The renovation rights Ontario law already gives you

1. A written contract is the law, not a favour

For consumer agreements over $50, Ontario law requires a written contract. The operative statute is still the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (the 2023 Act received Royal Assent but has never been proclaimed into force). A renovation contract signed in your home is a direct agreement, which must be in writing and delivered to you under s. 42(1), with the $50 threshold set by O. Reg. 17/05. For a renovation that contract should include the contractor's legal name and address, a detailed description of the work and materials, warranty terms, the total price and payment schedule, start and completion dates, cleanup responsibility, and who pays the subcontractors. If those terms aren't clearly disclosed, the agreement may be challengeable.

A handshake deal doesn't just leave you unprotected; it likely violates the Act. When a contractor says "we don't need all that paperwork," what they mean is "you don't get any of those protections."

2. The 10% estimate rule

When an estimate is part of your contract, the final price cannot exceed the estimate by more than 10% (s. 10(1)) unless you agreed in writing to extra work or a new price. The post-demolition "we found problems, it's double now" move fails against a written estimate and this rule. This is why we treat written change orders as non-negotiable: they're the mechanism the law itself expects.

3. Deposits: the province says about 10%

Ontario's official guidance recommends a down payment of no more than about 10% of the contract value, warns against paying large amounts up front, and recommends progress payments that track completed work. There's no hard statutory cap, which is exactly why scammers push 40 and 50% deposits. The protection isn't a law that gets your money back; it's not having overpaid in the first place.

"A contractor who needs half your money before he starts isn't financing your job, he's financing his last one. My deposits cover materials, and my invoices track what's standing in your house. If the paperwork can't explain the payment, don't make it."

Mitch Fraser, owner, Ontario Contracting Co.

Deposit discipline is also the best defence against the most common failure in this trade: a contractor who abandons the job once he is holding more of your money than the remaining work is worth.

4. The 10-day cooling-off period

Most renovation contracts signed in your home are "direct agreements" under the CPA. That gives you a 10-calendar-day cooling-off period under s. 43(1): cancel for any reason within 10 days of receiving your written copy. Refunds are generally due within 15 days. Beyond the window, you can still cancel up to one year if the contractor made false, misleading or deceptive representations, and work that doesn't start within 30 days of the promised date can also trigger cancellation rights.

5. Liens and the 10% holdback: the double-payment trap

Here's the risk almost no homeowner knows: under the Construction Act, subcontractors and suppliers who go unpaid can register a lien against your home, even if you paid your general contractor in full. If the GC pockets your money without paying the subs, the subs can still come after your title.

Your defence is the statutory holdback: hold back 10% of the value of the work as it's done, and release it only after the 60-day lien preservation period expires with no liens registered. Before releasing it, you can ask for a statutory declaration that all subs and suppliers have been paid. We volunteer that declaration on every job, because the holdback protects you and an honest contractor has nothing to hide behind it.

6. The Tarion gap

Tarion and the HCRA protect new-home buyers. Renovations, additions and repairs to an existing home are generally outside that system entirely: no government warranty backstop exists for your reno. Your protection is your contract, your permits, the contractor's insurance and WSIB, and the holdback. Any contractor who implies your renovation carries Tarion coverage is misleading you, and that misrepresentation is itself grounds for extended cancellation under the CPA.

If it has already gone wrong, the ladder of remedies (including a Small Claims limit that rose to $50,000 in October 2025) is set out in what to do when a renovation goes wrong.

In this hub

• Financing a renovation: options ranked, traps flagged
• What renovating does to your home insurance
• When a renovation goes wrong: your recourse in Ontario
• Ontario renovation contracts: everything the CPA requires, clause by clause
• How much deposit should a contractor ask for in Ontario?
• Construction liens and holdback: the homeowner's field guide
• Tarion and HCRA don't cover your reno: what protects you instead
• Change orders: how honest contractors price mid-job changes