Underpinning & basement lowering cost — Toronto & GTA
Computed from 1,021 classified Toronto building permits over the trailing 24 months — quartiles of declared permit values from the public record, never averages, vendor quotes or blog-post ranges.
Declared permit value
| Percentile | Declared value |
|---|---|
| P25 — smaller projects | $50K |
| Median | $100K |
| P75 — larger projects | $300K |
| Largest in window | $2.0M |
1,021 comparables · declared values from Toronto building permits, trailing 24 months.
Declared permit value per SF
| Percentile | Declared $/SF |
|---|---|
| P25 | $82 |
| Median | $164 |
| P75 | $282 |
621 permits with credible declared gross floor area. The denominator is the permit's declared GFA (all use classes summed); rates outside $20–$3,000/SF are discarded.
Size changes the number
| Size band | Projects | Declared $/SF · P25 | Median | P75 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| < 5K SF | 601 | $82 | $164 | $286 |
| 5–10K SF | 19 | $83 | $116 | $228 |
What these numbers are — and aren't
Every figure is a declared construction value from a Toronto building permit, classified by GROUND's cost taxonomy (minimum 8 comparables per published category) over the trailing 24 months. Declared values can understate actual hard cost — awarded-contract benchmarks (tiers A/A+) arrive with award ingestion and will recalibrate these numbers where declarations run low. Full tier system and every category: GROUND Cost Index →
Residential addition & renovation · Single detached & new houses · Office fit-out · Laneway & garden suites · Restaurant fit-out · Multiplex (new) · Retail fit-out · Secondary suites · Institutional alteration · Industrial & warehouse alteration · Medical & dental fit-out · Commercial interior (other) · New industrial building · Demolition