Frequently Asked Questions

Fences are priced per linear foot installed. In published Ontario installer pricing for 2025–26: pressure-treated wood about $30 to $65, cedar about $45 to $85, vinyl about $45 to $90, coated chain link roughly $15 to $50, and composite about $55 to $95 or more. Ornamental aluminum varies too widely to quote. These are published figures, not rates, so get at least two written quotes for the same height and style.

Two Ontario installer price pages put a 100-foot, 6-foot wood privacy fence at roughly $3,000 to $7,500 in total. Treat that as an example: gates, removal of an old fence, the ground and the post method all change the number.

Not in the per-foot figures we read. In published Ontario installer pricing for 2025–26, a walk gate is about $500 to $1,500 and a driveway gate about $800 to $2,200, and removing an old fence is roughly $5 to $15 per linear foot. Ask for each as its own line on the quote.

Under the City's Fence By-law (No. 2003-462, as published on ottawa.ca), a residential fence may be up to 1 m in the front yard and 213 cm in any other yard. In side and rear yards, gates may be up to 30 cm taller, entrance archways may reach 250 cm, and decorative caps on structural posts may add 15 cm. Height is measured from the grade at the base of the fence, or from the higher side where the ground differs.

The Fence By-law caps any fence at 75 cm inside two triangles: on a corner lot, 3 m along each lot line from the corner, and on every lot, 2 m along the lot line and the driveway where they meet at the street. Ottawa's zoning by-laws add a 6 m triangle on residential corner lots where solid obstructions are limited to 0.75 m, and a see-through fence such as chain link is not counted as an obstruction there. On a corner lot, confirm the layout with the City.

On residential property the Fence By-law bans barbed wire, chicken wire, other barbed or sharp material, and any device that carries an electric current. Chain link must be vinyl or powder coated. The finished side of the fence has to face the street and the neighbouring properties.

No, unless the fence encloses a pool. The City's list of projects that do not need a building permit includes fences that do not enclose a pool. Pool enclosures follow the Pool Enclosure By-law and need their own permit; ottawapoolinstallation.ca covers them. The fence still has to meet the Fence By-law, and in a heritage district, check with the City's heritage planners first.

Yes. Ontario's locate law applies to anyone who digs, and Ontario Dig Authority (formerly Ontario One Call) says locates are required for any project that breaks ground, no matter the size or depth. Locate requests are free, and the utilities have five business days to respond. On a hired job the contractor digs; on a do-it-yourself job you do.

The City's geoOttawa map shows approximate property lines and the road allowance, which can be wider than it looks. For the exact line, only an Ontario Land Surveyor can survey the boundary. No fence may stand on City property, including the road allowance.

Ontario's Line Fences Act lets an owner ask the municipality's fence-viewers to decide how the work on a boundary fence is shared. Their default award is that each owner builds half, or one builds and the other pays half the cost, unless that would be unjust. The process does not apply to a fence one owner has already built on their own and then wants the other to pay for. Talk to your neighbour first.

Yes. Ottawa's Delegation of Authority By-law lets City staff appoint fence-viewers to carry out the Line Fences Act. Ask the City whether the process applies to your property and what it costs; we do not publish a fee because we could not confirm the current one.

No. The municipal guide to the Line Fences Act says a municipality cannot decide the boundary between two properties; that is a civil matter for the owners. An Ontario Land Surveyor is the person who can survey the line.

No. The City's hardscaping contractor licence specifically does not apply to installing fences, and we found no Ontario licence or trade certificate for fence installers. If the same company pours a concrete pad or builds a retaining wall, that part is hardscaping, and the City licenses it separately.

An agreement made somewhere other than the contractor's place of business, such as your home, is a direct agreement under Ontario's Consumer Protection Act: over $50 it must be in writing, and you can cancel within 10 days of receiving your written copy. Where a contract includes an estimate, the final price cannot exceed it by more than 10 per cent. Ask for the height, material, post method, gates, removal and clean-up in writing.

WSIB's exempt home renovation work includes structures such as fences at a home the owner lives in, so a homeowner hiring a contractor directly for their own home is not required to get a clearance. You may still ask for one. Rental and commercial properties are not covered by that exemption.

Ottawa's Fence By-law says fences must be protected by paint, preservatives or other weather-resistant material, except wooden fences made of cedar, redwood or treated wood. Every fence still has to be kept in good repair, stable and vertical.

No Building Code or by-law number exists for fence posts; the Building Code says frost depth is set by local experience. Installers commonly set posts below frost; ask yours how deep the quote assumes and how the holes are set.

A fence lawfully built under an older municipality's by-law before 2004 may stay in use and be maintained. Because the by-law's meaning of erecting includes altering, ask By-law Services before you rebuild or change it.