Electricians in the GTA: Panel Upgrades & Electrical Work
Last updated · Filteraty Editorial
Electrical is the one renovation trade where "licensed" has a precise, checkable meaning: electrical work for hire in Ontario must be done by a Licensed Electrical Contractor with an ECRA/ESA number you can verify in a public lookup in under a minute. GTA costs run from small circuit jobs to the 200-amp panel upgrades that EV charging is making routine.
| Scope | Typical range | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Minor work or circuit additions | $300–$1,500 | Individual outlet/switch, 1–4 circuit additions, pot light installation, minor repairs |
| 100A panel upgrade | $2,500–$3,500 | 100A service panel upgrade, ESA permit and inspection included |
| 200A panel upgrade or full service | $3,500–$6,000 | 200A service upgrade (most GTA homes), ESA permit, may include EV charger rough-in or service cable upgrade |
Compiled from published GTA contractor pricing (HomeStars, Houzz Canada, habitualhomes.ca, davidreno.ca, among others). The same dataset powers Filteraty’s AI assessment, so this page and your assessment can never quote different numbers. Cost drivers: ESA permit required for all panel work ($200–$400, included in above ranges). Panel relocation adds $800–$1.5k. Pre-1980 homes may have knob-and-wiring requiring full rewire. EV charger rough-in adds $800–$1.5k on top of panel cost.
How much does electrical work cost in the GTA?
The table above covers the three common job classes: minor work and circuit additions, a 100-amp panel upgrade, and the 200-amp service upgrade most GTA homes choose today. Panel work prices include the ESA notification and inspection, a line worth confirming appears in any quote you receive, because its absence usually signals a corner about to be cut.
Two things push jobs beyond the table: panel relocation, and what opens up when an older home’s wiring is exposed. Pre-1980 houses can hold knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring, either of which turns a small job into a remediation conversation, better had early, with the panel open, than mid-renovation.
Why must you hire an ESA-licensed electrical contractor?
Because in Ontario it is the law, not a quality preference: electrical work done for hire must be performed by a Licensed Electrical Contractor. An individual electrician’s certificate alone does not authorize a business to take your job. Licensed contractors carry a seven-digit ECRA/ESA number they are required to display on quotes and advertising, and the ESA’s public lookup confirms it in seconds.
The licence buys you the system behind it: the contractor files the electrical notification with ESA, the work gets ESA review, and a record exists that the wiring behind your walls was inspected. Cash-deal wiring erases all three, and its real price surfaces at insurance-claim time or resale, when no record exists for work visibly done.
Sources: ESA: Hiring an electrician or contractor · ESA: Find a licensed contractor (search)
Do you need a 200-amp panel for an EV charger?
Often, but not always. The honest answer starts with a load calculation, not a sales pitch. A Level 2 charger adds a large continuous load; many GTA homes on 100-amp service genuinely need the 200-amp upgrade to add one, which is why the two jobs are increasingly quoted together. But load-management devices can sometimes fit a charger within existing service, and a good electrical contractor will tell you which case is yours.
If you are upgrading the panel anyway, running the EV rough-in at the same time costs far less than a separate later visit, the same trench-and-wall logic that applies to any electrical work: the expensive part is opening things up, so consolidate.
What electrical red flags should GTA homeowners know?
Most electrical risk hides behind finished walls, where you will never see it and a future buyer’s inspector will. That makes the paper trail your main instrument (the licence number, the notification, the inspection record) and it is why the warning signs here are all about documentation rather than workmanship. The patterns that should stop a hire:
- •No ECRA/ESA number on the quote, or one that fails the public lookup
- •"We don’t need to involve ESA for this" on panel or circuit work
- •Cash pricing conditioned on skipping the notification
- •A breaker panel quote with no mention of permit/inspection in the price
- •Reluctance to say which licensed electrician will actually be on site
How does Filteraty match you with an electrician?
Describe the job (a photo of your existing panel helps enormously, since its capacity decides half the answer) and Filteraty matches you with screened GTA electrical contractors whose verification records show what was checked, against which registry, and on what date. Because electrical is a licensed trade, that record includes the ECRA/ESA licence number you can re-check yourself in seconds. You compare quotes, then contract and pay your electrician directly; Filteraty is not part of that contract.
Common questions
How do I check an electrician’s licence in Ontario?
Ask for the company’s seven-digit ECRA/ESA licence number and search it, or the company name, in the ESA’s free public contractor lookup. Licensed Electrical Contractors are required to display the number on quotes and advertising, so a business that cannot produce one is answering your question.
Do pot lights or a new outlet really need all this?
Yes. Scale changes the price, not the rules. Circuit work for hire is Licensed-Electrical-Contractor work with an ESA notification regardless of size. Small jobs are exactly where unlicensed cash work concentrates, and where a later insurance claim or home inspection finds undocumented wiring.
My home has knob-and-tube wiring. How urgent is that?
Treat it as a planning priority rather than an emergency: intact knob-and-tube can function, but insurers increasingly require its remediation, it cannot safely carry modern loads, and buried junctions age badly. Get an ESA-licensed contractor’s assessment and a staged remediation plan, and do it before an insurance renewal forces the timeline on you.
What is an ESA notification, and who files it?
It is the formal notice to the Electrical Safety Authority that notifiable electrical work is being done, which triggers ESA review and creates the inspection record. Your Licensed Electrical Contractor files it and its cost belongs inside the quote. Homeowners should be suspicious of any arrangement where it is "not needed" or left to them.
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