Blog · Ontario

ESA permits, licences and the code: what an Ontario electrical quote has to carry in 2026

VOLTA team · Published October 16, 2026 · 9 min read

Pricing electrical work in Ontario means pricing to Ontario's own code edition and filing with the Electrical Safety Authority instead of the city. None of it is hard, but each piece lands somewhere specific in a bid, and a missed notification fee or a stale code edition comes out of your margin. Here is the code, the ESA permit and its 2026 fees, the licences, tax and labour, with a worked example.

Facts come from the regulators and agencies listed under Sources, checked on October 16, 2026. VOLTA makes one of the products mentioned.

Key takeaways

The 2024 Ontario Electrical Safety Code (29th edition) has been in effect since May 1, 2025, and its amendments add takeoff lines.
The ESA notification is the electrical permit. File it before the work starts; ESA's 2026 minimum fee is $92, and working without one costs $354 in cost recovery before inspection fees.
A contractor licence costs $448 a year and needs a designated Master Electrician and $2,000,000 of liability insurance. Licence costs belong in overhead, not on a line.
Ontario's HST is 13%, and Job Bank's median electrician wage in Ontario is $34.00 an hour.

On this page: The code · The permit · Licences · Tax and labour · A worked example · In VOLTA · FAQ · Sources

Which code are you pricing to in Ontario?

The 2024 Ontario Electrical Safety Code, the 29th edition, which came into effect on May 1, 2025.¹ ESA publishes it as the Canadian Electrical Code, Part I with Ontario amendments, and the amendments are where Ontario takeoffs differ from the rest of the country.² Three of them change an estimate directly:

A range receptacle in each unit. Rule 26-744 4) puts a 14-50R receptacle in every single dwelling and in each dwelling unit of an apartment or similar building, to supply an electric range. On a 40-unit building that is 40 devices and 40 circuits, unless Subrule 14) exempts the units, for example where a built-in cooktop or oven is installed.
The service you price. Rule 8-202 3) sets how the calculated load works for a service or feeder supplying two or more dwelling units. The service size you price comes out of that calculation.
The notification. Rule 2-004 has the contractor file with ESA before the work starts, or within 48 hours after it starts when filing first is not practicable. The fee for that filing is a line in every Ontario estimate.

Price files and assemblies built in another province need checking against the Ontario Electrical Safety Code before you trust them here. For how editions and amendments work across Canada, see the CEC for electrical estimators.

The permit: who files with ESA, when, and what it costs

Almost all electrical work in Ontario has to be reported to the Electrical Safety Authority. ESA calls the filing a notification of work, or permit. The Licensed Electrical Contractor doing the work files it before the work starts, a homeowner doing their own work files their own, and the installation has to be inspected before it is concealed or buried. When it passes, ESA issues a Certificate of Acceptance to whoever filed.³ It is not a building permit, and it is not filed with the city: as ESA puts it, "You may need both."

ESA raised its wiring and licensing fees by 1.9% on April 1, 2026.⁴ The 2026 Wiring Fee Guide, whose cover reads "Effective July 6, 2026", is the schedule to price from. Its lines for the jobs small shops bid most, at the contractor rate:⁵

Work	Contractor fee, 2026
Any notification, minimum	$92
Residential renovation, 11–30 outlets, no service work / with service work	$92 / $150
Residential renovation, 41 outlets and up, no service work / with service work	$201 / $256
New single-family dwelling up to 7,000 sq ft: up to 200 A / 201–400 A / 401 A and up	$253 / $366 / $523
Each service	$86, subject to the minimum
Plan review	$350 for the first 2 hours, then $175 an hour

Commercial and industrial notifications are priced item by item in ESA's commercial reference guide, by amperage, unit or group of outlets, never as a percentage of the contract.⁶ The expensive mistake is starting without a notification: if it is not filed within 48 hours of starting work, the guide adds $354 for up to the first two hours and $177 for each hour after, on top of the inspection fees.⁵ The ESA inspection cost, in other words, is the notification fee for the job. From city to city only the building permit changes: see Toronto and Ottawa.

Electrical contractor license Ontario requirements, from ESA

Obtaining a licence is mandatory for every electrical contractor and Master Electrician in Ontario. To hold the contractor licence, ESA requires you to be at least 18, to be a Master Electrician or have one working for you at all times, to have an address for service in Ontario, to carry at least $2,000,000 of public liability and property damage insurance, and to be registered with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board where the law requires it.⁷

The Master Electrician licence needs three years of experience in the trade and a pass on the Master Electrician exam within the previous 12 months, and a Master Electrician cannot offer services to the public without the contractor licence.⁸ The 2026 fees: $448 a year for the contractor licence, $91 a year for the Master Electrician licence, $164 for the exam, with HST applied under the Canada Revenue Agency's rules.⁹

The trade is regulated on top of that. Electrician – Construction and Maintenance (309A) is a compulsory trade with Skilled Trades Ontario: the people doing the work need a Registered Training Agreement, a Provisional Certificate of Qualification or a Certificate of Qualification.¹⁰ That is the electrician license Ontario requires of the worker; ESA's licences cover the business and its Master Electrician. For the estimate, all of these are overhead: spread the fees and the insurance into your overhead rate and keep the job's lines for the job.

Tax and labour on an Ontario quote

Ontario is an HST province: the Canada Revenue Agency lists its HST at 13%.¹¹ Show it on the quote on top of the price, and drop any BC-style PST-on-materials setting a template carried over. For labour, Job Bank's median wage for electricians (NOC 72200) in Ontario is $34.00 an hour, with a low of $20.00 and a high of $50.50; the wages were updated on November 19, 2025.¹² That is the wage, not the rate. The electrician hourly rate Ontario clients pay adds WSIB, CPP, EI, vacation, tools, the truck, supervision, overhead and margin to each hour, so build your billed rate up from your own costs.

A worked example: a 25-outlet renovation in a house

Say you are pricing a kitchen and main-floor renovation in a house: 25 outlets as ESA's guide counts them, and no service work. Here is how the permit side lands:

ESA notification: 11 to 30 outlets with no service work is $92 at the contractor rate. If the scope grows to include service work, the same 25 outlets move to $150, so price the service decision before the fee.
Building permit: if the renovation needs one, it is usually the general contractor's or the homeowner's; price it only if your contract makes it yours.
Filing time: file before the work starts. Missing the 48-hour window adds the $354 cost recovery to the inspection fees, nearly four times the minimum fee.
Tax: 13% HST on the contract price, shown on the quote.

None of these is large next to the labour, which is why they get missed. Put each on its own line.

How VOLTA handles an Ontario estimate

VOLTA reads your PDF drawings in the browser and drafts the takeoff, then prices it with your own rates. With the province set to Ontario, the quote carries 13% HST on the price; enter the ESA notification fee in Settings under Permits + mobilization and it prints on its own line. On renovation sets it prices the demolition marks too. It does not check your work against the OESC or file anything with ESA. It is $9.99 CAD a month after a 30-day trial; the Ontario hub has the rest.

Frequently asked

Do I need a licence to do electrical work for clients in Ontario?

Yes: ESA says obtaining a licence is mandatory for all electrical contractors and Master Electricians in Ontario, and a contractor licence needs a designated Master Electrician and at least $2,000,000 of liability insurance. The people doing the work also need standing in the compulsory 309A trade with Skilled Trades Ontario.

How much is an ESA permit for a small renovation?

ESA's 2026 minimum fee for a notification is $92, which is also the contractor fee for a residential renovation of 11 to 30 outlets with no service work. With service work, the same renovation is $150.

How much does the Master Electrician exam cost in Ontario?

$164 in 2026, under ESA's licensing fees effective April 1, 2026. The Master Electrician licence is then $91 a year and the contractor licence $448 a year.

Is the Ontario electrical code the same as the Canadian Electrical Code?

It is the Canadian Electrical Code, Part I with Ontario amendments, published as the 2024 Ontario Electrical Safety Code (29th edition) and in effect since May 1, 2025. The amendments change real takeoff lines, such as the 14-50R range receptacle required in each dwelling unit unless an exception applies.

Sources

Each source was opened and checked on October 16, 2026.

Price Ontario work with the ESA fee on its own line and HST on the quote. VOLTA drafts the takeoff from your PDF drawings, and you review every quantity before it prices. $9.99 CAD a month after a 30-day trial.

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Next: Electrical estimating software for Ontario contractors · Toronto electrical permit cost · Ottawa electrical permit cost · What the CEC changes and what estimating software should cost