We have no comment whatsoever on the desirability, durability or aesthetics of decks compared with patios; strict neutrality is our motto. We can, however, provide a detailed picture of how prices have changed over time to install these features in 15 select housing markets across Canada, thanks to our quarterly Residential Renovation Price Index. The bottom line is that prices to install a deck have grown at a faster pace than those for patios nationally, mostly due to higher lumber costs.
For the uninitiated in yard lexicon, a deck is built above the ground, usually of wood, while a patio is built in the ground, generally with paving stones.
What’s an index and why does 2023 equal 100?
We have created indexes on many topics over the years, including indexes on COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions and community remoteness to name a few. However, our most well-known indexes are price-related, with the Consumer Price Index being the most famous of them all. Every index, whether it be on restrictions, remoteness or prices, needs a “base measure, usually equalling 100” to track changes over time.
Given that the Residential Renovation Price Index was expanded to include four additional cities in 2023, the base year 2023 was established for the index.
The deck and patio indexes include the value of all materials, labour, equipment, overhead and profit required to construct each project. They exclude value-added taxes and any costs for project design.
Homeowners looking to replace an old deck may be in for a price shock, especially in Toronto
Among the 15-city composite index, Canadian homeowners living in Victoria and Regina have seen the largest price increases to install or replace a deck over the last two years.
In Victoria, the price to install a new deck rose 21.6% from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2025, while in Regina, prices have gone up 20.2%. Conversely, deck prices in London (-4.9%) and Ottawa–Gatineau (-0.7%) declined over the same period.
Homeowners looking to replace an old deck in Toronto may be in for a price shock, where prices have more than doubled (+152.8%) since the onset of the pandemic and have risen by 198.0% since the time series began in 2017.
In Vancouver, deck prices have risen by 64.4% since the onset of the pandemic and were 113.6% higher in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the first quarter of 2017.
Among Canada’s three largest cities, residents of Montréal have seen the smallest price increases for decks, with prices in the first quarter of 2025 being up 52.0% since the onset of the pandemic and 73.7% higher compared with the first quarter of 2017.
In Alberta, deck prices have grown at a much faster pace in Calgary (+14.1%) than in Edmonton (+2.6%) from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2025.
Wood prices account for much of the increase in deck prices
One reason behind higher deck prices today can be traced to substantial lumber price hikes in 2020 (+19.6%) and 2021 (+40.4%) due to strong demand for new housing and home renovations. Compared with 2019, lumber prices were 26.6% higher in 2024.
Wages have risen in four years
Another factor behind higher deck prices are higher wages. For example, deck installers, who are mostly hourly paid employees working as foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors, were making on average $36.36 per hour in 2024, almost four dollars more than four years earlier ($32.91 in 2020).
Patio prices in St. John’s and Moncton are unchanged from two years earlier
The cost of installing a patio has also risen since the onset of the pandemic, albeit at a significantly slower pace than the price of decks.
Homeowners in Montréal have seen the largest cost increases to install a patio, with prices rising by 16.9% from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2025. During the same period, patio prices have risen by 11.4% in Toronto and by 7.6% in Vancouver.
While the cost of installing a patio has been rising at the fastest pace in Montréal since 2023, patio installation prices have risen at a faster pace overall in Toronto.
For example, in Montréal, prices to install a patio have risen by 50.5% since the beginning of 2020 and were 62.6% higher in the first quarter of 2025 compared with early 2017.
In Toronto, prices to install a patio have risen by 78.1% since the beginning of 2020 and were 97.5% higher in the first quarter of 2025 compared with early 2017.
In contrast, prices to install a patio in St. John’s or Moncton were essentially unchanged in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the same quarter in 2023.
Prices for cement, a key component of making patio stones, are rising at a slower pace than lumber
Unlike lumber prices, which spiked in 2020 and 2021, cement prices, a key component of making patios, declined in 2020 and were little changed in 2021. Cement prices began trending upward in February 2023, rising by over one-fifth (+22.6%) by the end of December 2024.
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