How much does it cost to finish or renovate a basement in Toronto? 2026 prices, from the drawing

Priced by section on Harmony’s 2026 rates, a 1,000 sq ft basement is $53,500 as a finished living space (an open room, no bathroom), $89,200 as a full renovation with a bedroom, a three-piece bathroom, a wet bar and laundry hook-ups, and $123,500 as a legal basement apartment, before HST and before the lines your house may add, such as a second egress window ($2,800) or a new entrance. The exact figure is itemized against your drawing before you sign. Price your own on the basement cost calculator.

$53,500 as a finished living space, $89,200 as a full renovation with a bathroom, a wet bar and laundry hook-ups, and $123,500 as a legal basement apartment, before HST, on Harmony’s 2026 rates. Permit drawings, the 3D-VR design and every application are included; the City’s own permit fee, about $576 in Toronto for that size, is paid by the homeowner.

We don’t price by the square foot, and we are not fans of it: two basements of the same size can be very different projects, and a single rate folds the bathroom, the kitchen and the permit set into one number that is wrong at both ends. For scale, our 1,000 sq ft figures work out to about $54 to $124 for each square foot depending on the scope, while the same scopes at 2,000 sq ft work out to about $44 to $84, because the fixed items do not double with the area. Treat any rate as a bracket and the drawing as the price.

$42,000 for a finished living space, which is our minimum project price, $71,300 for a full renovation with a bathroom, a wet bar and laundry hook-ups, and $103,100 as a legal apartment, before HST, on Harmony’s 2026 rates. A small basement still carries the permit set, the electrical permit, the mechanical work and a crew, so the price does not shrink with the room. The budget guide on this page runs the three scopes for any size from 600 to 2,400 sq ft.

The permit service, yes: the drawings, every application and every inspection are prepared and managed by Harmony at $0.00, a $2,825.00+ professional value. The municipality’s own permit fee is paid by the homeowner. The City of Toronto’s own permit fee is separate: $6.20 per square metre of the area finished on its 2026 schedule, with a $214.79 minimum; other municipalities publish their own schedules. See our permit service.

$123,500 before HST for a 1,000 sq ft suite on Harmony’s 2026 rates: a bedroom, a three-piece bathroom, a full kitchen, laundry hook-ups, the fire-rated and soundproofed separation, interconnected alarms, one egress window and the existing entrance. Add a second egress window at $2,800 and a new separate entrance at $7,800 above grade or $28,700 as an excavated walk-down, where the house needs them. Making an already-finished basement legal later typically adds $15,000 to $25,000. See legal basement requirements in Ontario.

No. Remodel, renovation and finishing are the same work under different names, and the price is the same arithmetic: each section of the work priced from its own quantities, plus the lines your house adds. The one real distinction is scope: a finished living space, a full renovation with a bathroom, or a legal apartment.

Yes. Buyers pay more for a home with a finished basement, for the living space it adds. A legal apartment adds rental income on top. More on our finished basement value page.

Most Harmony basements are finished in four to six weeks on site. Design and the permit come before that: Toronto reviews a complete house application within 10 business days. The completion date is fixed in the contract, and if we run past it we pay you $250.00 for every day we are late.

In addition to an increased home value, a finished basement adds usable space to the house: a family room, a home office, a gym, a guest bedroom with its own bathroom. Built as a legal apartment, it can also produce rental income.

Interior waterproofing systems run $3,000 to $10,000 and exterior work $10,000 to $30,000, depending on the length of wall and whether drainage or foundation repair is needed. Our waterproofing cost guide has the breakdown. A dry basement comes before a finished one.

A family room with a media wall, a bar or wine cellar, a gym, a games room, a home theatre, a library or office, a studio or music room, a kitchen, a laundry room, a spa bathroom, or an in-law or guest suite. Our basement ideas pages show real Harmony projects for each.

No. House listings separate the basement’s use and square footage from the rest of the house. A finished basement is still one of the best-value ways to add living space.