Updated September 2026
A new fence in Ottawa costs about $30 to $100 a linear foot installed, and the material decides most of that spread. Those are the per-material figures in HomeStars' Ottawa fence price guide, updated 2026-08-21, which puts a whole project at $3,000 to $12,000 or more, with the average around $7,500. At those rates, 100 feet of fence comes to roughly $3,000 to $10,000 and 200 feet to $6,000 to $20,000, before gates and before the old fence comes out. Every price on this page belongs to a named publisher and describes only what that publisher priced. None of them is our quote.
What does a fence cost per foot in Ottawa?
Ottawa fence companies quote fence installation cost by the linear foot, and the per-foot figure normally covers the posts, hardware, boards or panels, and the labour to put them in. Three Ottawa price guides publish those figures. They disagree, partly because they priced different things: only one of them says what height it priced.
HomeStars (updated 2026-08-21) gives installed prices by material, labour included, with no height. Ottawa Contractors (ottawacontractors.ca, its fence cost page dated 2026-06-26) prices a standard 6-foot privacy fence. RealCraft's fence article (2026-04-13) gives installed ranges by material, also with no height. Read each column as that publisher's figure for that fence and nothing wider.
| Material | HomeStars (height not stated) | Ottawa Contractors (6 ft privacy) | RealCraft (height not stated) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure-treated wood | $35 to $65 | $25 to $40 (pressure-treated pine) | $40 to $80 |
| Cedar | Not priced | $35 to $55 | $50 to $100 |
| Vinyl (PVC) | $50 to $90 | $35 to $70 | $50 to $90 |
| Aluminium | $50 to $100 | Not priced | $60 to $120 (black aluminium or ornamental) |
| Wood composite | $55 to $100 | Not priced | Not priced |
| Chain link | $30 to $60 | $20 to $30 at 6 ft, $15 to $25 at 4 ft (galvanized) | $25 to $50 |
Source: HomeStars, How Much Does Fence Installation Cost in Ottawa? (updated 2026-08-21) · Ottawa Contractors, Fence Renovation and Installation Cost Ottawa (2026) · RealCraft, Fence Installation in Ottawa (2026-04-13)
Cedar, coated chain link and labour-only prices
HomeStars does not price cedar. The two cedar figures that exist are Ottawa Contractors' $35 to $55 a foot for a 6-foot cedar privacy fence and RealCraft's $50 to $100 for cedar at an unstated height.
Ottawa Contractors' chain link prices are for galvanized mesh, and section 18 of Ottawa's Fence By-law 2003-462 says no one may put up a chain link fence on residential property unless it is vinyl or powder coated. So a bare galvanized price does not describe a chain link fence you can build at a house in Ottawa. HomeStars and RealCraft do not say which mesh they priced.
If you already have the materials, HomeStars breaks out labour on its own, per linear foot: $12 to $20 for pressure-treated wood or vinyl, $10 to $18 for chain link, $14 to $25 for wood composite and $18 to $30 for aluminium. A panel price on a store shelf is a different number again. It leaves out posts, gates, hardware, labour and hauling away the old fence.
None of these is our price. We price fencing in Ottawa after measuring the run and looking at the ground the posts go into.
How much should 100 feet of fence cost?
At HomeStars' Ottawa figures, 100 feet of installed fence costs about $3,000 to $6,000 in chain link, $3,500 to $6,500 in pressure-treated wood, $5,000 to $9,000 in vinyl, $5,000 to $10,000 in aluminium and $5,500 to $10,000 in wood composite. That is 100 times HomeStars' per-foot range, so it carries the same limit: HomeStars does not say what height it priced.
For a 6-foot privacy fence, which sits under the by-law's 213 cm limit for a backyard, Ottawa Contractors' figures make 100 feet $2,500 to $4,000 in pressure-treated pine, $3,500 to $5,500 in cedar and $3,500 to $7,000 in vinyl.
To use the table, measure the line the fence will actually follow, not the lot. A fence down both sides of a backyard and across the back is the rear width plus both side runs, measured from where the fence meets the house. Leave gate openings out of the footage: both guides that price gates price them per gate.
| Material and publisher | Per linear foot | 100 feet | 200 feet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chain link, HomeStars | $30 to $60 | $3,000 to $6,000 | $6,000 to $12,000 |
| Pressure-treated wood, HomeStars | $35 to $65 | $3,500 to $6,500 | $7,000 to $13,000 |
| Vinyl, HomeStars | $50 to $90 | $5,000 to $9,000 | $10,000 to $18,000 |
| Aluminium, HomeStars | $50 to $100 | $5,000 to $10,000 | $10,000 to $20,000 |
| Wood composite, HomeStars | $55 to $100 | $5,500 to $10,000 | $11,000 to $20,000 |
| 6 ft pressure-treated pine privacy, Ottawa Contractors | $25 to $40 | $2,500 to $4,000 | $5,000 to $8,000 |
| 6 ft cedar privacy, Ottawa Contractors | $35 to $55 | $3,500 to $5,500 | $7,000 to $11,000 |
| 6 ft vinyl privacy, Ottawa Contractors | $35 to $70 | $3,500 to $7,000 | $7,000 to $14,000 |
How much does it cost for 200 feet of fencing?
At HomeStars' Ottawa figures, 200 feet of installed fence runs about $6,000 to $12,000 in chain link, $7,000 to $13,000 in pressure-treated wood, $10,000 to $18,000 in vinyl, $10,000 to $20,000 in aluminium and $11,000 to $20,000 in wood composite. In 6-foot privacy, Ottawa Contractors' figures put it at $5,000 to $8,000 in pressure-treated pine, $7,000 to $11,000 in cedar and $7,000 to $14,000 in vinyl.
Doubling the length doubles the per-foot share of the bill and leaves the rest where it was. HomeStars prices gates per gate, winter work per job, and a narrow or hard-to-reach yard at $50 to $200, and those items cost the same at 100 feet or 200.
A worked example from HomeStars' figures alone: 200 feet of vinyl ($10,000 to $18,000), one gate ($300 to $1,200) and removal of the old fence ($600 to $2,000, at $3 to $10 a foot) comes to $10,900 to $21,200. That is arithmetic on a published range, not a quote.
How much should I expect to pay for fencing?
HomeStars' answer for Ottawa is $3,000 to $12,000 or more for a fence project, with the average around $7,500. Its typical totals by material are $1,800 to $4,000 for chain link, $2,500 to $5,500 for pressure-treated wood, $4,500 to $9,000 for aluminium, $4,500 to $9,500 for vinyl and $5,500 to $11,000 for wood composite. HomeStars does not say what length those totals assume.
Ottawa Contractors starts from a length instead. It calls 150 feet a standard backyard and puts one at $3,750 to $10,500 installed, across materials.
Worked from Ottawa Contractors' own figures: 150 feet of 6-foot cedar privacy fence ($5,250 to $8,250), one pedestrian gate ($200 to $600) and removal of the old fence ($450 to $1,200) comes to $5,900 to $10,050, still arithmetic on a publisher's ranges rather than a quote.
Where your fence lands inside those ranges depends on things only a visit settles: how much of the run is on a slope, what is under the ground, whether an old fence comes out, and how many gates you want.
What does a gate add to the cost?
HomeStars prices a new or replacement gate in Ottawa at $300 to $1,200 each, with higher-end and automated gates above that. Ottawa Contractors splits it by size: $200 to $600 for a pedestrian gate 3 to 4 feet wide, $800 to $3,000 for a manual double-swing driveway gate 10 to 16 feet wide, and $2,500 to $8,000 for an automated driveway gate with an electric opener, keypad or remote.
The by-law gives gates a little room. Under section 6 of Fence By-law 2003-462, a gate in a side or rear yard may stand up to 30 cm over the height limit. A front-yard gate gets no allowance and stays within 1 metre. And section 4 caps any fence at 75 cm inside a triangle measured 2 metres along the lot line and the driveway, where the driveway meets the lot line at the street.
A gate on a pool enclosure has hardware rules of its own. Section 21 of Ottawa's Pool Enclosure By-law 2013-39 requires every gate in the enclosure to have a self-closing device, a self-latching device at least 1.35 m above the bottom of the enclosure, and a lock. Our page on iron and aluminium pool fences covers the rest of what an enclosure has to meet.
Source: City of Ottawa, Pool Enclosure By-law No. 2013-39 (PDF)
What does it cost to remove an old fence?
HomeStars puts old fence removal in Ottawa at $3 to $10 a linear foot for demolition and disposal: $300 to $1,000 for 100 feet, $600 to $2,000 for 200. Ottawa Contractors' range is $3 to $8 a foot including disposal, or $450 to $1,200 for 150 feet, and it adds $15 to $40 a post to pull out old concrete footings.
Two rules come with a teardown. The replacement is a new fence, so it has to meet today's Fence By-law even where the old one was built under a former municipality's rules; our guide to fence repair in Ottawa sets out where a repair ends and a new fence begins. And if the old fence sits on the boundary, section 21(1) of the Line Fences Act, where the Act applies, says an owner may not take down any part of a line fence without at least six months' notice to the owner and occupant next door, subject to exceptions tied to the Act's cost awards. Talk to the neighbour before the old fence comes out.
Every new post hole needs a locate first. Ontario One Call takes the request for free, its homeowner page gives 5 business days for a standard request at one address, and the person doing the digging is responsible for it. Digging around what turns up is billed separately: HomeStars puts underground obstacles (roots, rock or buried utilities) at $50 to $200 or more an hour.
Source: Line Fences Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.17 · Ontario One Call, Homeowners
Is it more expensive to put a fence in over the winter?
Yes, by HomeStars' figures: winter conditions add $100 to $500 to an Ottawa fence job for snow removal or frozen ground work. It is charged per job, so it weighs more on a short run than a long one.
Demand runs the other way. Google's keyword data for Ottawa shows "fence company Ottawa" searched about 50 times in December 2025 and about 390 times a month in April and May 2026, nearly eight times as many. Getting quotes over the winter and building once the ground is workable avoids the frozen-ground charge and the spring rush for quotes.
Once a crew starts, HomeStars says a standard backyard takes 1 to 5 days in Ottawa, longer with slopes, gates, tree roots, snow or ice.
What makes one fence quote higher than another?
HomeStars' own pressure-treated range spans $3,000 on a 100-foot run, so two quotes for what looks like the same fence can sit thousands of dollars apart. Much of that gap is in items a per-foot price can leave out, and HomeStars lists them as the hidden costs of an Ottawa fence.
| Item | HomeStars' Ottawa figure | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Slope or uneven ground | $5 to $15 a linear foot | Extra posts or adjustments |
| Obstacles in the ground | $50 to $200 or more an hour | Roots, rock or buried utilities |
| Winter conditions | $100 to $500 a job | Snow removal or frozen ground |
| Delivery or access | $50 to $200 | Narrow or hard-to-reach yards |
| Lattice tops, reinforced post caps | $500 to $2,000 or more | Custom features, by design |
| Old fence removal | $3 to $10 a linear foot | Demolition and disposal |
| Land survey | $800 to $2,500 | Setting the boundary before you build |
Height, posts and the survey
Height moves the price too, and Ottawa Contractors' chain link figures show by how much: $15 to $25 a foot at 4 feet against $20 to $30 at 6 feet. The by-law sets the ceiling, and it is not what HomeStars' guide says. HomeStars gives rear-yard fences up to 1.8 m and front-yard fences about 1.2 m without a permit. Section 5 of Fence By-law 2003-462 allows 1 metre in a front yard and 213 cm in any other yard on residential property, and a fence sold as 7 feet (213.36 cm) is just over that.
The posts decide how the fence looks after a few winters. Frozen Ottawa clay pushes up on a post and grips its sides, and HomeStars' own guide says repairs here often involve frost heave and leaning posts. Ask each company what posts it uses, how deep they go and how they are set, and ask for the quote itemized service by service, as HomeStars also advises.
Survey prices differ between the guides: RealCraft puts an Ontario Land Surveyor in Ottawa at $500 to $1,500, below HomeStars' $800 to $2,500. A survey matters most on a shared line, because the Line Fences Act does not decide where the boundary is.
Do you need a permit to put up a fence in Ottawa?
Not a building permit, unless the fence encloses a pool. The City of Ottawa's list of projects that do not need a building permit includes fences "not enclosing a pool". A fence around a pool, hot tub or pond that can hold water 600 mm deep or more needs a pool enclosure permit under By-law 2013-39, set at $257 in Schedule A as amended by By-law 2026-148, and the enclosure has to be at least 1.5 metres high.
So read a price guide's permit line carefully. HomeStars lists "permit or by-law requirements" at $100 to $500 depending on fence height and design, and Ottawa Contractors says a fence over 2 metres needs a building permit. For an ordinary fence in Ottawa there is no building permit to buy: the limits are 1 metre in front and 213 cm elsewhere, and the one fence fee is the $257 pool enclosure permit. Designated heritage buildings, and buildings in a Heritage District Overlay, are the exception. The City says they are not covered by the exemptions.
Our guide to deck and fence permits in Ottawa covers the rest.
Source: City of Ottawa, Projects not requiring Building Permits · City of Ottawa, Pool Enclosure By-law No. 2013-39 (PDF)
Can you split the cost of a fence with your neighbour?
Yes, if you agree, and the order you do it in matters. Section 3 of Ontario's Line Fences Act says an owner may build, maintain and keep up a fence marking the boundary with the land next door. Nothing in the Act makes the neighbour pay half automatically.
When neighbours cannot agree on building, rebuilding or repairing a boundary fence, section 4 lets either owner ask the municipal clerk for fence-viewers. Three of them meet, and under section 8 their award splits the work one of two ways: each owner builds and maintains a designated half, or one owner builds it and the other pays half the cost. The fence-viewers can depart from both if they find them unjust in the circumstances.
The process only helps before the fence goes up. The Ontario government's guidance to the Act, updated 2026-09-10, says it does not apply if one owner, on their own initiative, builds a new line fence and then tries to use it to make the neighbour pay part of the cost. An owner who builds first and sends the neighbour a bill afterward has no claim under the Act.
The City decides whether the process runs at an Ottawa address. The same guidance says a council may exempt all or part of its area by by-law and tells owners to ask their municipality. The only City of Ottawa document we found on it, a 3 June 2004 staff report on appointing fence-viewers, describes fence-viewing as a service the amalgamated City continued in its rural areas. Ask 3-1-1 before counting on it for a lot in the urban area.
The ministry says most owners reach agreement without a formal viewing, and the Act gives that route weight: under section 16, a written agreement in the prescribed form (Form 14 on the ministry's page) can be registered and enforced as if it were an award. As an illustration, 100 feet of 6-foot cedar privacy fence on a shared rear line, at Ottawa Contractors' $35 to $55 a foot, is $3,500 to $5,500, or $1,750 to $2,750 each split evenly.
Fence-viewers do not decide where the line is. The ministry says boundary disputes are for the owners to resolve, and an Ontario Land Surveyor is the one who marks the line on the ground.
Source: Government of Ontario, Line Fences Act guidance (updated 2026-09-10) · Line Fences Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.17 · City of Ottawa staff report ACS2004-EPS-BYL-0017, 3 June 2004 (Internet Archive copy)
How we price a fence
We do not publish a per-foot price, because the same material can land anywhere inside a published range depending on the height, the slope, the gates and what has to come out first. Every fence we build is drawn in 3D and AutoCAD, so the price you get is tied to the run, the height, the gates and the material you have already seen and approved.
Call us at (613) 902-6137 or book a visit, and we will measure the line and look at the ground before we give you a number.
Common questions
How much does it cost for 200 feet of fencing?
At HomeStars' Ottawa per-foot figures, 200 feet of installed fence costs about $6,000 to $12,000 in chain link, $7,000 to $13,000 in pressure-treated wood, $10,000 to $18,000 in vinyl and up to $20,000 in aluminium or wood composite. Gates, removal and winter work are extra. Those are HomeStars' figures worked out for 200 feet, not our quote.
How much should 100 feet of fence cost?
About $3,000 to $10,000 installed at HomeStars' Ottawa figures, depending on the material: $3,500 to $6,500 in pressure-treated wood and $5,000 to $9,000 in vinyl, for example. For a 6-foot privacy fence, Ottawa Contractors' figures give $2,500 to $4,000 in pressure-treated pine and $3,500 to $5,500 in cedar. Published ranges, not a quote.
How much should I expect to pay for fencing in Ottawa?
HomeStars puts an Ottawa fence project at $3,000 to $12,000 or more, averaging about $7,500, and Ottawa Contractors puts a 150-foot backyard at $3,750 to $10,500. Gates, removal of an old fence and a sloped yard add to that. These are published ranges, not our price.
Do you need a permit to put up a fence in Ottawa?
Not a building permit, unless the fence encloses a pool: the City lists fences not enclosing a pool among projects that need none. A pool enclosure needs a $257 pool enclosure permit. Every fence still has to meet Fence By-law 2003-462, which allows 1 metre in a front yard and 213 cm elsewhere, and heritage-designated properties are not covered by the exemption.
Does my neighbour have to pay half of a new fence?
Not automatically. Under the Line Fences Act, if neighbours cannot agree, either owner can ask the municipality for fence-viewers, whose award can split a boundary fence's cost in half. The process does not apply if one owner builds the fence alone and then asks for payment, so agree the split in writing first. For an Ottawa address, ask 3-1-1 whether fence-viewing is available.
How much does it cost to remove an old fence in Ottawa?
HomeStars puts demolition and disposal at $3 to $10 a linear foot, so $300 to $1,000 for 100 feet. Ottawa Contractors gives $3 to $8 a foot, plus $15 to $40 a post to pull out old concrete footings. Where the Line Fences Act applies, section 21 requires at least six months' notice to the neighbour before any part of a line fence comes down, with exceptions tied to its cost awards.
How much does a wood fence cost in Ottawa?
HomeStars prices pressure-treated wood at $35 to $65 a linear foot installed. For a 6-foot privacy fence, Ottawa Contractors gives $25 to $40 in pressure-treated pine and $35 to $55 in cedar, and RealCraft gives cedar at $50 to $100 with no height stated. Published ranges, not our quote.