---
title: "Renovation payment schedules in Ontario: what to pay when"
url: "https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/post/home-renovation-payment-schedule-ontario-guide"
description: "Ontario recommends a renovation deposit of 10% or less. How to tie each later payment to a permit or passed inspection, and hold the last for deficiencies."
publisher: "Jarvis Contracting"
dateModified: "2026-10-05"
---
# Renovation payment schedules in Ontario: what to pay when

By Jarvis Contracting. Published 2026-09-28, updated 2026-10-05.

Ontario recommends you pay a renovation deposit of no more than 10% of the job, and any renovation contract worth more than $50 has to be in writing ([Ontario, Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs, updated 6 Aug 2026](https://www.ontario.ca/page/your-rights-when-starting-home-renovations-or-repairs)). After the deposit, tie each payment to a stage you can walk through and the town has inspected, and keep the last payment back until the deficiency list is done. That is the whole idea; the rest of this page is how to set it up.

## Key takeaways

- Ontario recommends a deposit of no more than 10% of the total project cost, as of October 2026 ([Ontario, Guide for home renovation and roofing businesses, updated 25 Sep 2024](https://www.ontario.ca/page/guide-home-renovation-and-roofing-businesses)).
- Any home renovation contract worth more than $50 must be in writing under Ontario law ([Ontario, Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs](https://www.ontario.ca/page/your-rights-when-starting-home-renovations-or-repairs)).
- If you sign the contract at home, you get a 10 calendar-day cooling-off period to cancel ([Ontario, Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs](https://www.ontario.ca/page/your-rights-when-starting-home-renovations-or-repairs)).
- The final price can't be more than 10% over the original estimate unless you agreed to new work or a new price ([Ontario, Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs](https://www.ontario.ca/page/your-rights-when-starting-home-renovations-or-repairs)).
- Ontario's guide for renovation businesses says the contract should include a payment schedule that states the deposit amount, plus a work schedule with dates ([Ontario, Guide for home renovation and roofing businesses](https://www.ontario.ca/page/guide-home-renovation-and-roofing-businesses)).

## How much deposit should I pay a contractor in Ontario?

Pay 10% or less. That is the province's recommendation on both its homeowner page and its guide for renovation businesses, and it's the number to hold a contractor to when you sign.

A deposit has a job. It holds your spot in the schedule and pays for things that have to be ordered early: windows, a steel beam, custom cabinets. It shouldn't pay for work that hasn't started, and it shouldn't pay for the contractor's last job.

Homeowners online land all over the place. On RedFlagDeals, one poster suggested [25% at signing](https://forums.redflagdeals.com/large-deposit-contractor-1195058/) (a search snippet, not a thread we could read in full), while another, after a contractor took a deposit and never showed, wrote "never pay more than 100 for deposit!" ([RedFlagDeals, 14 Sep 2020](https://forums.redflagdeals.com/contractor-took-deposit-didnt-show-2403023/)). Ontario's 10% sits between the two, and it's the one with a source behind it.

The cost of getting this wrong is real. In a CTV W5 story, a Brampton owner paid $33,000, about 90% of the contract, for a basement apartment that was still unfinished two and a half years later ([CP24, 9 Jul 2026](https://www.cp24.com/news/canada/2026/07/09/he-just-disappeared-this-contractor-has-a-long-list-of-angry-clients/)). The money was gone before the work was.

### What if the contractor asks for a bigger deposit?

Ask what the money buys. If the answer is a special-order item, you have options that keep you covered:

1. Pay the supplier directly for that item, in your name, and have it delivered to the site.
2. Pay for the item when it arrives at the house, as its own line in the payment schedule.
3. Keep the deposit at 10% and move the rest of the money to the first milestone.

If the contractor won't take any of these and still wants a large share before a permit is issued, treat that as your answer. Our [checklist of signs of a bad contractor](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/post/signs-of-a-bad-contractor-before-you-hire-an-ontario-homeowner-s-checklist) covers the other warnings that usually come with it.

## What should a renovation payment schedule look like?

Each payment should follow a stage you can see and, where the town inspects, a stage the inspector has passed. A schedule tied to proof is easier to check than one tied to dates or to the contractor's word that a phase is nearly done.

Here is an example for a renovation that needs a building permit, such as a rear addition or a basement with new walls and plumbing:

| Stage | What has to be true before you pay | Example share of contract (illustration only) |
|---|---|---|
| Signing | Written contract signed, scope and drawings attached | 10% (Ontario's recommended maximum) |
| Permit issued | Permit card in hand; long-lead items ordered with receipts | 15% |
| Framing | Framing done and the town's framing inspection passed | 20% |
| Rough-ins | Plumbing, HVAC and electrical roughed in and inspected; insulation inspected | 20% |
| Close-in and finishes | Drywall, flooring, cabinets and trim installed | 20% |
| Substantial completion | Final inspection passed; you can use the space | 10% |
| Deficiencies done | Every item on the written deficiency list fixed | 5% |

Note: Only the 10% deposit comes from Ontario's guidance. The other percentages are made up to show the shape of a milestone schedule; they are not a rule and not our own terms. Your contract sets the real numbers and says whether they include HST.

Two things make this work. First, every milestone names a document: a permit, an inspection result, a receipt, a signed deficiency list. Second, the last payments land after the inspector has signed off, so the contractor still has money waiting when the small jobs at the end are the only ones left.

Electrical is inspected separately. In Ontario, a notification of work has to be filed with the Electrical Safety Authority before electrical work starts, and only a licensed electrical contractor can do it ([ESA, Finding the right contractor](https://esasafe.com/compliance/finding-the-right-contractor/)). If the rough-in payment includes electrical, ask to see that the notification was filed.

## Should I pay by milestone or by date?

Pay by milestone on a job with a set scope and price. A calendar schedule pays for weeks going by. If the crew is pulled to another site for a fortnight, a date-based invoice still comes due and you've paid for time, not walls.

Dates make more sense on cost-plus or time-and-materials work, where you're billed for labour and materials as they're used. Then the invoice should show hours, receipts and the markup, and you should be able to match it to what happened on site. Our guide to [fixed price vs cost-plus](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/guides/fixed-price-vs-cost-plus) goes through when each model fits.

## Should I hold back the final payment?

Yes. Keep the last payment until the deficiency list is finished. This is ordinary practice, not a legal percentage, and the size of it is something you and the contractor agree in the contract.

Here is how it works on a well-run job. Near the end, you walk the house with the contractor and write down everything that isn't right: a door that sticks, a missing outlet cover, a paint touch-up, a tile with a chip. Both of you sign the list and agree a date. The final payment follows when the list is done.

If you want to know whether any legal holdback rules apply to your contract, ask an Ontario lawyer. We build houses; we won't guess at the law for you.

## How do change orders affect what I pay?

Every change goes in writing, with a price, signed by both of you, before the work is done. That protects the 10% rule: the final price can't be more than 10% over the estimate unless you agreed to new work or a new price ([Ontario, Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs](https://www.ontario.ca/page/your-rights-when-starting-home-renovations-or-repairs)). Ontario's business guide says the customer asks for the extra work and both parties sign a contract change ([Ontario, Guide for home renovation and roofing businesses](https://www.ontario.ca/page/guide-home-renovation-and-roofing-businesses)).

Some changes come from you: a bigger window, a different tile. Others come from the house. Open a wall in an older home and you can find a rotted sill plate, an undersized joist or old wiring that has to come out. That's a change too, and it should be priced and signed before the crew carries on. A change order added to the next milestone keeps the schedule honest: you see the cost when the decision is made, not on the final invoice.

## What should the contract say about payments?

Ontario's guide for renovation businesses lists what a contract should include: the business's details, a description of the work and materials, the total cost and payment terms with taxes, a work schedule with dates, the subcontractors, a payment schedule that states the deposit amount, and who cleans up ([Ontario, Guide for home renovation and roofing businesses](https://www.ontario.ca/page/guide-home-renovation-and-roofing-businesses)).

Pay by cheque or bank transfer so there's a record, and get a receipt for every payment. Keep the receipts with the contract, the permit and your photos. If anything goes wrong later, that file is what you'll lean on.

## What's different in Durham Region?

In Durham Region, Ontario, the town's inspections are your milestones, and the towns publish how they work. The Town of Whitby books an inspection for the next business day if the request comes in by 3 p.m. ([the Town of Whitby's building permits page](https://www.whitby.ca/services-and-payments/building-and-renovating/building-permits/)). A payment tied to "framing inspection passed" shouldn't hold a Whitby job up for long.

Starting work before a permit costs you, not just the contractor. Whitby charges the greater of $100 or 25% of the application fee when work starts before the permit application is in ([Town of Whitby, 2026 Building Services Fees, Schedule N](https://media-003-ca.cdn.govstack.com/whitby-ca/media/5aqjt5ww/2026-building-permit-fees-schedule-n.pdf)). Oshawa adds 25% to the permit fee if construction started after an application, and 50% if no application was received ([City of Oshawa, By-law 33-2009 as amended](https://media-002-ca.cdn.govstack.com/oshawa-016-ca/media/em3h4lr3/bylaw-33-2009-as-amended-by-by-law-118-2025.pdf)). So never make a payment for demolition or framing before the permit is issued.

The permit milestone can take a while, so don't let the deposit sit idle and grow. Ontario sets a 10 business day decision period for a complete permit application on a house ([Ontario Building Code](https://www.publications.gov.on.ca/301880)), but Oshawa warns that, with record application volumes, it can't guarantee review timeframes will be met ([the City of Oshawa's building permits page](https://www.oshawa.ca/living-here/building-and-renovating/building-permits/)). If you want to check a permit's status yourself in Whitby, the Building Division is at 905.430.4305 ([the Town of Whitby's building and renovating page](https://www.whitby.ca/services-and-payments/building-and-renovating/)).

## How we set up a job

Every job starts with James at your house, looking at what's there. Ceara Jarvis's studio, Juliette Interiors, does the design and drawings, we take them through the permit, and one crew builds it. We book the inspections and walk the house with you at handover. The payment schedule is written into the contract before any work starts, so you know what each payment is for; ask us at the first visit how ours lines up with the stages above. You can see how a job runs on our [process page](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/process).

Explore our case studies on the [projects page](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/projects). The nearest one to this topic is [Greenwood](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/projects/greenwood), a ten-month renovation in Toronto that we took through permit, design and construction.

## Questions

### How much deposit is normal for a renovation in Ontario?

Ontario recommends a renovation deposit of no more than 10% of the total project cost, as of October 2026. A contractor asking for much more than that should be able to tell you exactly what the extra money buys, such as a special-order window, and you can offer to pay the supplier directly instead.

### Can a contractor ask for 50% upfront in Ontario?

A contractor can ask, but Ontario's guidance is a deposit of no more than 10%. A 50% upfront payment leaves you carrying most of the risk before any work is inspected. In the CTV W5 story from July 2026, a Brampton owner who paid about 90% of the contract was left with an unfinished basement apartment.

### Can a contractor charge more than the estimate in Ontario?

A contractor in Ontario can't charge more than 10% over the original estimate unless you agreed to new work or a new price. Changes should be written down, priced and signed by both of you before the work is done, so the final invoice holds no surprises.

### Can I cancel a renovation contract I signed at home?

A renovation contract signed at your home in Ontario carries a 10 calendar-day cooling-off period. Ontario's business guide says you can cancel for any reason in that time without paying a cancellation fee.

### Should I pay a renovation contractor in cash?

Paying a renovation contractor in cash leaves you without a record of what you paid and when. Pay by cheque or bank transfer, get a receipt for each payment, and keep them with the written contract, which Ontario requires for any renovation worth more than $50.

### What should the final renovation payment depend on?

The final renovation payment should depend on two things: the town's final inspection being passed, and every item on the signed deficiency list being fixed. Holding the last payment until then is common practice; the amount is set in your contract.

If you're planning a renovation in Durham Region and want the schedule worked out before anything is signed, [get in touch](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/contact).