Basement Renovation Cambridge, Free Visit and Fixed Price

What it actually costs

What a basement costs in Cambridge

These are the prices other companies publish, not ours. We show you where each one comes from so you can judge it yourself.

Scope	Published range	What that range rests on
Basic finish, no bathroom, about 700 sq ft	$24,500 to $91,000	Contractor estimates spanning $35 to $130 per sq ft
Adding a three piece bathroom	Add $15,000 to $35,000	Contractor estimates, a spread of nearly six times
Legal second unit, permits included	$50,000 to $180,000	Contractor claims. Building permit records for basement suites declare a median nearer $25,000
Lowering the floor or underpinning	$30,000 to $100,000	17 permit records for underpinning with finishing, median $60,000

Pulled from published Ontario contractor prices and municipal permit records on 1 August 2026. We show you the full spread instead of picking an average, because the sources really do disagree by up to four times, and two of the bigger ones turned out to be publishing the same numbers as each other. Your price comes from a free visit, fixed, with HST already in it.

Before you start

What you need to know

The city pays up to $10,000 toward a basement apartment

Cambridge runs a grant for adding a unit to an existing home. It covers upgrading your water and sewer connections, the permit drawings, and the labour and materials. It is one payment per property and there is no closing date published, but it comes out of a fixed pot, so it goes while it lasts.

You pay no development charges on a basement unit

Neither the city nor the region charges them for adding a unit inside an existing home. School boards can in some cases. On a new build these charges run to tens of thousands, so this is the largest saving on the page even though nobody advertises it.

Up to $25,000 in forgivable loans for repairs

The region runs a separate program for foundations, plumbing, electrical, heating, mould and accessibility work. It is income tested and there is a cap on what your home can be worth. Applications have to be in before the first of December to get the money that year.

We will not guess your permit fee, and neither should anyone else

Cambridge moved its website and the current permit fee schedule is not published anywhere we can reach. Rather than put a made up number on this page, we phone the building department and get the real one before you commit. If another company quotes you a Cambridge permit fee off the top of their head, ask them where it came from.

Heritage rules here are about the outside of your house

Cambridge has three heritage districts, at Blair Village, Dickson Hill and Main Street in old Galt. If you are in one, the rules are aimed at what the street sees. We confirm it with the city before we quote rather than assuming, because that is exactly the kind of assumption that costs money later.

The ceiling rule is 6 feet 5 inches, not 7

For a rental unit in a house that is already built, that is the height you need across the floor area. Cambridge was built out of four older communities and a lot of its housing is genuinely old, so low basements are common here. Plenty of them still pass. Measure before you give up.

Simple by design

How it works

Book a visit

Give us the address and a time that works for you. No sales pitch and no waiting on a callback.

We come and look

Ceiling height, damp, wiring, where the drain sits, and what the rules allow for what you actually want. About 45 minutes.

You get one price

Written down, HST included. If there is anything we cannot price without opening a wall, we say so next to the number instead of hiding it.

FAQ

Cambridge basement questions, answered

How much does it cost to finish a basement in Cambridge?

Published prices run from $35 to $130 a square foot, so between $24,500 and $91,000 on a 700 square foot basement. That spread is too wide to be any use to you, and we would rather say so than pick a number out of the middle of it. We measure, then give you one fixed price.

What does a building permit cost in Cambridge?

We do not publish a figure for this because we could not get the current schedule from the city, and we are not going to invent one. We confirm it with the building department before you commit to anything. What we can tell you is that Cambridge charges $100 for a re inspection.

Can I rent out a basement apartment in Cambridge?

Yes. You can have up to two extra units on a lot with a house, semi or townhouse, so three in total. The unit has to meet the zoning rules for setbacks, parking and where the entrance goes, and occupancy has to be signed off by the building department.

Is there any money to help pay for it?

Two programs. The city pays up to ten thousand dollars toward adding a unit, and the region runs forgivable loans up to twenty five thousand for repairs like foundations, plumbing and mould. The second one is income tested and closes for the year on the first of December.

Do I need conservation authority approval?

Maybe. Cambridge sits where the Grand and the Speed meet and Galt is diked. The Grand River authority regulates work in the flood plain, and converting a basement into a second unit can count as development even when nothing outside the house changes. Their own note is that the rules apply whether or not your property appears on their map.

My ceiling is low. Is the basement a write off?

Often not. For a rental unit in an existing house the height you need is 6 feet 5 inches, not the 7 feet people usually quote. Cambridge has a lot of pre war housing where this comes up. If you are genuinely under it, lowering the floor is possible but it is a much bigger job and we will say so.

Do you give a fixed price or an estimate?

A fixed price. One free visit, one number, HST included. If we misjudge something that is our cost, not yours.

Basement Finishing in Cambridge
One visit. One fixed price.