Average Home Insulation Cost: $2,500 to $5,000
The average cost to insulate a home in Canada can range from $2,500 to $5,000, with costs varying by region and the type of insulation used. Some projects can go up to $10,000 for larger homes.
While costs can range widely, most homeowners in Canada spend between $2,000 and $10,000 to insulate parts of their home. A full insulation job for a medium-sized detached home can easily reach $15,000 or more, especially if you’re using high-end materials like spray foam.
Home insulation is the most superior home update you can do, not just to save energy and increase comfort but also to improve the value of your home, since in Canada the winters are really cold and heating expenses are huge. Insulation is not only an economically viable choice, but it is also a practical decision to make, whether you are constructing a new house or just upgrading an older one.
Just how much can home insulation cost in Canada? That is the big question on the minds of the homeowner who is considering renovating or upgrading their home. We have written this guide to show you the total cost of insulating your home in 2025, the materials, the labour, and the regional costs, as well as the rebates that may be available. It does not matter whether you are insulating your crawl space, walls, basement, or even the attic; you get all the information you need to budget correctly in this guide.
The climate situation in Canada requires improved insulation compared to the majority of other places in the world. Whether it is the long, snowy winters of Alberta or misting up the seashores with British Columbia, the homeowners are threatened with rigorous seasonal energy requirements. In a household, heating usually constitutes over 50% of the energy used.
Failure to insulate your home results in leakage of heat inside your home during winter months and heat absorption during the summer, which places an excessive burden on your heating and air conditioning system. A well-insulated house will reduce the rate at which heat is conducted, thus making your house warmer in winter and cooler during summer. This leads to a decrease in the energy bills, a cleaner environment, and comfort.
Besides regulating temperature, insulation decreases the noise, regulates moisture, enhances the quality of air, and even makes the wall resistant to fire. It also creates long-term value to your property. In case you intend to sell, an insulated house will fetch a better price from those buyers who are interested in energy-saving features.
Insulation prices do not belong in the same box. Much depends on the price that you will pay for home insulation undertakings. Having an awareness of these variables will enable you to make better cost estimations.
Kind of Insulation Material
The material selected contributes a lot to the overall expenditure. Fibreglass batts are cheap and simple to apply. Others, such as spray foam, are costlier and have better thermal efficiency and air tightness.
Space being Insulated
The prices will also differ according to the location where the insulation is to be installed. Different requirements occur in attics, basements, walls, crawl spaces, and garages. The cost of retrofitting walls in an older home will be more costly compared to insulating the attic of a new one.
The Scale and Plan of Your Home
It is a given fact that the larger the home area is, the higher the insulation cost will be. The elaborate architectural details, such as cathedral ceilings, bay windows, or more than one level, will raise the labour cost and the quantity of materials required.
Labour Prices and Availability
It comes with the cost of professional installation, and labour rates differ per province and even per city. The hard-to-access places, such as a finely finished basement or a small crawl space, take even more time and effort and conclude the final bill.
The Age and Condition of the Home
Older houses might require higher preparations prior to the installation of insulation. This may involve the withdrawal of old materials, air sealing of gaps and cracks, or the installation of vapour barriers to exclude moisture problems.
Smaller projects, such as attic insulation upgrades or garage wall insulation, may be completed for as little as $1,500. On the other hand, insulating an entire home with spray foam or doing extensive work in a finished basement can significantly exceed $10,000. So let us split this up by area and by type of material.
The most affordable and even the simplest location to begin with is normally the attic. Also, heat in the majority of homes is lost here the most, as hot air rises. Insufficient insulation of your attic will manifest itself in your heating bills.
Insulating an attic in Canada typically costs between $1,500 and $4,000, depending on the material and accessibility. The most common and cheap one is the blown-in cellulose or fibreglass. The spray foam may be twice as expensive, but its R-values and air tightness are better.
It might be possible to put new material over the old stuff in your attic (if you already have some) as long as it is not too standard. But in the case of the insulators being wet, mouldy, or infested by rodents, existing insulation would have to be removed before renovation, and this would cost more.
In a full structure, walls are harder to insulate and cost more to do so. During new construction, it is simple to incorporate fibreglass batts or spray-foam the studs, before the application of drywall. The process is commonly carried out in older houses, which entails drilling small holes in outer walls and stuffing them with loose-fill insulation.
You can expect to pay anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 to insulate exterior walls, depending on your home’s size and the material used. Spray foam is one of the best ways to seal air leaks and raise R-values, and it is the most costly as well. Blow-in cellulose is quite economically priced with a reasonable degree of performance.
The walls on the inside can also be insulated in order to soundproof them, but it is more likely to happen during renovations when the walls are already open. Otherwise, more insulation can be added when there is a need to open your walls, e.g., for rewiring or plumbing upgrades.
Canadian basements are cold, humid, and predisposed to heat loss. Basement walls without insulation will add to the total inefficiency of your house. A clever thing to do is to insulate your basement, regardless of whether it is completed or not.
The cost of insulating basement walls usually falls between $2,000 and $6,000, depending on the size and complexity. Basements have a high moisture problem, which is why spray foam or rigid foam boards are better. These are not moisture permeable; they offer good R-values.
When your basement is already finished, you will be paying extra because of having to remove and reinstall drywall, floors, or trims. Insulation may also be applied on the outer surface of the foundation in other situations, but these are generally applied at the time of a major renovation or new construction.
Most of the houses in Canada have poorly insulated or uninsulated crawl spaces. These enclosed quarters, which are small, may cause heat dissipation, water intrusions, and poor indoor air quality.
In crawl space insulation, it is basic to seal off the outside air, insulate the walls or the floor above, and manage moisture. In this case, spray foam is usually applied, due to its superior ability to seal air.
Costs for crawl space insulation typically range from $1,500 to $4,000, depending on the size and difficulty of access. Other costs can be the cost of moisture barriers or flood pumps in case the area is very wet.
It is not a requirement to insulate your garage, but it will be worthwhile to do this in case your garage is attached to your home or is meant to be a workspace. Garages with low temperatures can incorporate the low temperature in the nearby rooms, hence they are more difficult to heat.
Typical insulation projects on a garage include insulating the garage doors, the ceiling, and the garage walls. The most usual one is fibreglass batts, but spray foam can be selected in case of better performance.
Costs range from $1,000 to $3,500, depending on the size and how thorough you want the job to be. A good bang-for-the-buck can be to insulate only the garage door, or to add insulation to it.
| Home Area | Recommended Insulation Type(s) | Estimated Cost Range |
|---|---|---|
| Attic | Blown-In, Fibreglass Batt, Spray Foam | $1,000 – $3,000+ |
| Exterior Walls | Spray Foam, Fibreglass Batt, Blown-In | $2,000 – $6,000+ |
| Basement Walls | Rigid Foam Board, Spray Foam | $1,500 – $4,000+ |
| Crawl Space | Spray Foam, Rigid Foam, Batt | $1,000 – $3,000 |
| Garage | Batt, Spray Foam | $800 – $2,500 |
| Ceiling Between Floors | Batt, Blown-In | $1,000 – $2,500 |
| Roof Deck (cathedral ceilings) | Spray Foam | $3,000 – $7,000+ |
The selection of an appropriate home insulation material has an impact on cost and performance. Let us take a glance at the principal types that are utilized in the houses of Canada:
| Insulation Type | Cost per Sq. Ft. | Average Cost for 1,000 Sq. Ft. |
|---|---|---|
| Fibreglass Batt | $0.75 – $1.50 | $750 – $1,500 |
| Spray Foam | $3.00 – $7.00 | $3,000 – $7,000 |
| Blown-In (Cellulose) | $1.00 – $2.50 | $1,000 – $2,500 |
| Rigid Foam Board | $2.50 – $5.00 | $2,500 – $5,000 |
| Mineral Wool (Rockwool) | $1.50 – $3.00 | $1,500 – $3,000 |
| Radiant Barrier | $0.50 – $1.50 | $500 – $1,500 |
Self-insulation will be cheaper in terms of labour, but it is risky. Experienced DIYers can install fibreglass batts or blow not only in loose-fill insulation but also in attics. Nevertheless, during installation, care is needed to achieve efficient performance, avoid air leaks, or the problems of moisture problems.
In particular, spray foam must not be installed by a novice installer. It needs thorough mixing, use of technical methods, and protective materials. This improper fitting may be potentially dangerous to health and extremely expensive to repair.
Professional installation means that you get a professional job done, satisfying the local building codes. A good number of government rebates only come with you using a certified contractor as well. Although the use of professional labour increases your expense, it provides a higher long-term benefit to your investment and, in some cases, doubles it.
Insulation makes your house a worthy investment with regard to comfort, money-saving, and the value of the property. Although the expense could vary between a few thousand dollars and more than fifteen thousand dollars, depending on the scale, the long-term advantages are much more than the initial expenditure.
In 2025, when energy will continue to be expensive and Canadian winters are not likely to get mellower, now is a good moment to install home insulation that will keep your home warm, quiet, and efficient over the years.
Costs of various services and materials in this cost guide should be taken as estimates. These depend on location, preference and demands in the market.