What goes into the price of an entrance ramp in Gloucester?

Published guides from 2025 to 2026 put entrance ramp installation in the range of roughly $2,000 to $4,000 for a short modular ramp, with longer or custom ramps costing more.

What goes into that number

The rise the ramp has to cover sets its length: the Ontario Building Code limits an exterior ramp serving a house to a slope no steeper than 1 in 10, so a 450 mm rise needs at least 4.5 metres of ramp run.

Beyond length and rise, the items that show up in a quote include:

• Landings at the top and bottom, and wherever a door swings toward the ramp (the door must swing fully over the landing)
• Handrails, which the Code requires where the ramp rises more than 400 mm, and must be between 865 mm and 1 070 mm high
• A guard along any edge where the drop beside the ramp or landing is more than 600 mm
• Surface finish, which the Code requires to be wear-resistant, slip-resistant and free from open defects
• Patching or finishing work to the existing entrance after the ramp ties in

On permits, a ramp is not on the City of Ottawa's published list of projects that need a permit, nor on the list of projects that do not. The City's deck page notes that a deck at a main entrance needs a permit, so it is worth asking Building Code Services how a ramp and landing at your entrance will be treated before work starts. The permit fee for alterations is $12.75 per $1,000 of construction value, with a minimum of $117, based on the City's January 2026 fee schedule.

When you get quotes, ask each contractor to break out the cost of the ramp run, the landings, handrails, any guard, the surface finish and permits separately. That makes it straightforward to compare quotes line by line and to see what each one includes.

Before any work is authorized, ask each contractor who will ask the City about the permit and whether the fee is in the price.