How Much Do Sump Pumps and Backwater Valves Cost in Toronto in 2026?

This range rests on 7 independent named sources, across 14 priced lines. Every figure was re-read in August 2026 in the source that publishes it, and any figure whose source could no longer be read was removed rather than carried forward. Where two sources disagree, both rows are shown as their own sources published them; nothing is averaged and no range is widened to cover a gap.

Access, depth and scope move sump pump and backwater valve work pricing more than anything else in Toronto. Each factor below is one reason two quotes for what sounds like the same job can be thousands of dollars apart.

• Whether a sump pit already exists: cutting a new pit into a finished basement slab adds roughly $1,050 to $2,700 per Canada Waterproofers, and Tornado Plumbing's new-pit price is about $1,400 higher than its existing-pit price
• Finished versus unfinished basement: Tornado Plumbing's easiest backwater valve case (existing pit or unfinished slab) is $1,800 to $2,800 while the standard finished-basement retrofit is $2,800 to $4,200
• Access difficulty: a lateral running under a load-bearing wall, mechanical equipment in the way, or an unusually deep service pushes a backwater valve to $4,200 to $6,500 (Tornado Plumbing)
• Pump type: Canada Waterproofers prices a pedestal system at $600 to $900 installed and a submersible system at $900 to $1,500 installed
• Battery backup: adds $1,200 to $2,400 as a retrofit (Tornado Plumbing), or $400 to $1,500 installed as a component add-on (Ontario Plumbing Quotes)
• Permit and inspection on a backwater valve: $190 to $340 (Tornado Plumbing). Toronto requires a building permit and an inspection before the valve is covered up
• Electrical work: Ontario Plumbing Quotes puts a dedicated 15-amp circuit at $200 to $500 where the panel has no free slot, and Canada Waterproofers puts a new outlet at $150 to $400
• Optional extras: a high-water alarm runs $150 to $400 and a check valve upgrade $75 to $200 (Canada Waterproofers), while a smart Wi-Fi controller adds $200 to $400 and a sealed radon-rated basin lid adds $300 to $600 (Tornado Plumbing)
• Timing: emergency and same-day work adds $150 to $400, and after-hours or weekend work adds $200 to $400 (Canada Waterproofers)

Ontario adds 13% HST to every figure on this page, Toronto requires permits for most below-grade structural work, and both change what you actually pay. These are the local rules and subsidies that a national price guide leaves out.

• City of Toronto Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program, as published on the City's page (page last modified June 18, 2026): as of May 1, 2026 the City expanded the programme and is offering up to $6,650 in subsidies per property. The expanded amounts apply to eligible work completed on or after November 12, 2025.
• Current maximums per item, each paid at up to 80 per cent of the invoiced cost: home plumbing assessment up to $500 (one time); backwater valves up to $1,600 per device to a maximum of two devices; sump pump up to $2,250 for one device; battery backup for that sump pump an additional up to $300; foundation drain (weeping tile) pipe severance and capping up to $400. Eligible costs include labour, materials and taxes.
• For eligible work completed BEFORE November 12, 2025 the older maximums still apply: backwater valve up to $1,250 for one device only, sump pump up to $1,750 for one device, and severance and capping up to $400. Applications for that older work must be submitted within one year of installation, versus two years for work on or after November 12, 2025.
• Subsidy conditions the City lists: you must be the registered owner of a single-family, duplex, triplex or fourplex residential property in Toronto; the property must not have exceeded the lifetime maximum for each type of work; your downspouts must be disconnected from the City's sewer system or you must hold a City exemption; all front yard paved areas including parking pads must comply with the City's Zoning By-law; you must supply the original electronic invoices from every licensed contractor and sub-contractor; and you must have no outstanding taxes or debts owed to the City when the application is processed.
• The contractor matters. The City states that your contractor and any sub-contractors must hold a valid City of Toronto business licence at the time of the work, and that if they do not, funding will be denied. The City's own table shows a Plumbing Contractor (T94), Plumbing and Heating Contractor (T92) or Drain Contractor (T87) can perform all four types of eligible work, while a Building Renovator (T85) is listed only for sump pump work and pipe severance and capping. Verify the licence with the City's Business Licence Lookup or by calling 416-392-6700 before work starts.
• A backwater valve needs a City of Toronto building permit. The City instructs homeowners to obtain a building permit to install a backwater valve and to request an inspection once installation is complete, and not to enclose or cover the valve before the inspection is done. Contractors quote $190 to $340 for the permit plus inspection coordination (Tornado Plumbing). The permit fee itself is the City's own number, not a contractor's: the City of Toronto's building permit fee page states "Minimum fee of $214.79 (2026) shall be charged for all work."
• If you install a sump pump and a built-in or separate battery backup, the City requires your contractor to itemise the cost of each component separately on the invoice, otherwise the extra $300 battery backup subsidy cannot be applied. After installation you also need photos of the sump pump and of the discharge pipe at the exterior of the property for the application.
• The subsidy is not guaranteed. The City states that submitting an application does not guarantee a subsidy, that subsidies are issued on a first-come, first-serve basis, and that they are subject to annual funding approved by City Council. It can take up to 10 weeks to receive the subsidy.
• Downspout disconnection is explicitly NOT eligible for a subsidy under this programme, even though disconnected downspouts are a condition of receiving one.
• The City's guidance on discharge: make sure the sump pump empties onto a permeable surface such as a lawn, garden or gravel, at least two metres from the foundation wall.
• HST: Ontario charges 13% HST on plumbing and waterproofing work. Contractor price ranges are normally quoted before tax, so add 13% before you compare. The City counts taxes as an eligible cost inside the subsidy caps.
• Outside Toronto the GTA rebates differ and are published by each municipality. Markham's Private Plumbing Protection Rebate does reach $5,000, but only for one scope: disconnecting the weeping tile from the sanitary lateral AND installing a sump pump, together. A backwater valve on its own caps far lower, at $2,000 outdoor or $1,750 indoor on either lateral, and disconnecting the weeping tile to a gravity storm connection caps at $3,000. Relining or repairing a lateral caps at $2,500. Markham also sets deadlines the rebate depends on: the building permit must be obtained by April 30, 2027 and the application submitted by July 31, 2027. Figures read from the City of Markham's own rebate table on 2026-08-08. Ontario Plumbing Quotes cites Mississauga at up to $7,500 and Hamilton at up to $2,000 through its Residential Protective Plumbing Program. Confirm current amounts with your own municipality before booking.

Bundling work into one excavation, reusing what is already there, and getting the sequence right are what actually cut a sump pump and backwater valve work bill in the GTA. Each lever below is tied to a figure in the table above.

• Apply for the City of Toronto subsidy before you pay the balance, and read the rules first. It covers up to 80 per cent of the invoiced cost to a maximum of $2,250 for a sump pump, $300 more for a battery backup, and $1,600 per backwater valve for up to two valves, to a total of $6,650 per property.
• Check your contractor's City of Toronto business licence before work starts, using the Business Licence Lookup or 416-392-6700. The City says an unlicensed contractor means no funding at all, which is a bigger loss than any discount you were offered.
• Do not skip the building permit on a backwater valve. The City requires a permit and an inspection before the valve is covered up, and the permit plus inspection is only $190 to $340 (Tornado Plumbing) against a subsidy worth up to $1,600 per valve.
• Ask for the sump pump and the battery backup to be itemised separately on the invoice. The City requires that split to release the extra $300 battery backup subsidy.
• Bundle the work into one visit. MBM Plumbing publishes $3,500 to $7,000 for a combined sump pump and backwater valve installation, and you pay the mobilisation, concrete cutting and cleanup once rather than twice.
• Reuse the pit if you have one. A replacement in an existing pit runs $500 to $1,200 (MBM Plumbing) or $1,400 to $2,400 (Tornado Plumbing), against $2,800 to $4,500 for a new pit cut into a finished slab.
• Maintain instead of replacing. An annual inspection is $150 to $250 and a pump cleaning is $275 to $375 (Canada Waterproofers), while Ontario Plumbing Quotes puts a backwater valve flapper replacement at $200 to $500 versus $1,800 to $4,500 for a whole new valve installation.
• Avoid emergency call-outs by booking ahead. Canada Waterproofers adds $150 to $400 for emergency same-day service and $200 to $400 for after-hours or weekend work.
• Buying the pump yourself saves less than it looks. Canada Waterproofers charges $450 to $800 for labour only on a customer-supplied pump, and a DIY install does not qualify for the City's subsidy at all.
• Get at least two quotes. The City itself recommends a minimum of two quotes plus references before hiring, and published GTA ranges for the same job differ by thousands.

Every price on this page was re-read in the page that publishes it, and the sentence carrying it was recorded so the figure can be checked rather than trusted. Where two Canadian sources disagree, WaterproofingIndex shows both rather than averaging them into a number neither company quoted.

• Sump pump quotes in the GTA split hard on one question: does a pit already exist? Tornado Plumbing puts a primary pump in an existing pit at $1,400 to $2,400 and a new pit cut into a finished slab at $2,800 to $4,500. Canada Waterproofers prices the pit excavation itself as a $1,050 to $2,700 add-on. Ontario Plumbing Quotes puts pit excavation and concrete cutting at $500 to $1,500. Get the pit line itemised before you compare quotes.
• Sources conflict on the cheapest end of a straight pump swap. MBM Plumbing (Markham) publishes $500 to $1,200 for a replacement in an existing pit, while Tornado Plumbing (Toronto) publishes $1,400 to $2,400 for the same job description. Both are 2026 GTA figures. Treat the low end as a bare like-for-like swap and the high end as a swap that includes a new check valve, alarm and discharge work.
• Backwater valve pricing clusters between roughly $2,000 and $4,800 before subsidy across Toronto sources: Tornado Plumbing publishes $2,800 to $4,800 gross for a mainline valve and $2,800 to $4,200 for the typical finished-basement retrofit, Canada Waterproofers publishes $2,000 to $3,500+ interior and $2,700 to $4,500+ exterior, and Ontario Plumbing Quotes puts the Toronto and GTA average at $2,800 to $4,000 before rebates.
• One outlier source sits well below that cluster and was kept out of the price table. Toronto Plumbing Pros publishes $1,000 to $2,500 installed, and the same page still quotes the old $1,750 subsidy figure that no longer matches the City's published amounts, so its numbers were not used.
• Tornado Plumbing gives an easier-case backwater valve price too: $1,800 to $2,800 where there is an existing pit or an unfinished slab, rising to $4,200 to $6,500 for complex access such as a lateral running under a load-bearing wall.
• Permit fees for a backwater valve are quoted three ways by three sources, all in the same band: Tornado Plumbing lists $190 to $340 for permit plus inspection coordination, Canada Waterproofers lists $214.79 as its 2026 permit cost, and Ontario Plumbing Quotes cites approximately $215 in Toronto.
• Labour is the bulk of a retrofit invoice. Canada Waterproofers puts Toronto and GTA plumbing labour at $85 to $160 per hour, with emergency installs adding $150 to $400. Its concrete floor cutting and repair line is $300 to $800 on its own.
• Equipment-only prices are a fraction of an installed price and are not comparable to a quote. Princess Auto lists a Powerfist 1/3 HP thermoplastic submersible pump at $149.99 and a Bur-Cam submersible sump pump at $179.99. Ontario Plumbing Quotes puts a submersible pump unit at $200 to $600 and a pedestal unit at $100 to $300, versus $800 to $1,800 and $500 to $1,200 installed. Note that a DIY install does not qualify for the City of Toronto subsidy.
• Battery backup pricing is quoted two different ways and the two are easy to confuse. As a component, MBM Plumbing lists a battery backup pump at $300 to $800 and Ontario Plumbing Quotes lists $400 to $1,500 installed. As a full retrofitted system, Tornado Plumbing lists $1,200 to $2,400 and Canada Waterproofers lists $3,100 to $4,500 for a submersible backup system. Ask whether the quote covers the pump alone or the pump, battery, charger, second check valve and basin work.
• Bundled scopes cost less than separate visits. MBM Plumbing publishes $3,500 to $7,000 for a combined sump pump and backwater valve installation, which is also the scope the City of Toronto subsidy is built around.
• All contractor figures above exclude HST. Ontario charges 13% HST on plumbing and waterproofing labour and materials, so add it before comparing a quote to these ranges. HST is an eligible cost under the City of Toronto subsidy.
• US cost guides were excluded from this guide. Every figure here is CAD from a Canadian source, and every backwater valve figure is from a Toronto or GTA contractor, because Toronto permit, inspection and subsidy rules materially change the job.

Sources

• City of Markham - Basement flooding and sewer back-up prevention, Private Plumbing Protection Rebate table (read 2026-08-08)
• City of Toronto - Building Permit Fees ($214.79 minimum fee, 2026; read 2026-08-08)
• City of Toronto - Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program (page last modified June 18, 2026)
• Tornado Plumbing & Drains (Toronto) - Sump Pump Installation Cost in Toronto (2026)
• Tornado Plumbing & Drains (Toronto) - Backwater Valve Installation Cost in Toronto (2026)
• Canada Waterproofers - Sump Pump Installation Cost in Toronto
• Canada Waterproofers - Backwater Valve Installation Cost In Toronto & GTA
• MBM Plumbing (Markham) - Sump Pump Installation Cost in Ontario (2026)
• Ontario Plumbing Quotes - Sump Pump Installation Cost in Ontario: 2026 Pricing Guide
• Ontario Plumbing Quotes - Backwater Valve Cost in Ontario: 2026 Pricing and Rebate Guide
• Toronto Plumbing Pros - Backwater Valve Installation Toronto (cited only as a conflicting outlier; its subsidy figure is out of date)
• Princess Auto - Powerfist 1/3 HP Thermoplastic Sump Pump (equipment only)
• Princess Auto - Bur-Cam Submersible Sump Pump (equipment only)

WaterproofingIndex tracks 160 sump pump and backwater valve installers across the Greater Toronto Area, rated 4.9★ on average. The three below rank highest on our review-weighted score, based on WaterproofingIndex's analysis of 160 GTA businesses, August 2026.

• 1

  Everest Drain & Plumbing Toronto

  4.8(309 Google reviews)

  90/100 WaterproofingIndex Score

  0.9 km from Leaside centre

  LeasideSump Pumps & Backwater Valves

  • Says it is licensed
  • Says it is insured

  Its own website describes below-grade water work

  Request a quote
• 2

  Everest Drain & Plumbing: Scarborough's Local Plumber

  5.0(33 Google reviews)

  87/100 WaterproofingIndex Score

  3.7 km from Scarborough Town Centre centre

  Scarborough Town CentreSump Pumps & Backwater Valves

  • Says it is licensed
  • Says it is insured

  Its own website describes below-grade water work

  Request a quote
• 3

  Strong Plumbing Inc

  5.0(176 Google reviews)

  87/100 WaterproofingIndex Score

  0.3 km from Financial District centre

  Financial DistrictSump Pumps & Backwater Valves

  • Says it is licensed
  • Says it is insured

  Its own website describes below-grade water work

  Request a quote

Every picture below was published by the company under it, on its own business listing, and WaterproofingIndex did not take any of them. Each of these companies describes below-grade water work on its own website, which is the same relevance check every profile on this site publishes. They are still not all the same kind of picture: some show a floor opened up mid-job, some show a truck or an office with the company's sign on it. None has been checked against a job in your area, and none is evidence of a price. They are here because a company that publishes its own excavation is showing you something a quote cannot.

The table above is the market. These calculators put your own basement into it, and they add the HST and any City of Toronto subsidy that applies.

• Price the pump, with the City subsidy taken off
• Price the valve, with the City subsidy taken off
• Work out what size pump the pit actually needs

These are the words that appear on a sump pump and backwater valve work quote without being explained. Each one changes what you are buying.

sump pit

A lined basin cut into the basement floor at the low point of the drainage system. Water collected by the weeping tile runs into it and a sump pump ejects it away from the house.

backwater valve

A one-way valve fitted into the sanitary or storm lateral so that a surcharged city sewer cannot push sewage back up into the basement. It closes under reverse flow and opens again once the main clears.

weeping tile

The perforated drain pipe laid in stone alongside a foundation footing. It has nothing to do with tile: the name is from the clay pipe sections originally used. It collects groundwater before it reaches the wall and carries it to a storm connection or a sump pit.

encapsulation

Sealing a crawl space with a reinforced liner across the floor and up the walls, with the vents closed, so the space is inside the building envelope rather than open to ground moisture.

Most of the money on a sump pump and backwater valve work quote is decided before any number is written down, by which of two methods the company is proposing. These side by side pages are built from the same price rows as the table above.

• Sump pump vs backwater valveSump Pump vs Backwater Valve: Which Does Your Toronto Basement Need?

Below-grade jobs overlap, and the wrong guide gives you the wrong budget. These three are the ones most often quoted alongside sump pump and backwater valve work.

• Weeping Tile & Drainage costs in TorontoExterior weeping tile replacement runs $200 to $450 per linear foot; interior drainage runs $70 to $150.
• Basement Waterproofing costs in TorontoInterior drainage runs $50 to $180 per linear foot; exterior excavation and membrane runs $150 to $475.
• Crawl Space Waterproofing costs in TorontoCrawl space encapsulation runs $7 to $10 per square foot, or $4,000 to $8,000 for a basic system.