Full House Rewiring & Electrical Upgrade in Ottawa

A 1,200 square foot bungalow runs $10,000 to $12,000 for a full rewire. Two-storey homes run $12,000 to $15,000. Cost depends on the size of your home, the condition of the existing wiring, whether the panel needs upgrading, and how much drywall repair is needed after the wiring is installed. Homes in older Ottawa neighbourhoods like Westboro and Hintonburg often need knob and tube removal, which adds complexity. Homes in Nepean and Gloucester from the 1970s often have aluminum wiring that requires careful termination or full replacement. We give you a written price after assessing the job — before any work starts.

Full rewiring makes sense when the majority of your home's wiring is outdated or unsafe. If you have knob and tube wiring throughout, full rewiring is the right approach. If only a few circuits have aluminum wiring and the rest is copper in good condition, partial repairs may be enough. We assess the extent of the problem during the initial visit. In Ottawa's older neighbourhoods like Vanier and Manor Park, homes built before 1950 often need full rewiring because the entire system is knob and tube. Homes from the 1960s and 1970s may only need aluminum circuit repairs if the rest of the system is sound. We tell you what's actually needed and explain why.

A typical bungalow takes five to seven days. Two-storey homes take seven to ten days. Larger homes or homes with complex layouts take longer. The timeline depends on the size of your home, the number of circuits, and whether walls need to be opened. We work continuously once we start and we clean up at the end of each day. Power is restored to most of the house each evening so you can stay in the home during the work. Hydro Ottawa requires an ESA inspection after the work is complete, which we arrange. We tell you the full timeline during the assessment.

Most Ottawa homeowners stay in the house during rewiring. We work room by room and restore partial power at the end of each day. You'll have working lights, refrigeration, and outlets in most of the house overnight. If we're replacing your main panel, power will be off completely for six to eight hours on that day. We schedule panel work for a day when you can be out or plan around it. You don't need to move out for a week, but you do need to plan for some disruption while we're working in each area of the home.

If a permit is needed, we handle the paperwork and scheduling. Our electricians work under the ECRA/ESA master electrician licence, which authorises full house rewiring in Ontario. The Electrical Safety Authority inspects the work after it's complete to confirm it meets code. We arrange the inspection and we're present when the ESA inspector arrives. You don't need to contact anyone or track deadlines. Most Ottawa homeowners don't need to think about the permit process at all.

Rewiring replaces the wiring inside the walls. A panel upgrade replaces the main electrical panel and service entrance. Full house rewiring often includes a panel upgrade because older homes with outdated wiring also have undersized panels. If your home has knob and tube wiring and a 60-amp panel, we typically do both jobs at once. The panel upgrade alone costs $2,800 to $3,200 in Ottawa. Full rewiring costs more because it involves opening walls, running new circuits, and installing new outlets and switches throughout the home.

Insurance companies don't usually pay for rewiring unless it's part of a covered claim like fire damage. However, many insurers in Ontario require rewiring before they'll issue or renew coverage on homes with knob and tube or aluminum wiring. If you're buying an older home in Ottawa and the insurer flags the wiring as a condition of coverage, rewiring becomes a requirement. We can provide documentation showing the work meets current code, which satisfies most insurers' requirements. Contact your insurer before you start to confirm what they need.

Yes, if the panel is undersized or outdated. Most homes that need full rewiring also have 60-amp or 100-amp panels that can't support modern electrical loads. We assess the panel during the initial visit and include the upgrade in the scope if it's needed. Upgrading to a 200-amp panel gives you capacity for EV chargers, electric appliances, and future additions. The panel upgrade is part of the overall rewiring cost and it's done at the same time as the circuit work. Hydro Ottawa connects the new service entrance after the ESA inspection passes.