counter material — and which are fixed, like the dryer circuit and the vent. A laundry done as part of a larger project follows the same method; if a kitchen is in the same renovation, the kitchen renovation cost guide applies it to the next room.

Where the number comes from

A reliable laundry budget is the output of the early phases of The 12-Phase System — Property Blueprint Co.'s framework for running a renovation from the first quote conversation to practical completion without paying the variation premium the unprepared homeowner pays. The budget is validated against the trades, protected by a clear scope that separates the systems work from the finishes, and defended by the contingency. What triggers a permit, which trades must be licensed, and the statutory holdback all vary by province — the National Building Code of Canada is the model the provinces adapt, and bodies like CMHC track the renovation market the number sits inside. In a laundry, the underdefined work is almost always the plumbing and the circuit.

Knowing the national range is the starting point. Turning it into a number your laundry actually costs — one that prices the systems behind the finishes and your province's permits and tax — is the operational work the planning phases do, before a contractor sets the price for you. The room-level decision sequence that feeds it is in the kitchen renovation checklist, which applies the same order to the next room. For the laundry specifically, the full sequence of choices that sets this number is in the laundry room renovation checklist, and the schedule that keeps those choices from becoming rework — laid out week by week — is in the laundry room renovation timeline, and the order of trades behind it is the laundry room renovation order of trades.

If the cost baseline is the right first step, use the free Renovation Cost Calculator — a trade-by-trade estimate for the specific laundry, in under 5 minutes, before any contractor has quoted.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a laundry room renovation cost in Canada in 2026?

A laundry renovation runs roughly $1,800 to $18,000 and beyond, averaging around $8,000. A basic or closet refresh runs $1,800 to $4,000, a mid-range dedicated room $6,500 to $12,000, and a full conversion, relocation, or addition $12,000 to $18,000 and up. A basement laundry averages about $7,500. Toronto and Metro Vancouver run above these figures; Quebec and Atlantic Canada sit below. The tier is decided mostly by whether the machines stay or move.

Why is moving a laundry room so expensive?

Because a laundry is a wet room with a heavy electrical load, and both have to follow the machines. Moving the laundry means running new hot and cold supply, a new drain, a new 240-volt dryer circuit, and new venting to the location, often through finished walls and floors — a relocation premium of roughly $2,000 to $5,000. A basement or upper-floor laundry also needs a floor drain or drain pan, and a gas dryer adds a gas line at $1,500 to $3,500.

Do I need a permit to renovate a laundry room in Canada?

For a cosmetic refresh that swaps finishes and appliances in place, often not. The moment you move plumbing, add a circuit, install a gas line, or relocate or add a laundry, a building, plumbing, or electrical permit is generally required and the work must be inspected. Permit triggers and the building code itself vary by province — each adapts the National Building Code of Canada — so confirm with your municipal building department before work starts.

What is the most expensive part of a laundry renovation?

Either the cabinetry and countertop, on a refresh, or the plumbing and electrical, on a relocation. On a finishes-only renovation the cabinetry is the largest line. On a moved or added laundry, the systems work — new supply, drain, the 240-volt dryer circuit, and venting — becomes the largest cost and the reason the project jumps tiers.

Does an electric dryer need a special outlet?

Yes. An electric dryer needs a dedicated 240-volt circuit and outlet, different from the standard 120-volt outlets elsewhere in the room. If the laundry already has one, a renovation uses it; if you are adding or moving the laundry, a new 240-volt circuit has to be run from the panel, which is its own line. A gas dryer still needs a 120-volt outlet plus a gas line and the same venting.

How can I keep a laundry renovation on budget?

Answer the staying-or-moving question first, because it sets the tier and the number. Then build the budget from the trades up, get a quote that separates the plumbing and electrical from the finishes, carry a 10 to 20 percent contingency for what an opened wall reveals, and flex the cabinetry and counter rather than the systems. The systems are fixed costs; the finishes are where the budget moves.