North Vancouver Renovation Cost Index (Updated Quarterly)

How to read these numbers

Every range below is all-in for the work described: labour, materials, project management, and overhead. Unless stated otherwise, they exclude permit fees paid to the municipality, design and engineering fees, and GST.

The low end of each range assumes straightforward access, no structural surprises, mid-market product selections, and a house that doesn't fight back. The high end assumes a sloped or tight lot, an older home with the accumulated issues that come with one, and higher-end finishes.

Most projects land in the middle. When one lands at the high end, the cause is usually a discovery rather than a decision.

Kitchens

The single most requested project on the North Shore, and the one with the widest legitimate range.

• Cosmetic refresh, keeping layout and cabinet boxes: $28,000 to $50,000
• Full kitchen replacement, same layout, semi-custom cabinetry: $65,000 to $110,000
• Full kitchen with layout change and plumbing relocation: $95,000 to $160,000
• Kitchen with wall removal and structural beam: add $9,000 to $38,000
• High-end custom kitchen, custom millwork and premium appliances: $160,000 to $300,000+

Bathrooms

Small rooms with a lot of trades in them, which is why the per-square-foot number is the highest in the house.

• Powder room refresh: $9,000 to $18,000
• Full three-piece bathroom, existing layout: $28,000 to $48,000
• Full four or five-piece bathroom, existing layout: $38,000 to $70,000
• Primary ensuite with layout change and custom tile work: $60,000 to $120,000
• Curbless wet room conversion: add $4,000 to $9,000 over a standard tiled shower
• Moving a toilet or shower drain: add $3,500 to $9,000 depending on floor structure

Basements

Basement pricing is the most sensitive to pre-existing conditions of anything on this page. The finishing costs are predictable; the moisture, height, and egress costs are not.

• Basic finish, dry basement, no plumbing: $85 to $120 per sq ft
• Standard finish with bathroom and wet bar: $120 to $170 per sq ft
• Legal secondary suite: $120 to $250 per sq ft, or $70,000 to $150,000 for a typical one-bedroom
• Egress window cut through foundation: $6,500 to $14,000 each
• Perimeter drainage replacement: $18,000 to $40,000
• Underpinning to gain ceiling height: $350 to $600 per linear foot of foundation

Whole-home renovations

Priced per square foot of the home's total finished area, which is how these projects are actually scoped.

• Cosmetic whole-home refresh, paint, flooring, fixtures: $80 to $140 per sq ft
• Substantial renovation, kitchen and bathrooms rebuilt, some layout change: $175 to $275 per sq ft
• Full gut to the studs, all systems replaced: $275 to $400 per sq ft
• Full gut with exterior re-clad, rain screen, and envelope upgrade: $350 to $500 per sq ft

Additions and new detached units

New square footage, whether attached or detached, prices differently than work inside an existing envelope because you are building structure, envelope, and roof from nothing.

• Second-storey addition: $250 to $450 per sq ft
• Rear or side ground-floor addition: $300 to $500 per sq ft
• Garage conversion to livable space: $150 to $300 per sq ft
• Attic conversion, rafter-framed: $180 to $320 per sq ft
• Detached laneway house: $375 to $550 per sq ft
• Coach house over garage: $400 to $600 per sq ft
• Servicing for a detached unit: $30,000 to $90,000 depending on lane versus street connection

Individual line items that move budgets

These are the items that appear as surprises when they weren't scoped up front. Every one of them is common on North Shore homes built before 1980.

• Hazardous materials survey: $500 to $1,200
• Asbestos abatement, typical renovation scope: $3,000 to $15,000
• Electrical service upgrade to 200 amp: $4,500 to $9,000
• Aluminum wiring pigtailing throughout: $2,500 to $6,000
• Full copper rewire: $18,000 to $45,000
• Repipe in PEX or copper: $12,000 to $30,000
• Seismic bolting and cripple wall bracing, walls open: $6,000 to $18,000
• Unreinforced masonry chimney removal: $3,000 to $8,000
• Structural beam, LVL: $9,000 to $22,000
• Structural beam, steel: $14,000 to $38,000
• New footing under a post: $4,000 to $12,000 each
• Geotechnical report: $2,500 to $6,000
• Arborist report: $2,000 to $8,000
• Skylight, installed with shaft and drywall: $3,500 to $7,500

Soft costs and permits

The costs that happen before construction, and that homeowners consistently underestimate as a share of the project.

Permit fees across the North Shore municipalities are calculated on declared construction value, generally $9 to $13 per $1,000. On a $300,000 renovation that is $2,700 to $3,900 in municipal fees alone, before any consultant.

Design and drawings for a substantial renovation run $12,000 to $40,000, and structural engineering adds $2,500 to $14,000 depending on complexity. On a detached unit, add architectural work at $18,000 to $40,000.

As a planning rule, soft costs run 8 to 15 percent of construction value on a renovation and 12 to 20 percent on a new detached unit.

Permit review times, current

Timelines are a cost, because carrying a project longer costs money and because a schedule built on optimistic permit assumptions falls apart.

• City of North Vancouver, interior renovation: 4 to 8 weeks
• City of North Vancouver, addition or structural: 10 to 16 weeks
• District of North Vancouver, interior renovation: 4 to 8 weeks
• District of North Vancouver, addition or structural: 8 to 14 weeks
• West Vancouver, addition or structural: 10 to 18 weeks, longer on sloped or environmentally designated lots
• Detached dwelling unit, any North Shore municipality: 4 to 8 months including development permit where required

What is moving right now

As of the August 2026 update, three things are worth noting.

Trade labour rates on the North Shore have been the steadiest input for about eighteen months, after several years of sharp increases. Framing and finishing carpentry availability has improved compared to 2022 to 2024, and that shows up as shorter schedules rather than lower prices.

Envelope and energy-related costs have gone the other way. Step Code compliance, better windows, and heat pump installations are now a larger share of a typical addition budget than they were three years ago. That's a real cost increase, though it comes with operating cost reductions.

Municipal fees and consultant requirements continue to trend upward, particularly geotechnical and arborist requirements on sloped North Shore lots. Soft costs as a share of project value are higher now than they were five years ago, and we don't expect that to reverse.

Using this page

These numbers are for planning, not for signing. They tell you whether the project you're imagining is a $90,000 project or a $290,000 project, which is the question most homeowners actually need answered before they invest time in design.

What they can't tell you is what your house will do once it's open. That takes a site visit, and on any North Shore home built before 1980, it takes an investigation package before a number means anything.

We update this page quarterly with what we're actually quoting and building. If a figure here doesn't match a quote you've received, that's worth a conversation rather than an assumption in either direction.