How much does a french drain cost in Toronto?

It depends almost entirely on depth. A shallow yard drain two to three feet down is $55 to $95 per linear foot according to OCM Excavation, and $24 to $40 per foot according to The Sprinkler Company. A foundation drain at seven feet is $135 to $210 per foot, and AquaMaster Plumbing puts exterior weeping tile at $200 to $450. At an underpinned wall, nine to ten feet down, it is $185 to $285. Same pipe, same stone, four times the price, because the money is in the hole rather than the drain.

Is a french drain the same thing as weeping tile?

Practically, yes: both are perforated pipe laid in clear stone and wrapped in filter cloth to collect water. The words differ by where the pipe sits. Weeping tile usually means the pipe at the footing of a foundation. A french drain usually means one out in the yard, catching surface water or intercepting a slope. A contractor pricing weeping tile is pricing a much deeper trench than one pricing a french drain, which is why quotes for the two sound so different.

Why does one quote include the lawn and another does not?

Because restoration is a separate line and it is real money. OCM Excavation puts reinstating sod, interlock, gardens and irrigation lines at $40 to $95 per linear foot on top of the drainage work. On a 130-foot perimeter that is $5,200 to $12,350 of turf and stone. If one quote is thousands cheaper than another, check whether it puts the yard back.

Does it cost more if my back yard has a narrow gate?

Yes, and it is one of the few access costs anyone publishes as a number. OCM Excavation says that if a mini-excavator can get into the back yard, $20 to $30 per linear foot comes off the price, and that if everything has to be done by hand because the gate is 32 inches wide, the labour doubles. Measuring the gap between your house and the fence is a two-minute job worth thousands on a long run.

Where is a french drain allowed to discharge in Toronto?

Somewhere that is not the sanitary sewer. Running to daylight is free where the lot falls away. A sump pit and pump connection is $1,400 to $2,800 and is the usual answer on a flat lot. A storm sewer connection is $1,800 to $4,500, and a full municipal connection in Toronto is $2,500 to $6,500 with the permit, per OCM Excavation. Where the water goes is often a bigger decision than how long the trench is.

Is an interior system cheaper than digging outside?

Usually, and it is why so many Toronto basements have one. AquaMaster Plumbing puts interior weeping tile at $30 to $230 per linear foot and a complete interior system at $3,000 to $10,000, against $10,000 to $20,000 for a complete exterior system. Nothing in the yard is touched, which removes the restoration line entirely. The trade-off is that an interior drain manages water that has already reached the wall rather than keeping it away from the wall.

What does a french drain or weeping tile job cost?

Last updated: August 26, 2026By Below-Grade Records Desk

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The pipe is the cheap part. What you are paying for is the trench, and the trench is priced by how deep it goes: $24 to $95 a foot across a lawn, $135 to $210 a foot at the footing of a house, $185 to $285 below an underpinned wall. Then there is where the water goes, and whether anyone puts the garden back. Set all three below.

Method

How is this estimate built?

WaterproofingIndex read seven Ontario drainage and waterproofing price lists in August 2026. The depth ladder is OCM Excavation's, because it is the only Toronto source that publishes the whole range from a two-foot lawn drain to a ten-foot underpinned wall in one place, and a ladder assembled from six companies that each price one rung would be a ladder nobody actually published. Other companies' flat rates are widened in at the tiers their own text describes.

Discharge and restoration are added as published figures, not as percentages. The calculator multiplies, adds and applies 13 per cent HST, and nothing else happens to the numbers.

Excess soil is deliberately not costed. Ontario Regulation 406/19 requires soil characterisation on most large jobs and GTA tipping fees run $90 to $165 a tonne, but converting a trench into tonnes needs the soil and the depth in front of you. Publishing a guess there would be exactly the invented number this site refuses to print.

Ranking

What decides the number on a real quote?

Depth, first and last. Two feet to ten feet moves the rate roughly fivefold on OCM Excavation's own ladder. Everything else is a rounding error next to it.
The side gate. Machine access saves $20 to $30 a foot. Hand-digging doubles labour. Measure it.
Whether the water has anywhere to go. A lot that falls away is free. A flat lot needs a pump. A municipal connection needs a permit and $2,500 to $6,500.
What is on top. Interlock, mature planting and irrigation are $40 to $95 a foot to reinstate. Bare lawn is not.
Whether the drain is the actual problem. A downspout emptying at the wall, or ground sloping back toward the house, will overwhelm a new drain as thoroughly as it overwhelmed the old one.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a french drain cost in Toronto?: It depends almost entirely on depth. A shallow yard drain two to three feet down is $55 to $95 per linear foot according to OCM Excavation, and $24 to $40 per foot according to The Sprinkler Company. A foundation drain at seven feet is $135 to $210 per foot, and AquaMaster Plumbing puts exterior weeping tile at $200 to $450. At an underpinned wall, nine to ten feet down, it is $185 to $285. Same pipe, same stone, four times the price, because the money is in the hole rather than the drain.
Is a french drain the same thing as weeping tile?: Practically, yes: both are perforated pipe laid in clear stone and wrapped in filter cloth to collect water. The words differ by where the pipe sits. Weeping tile usually means the pipe at the footing of a foundation. A french drain usually means one out in the yard, catching surface water or intercepting a slope. A contractor pricing weeping tile is pricing a much deeper trench than one pricing a french drain, which is why quotes for the two sound so different.
Why does one quote include the lawn and another does not?: Because restoration is a separate line and it is real money. OCM Excavation puts reinstating sod, interlock, gardens and irrigation lines at $40 to $95 per linear foot on top of the drainage work. On a 130-foot perimeter that is $5,200 to $12,350 of turf and stone. If one quote is thousands cheaper than another, check whether it puts the yard back.
Does it cost more if my back yard has a narrow gate?: Yes, and it is one of the few access costs anyone publishes as a number. OCM Excavation says that if a mini-excavator can get into the back yard, $20 to $30 per linear foot comes off the price, and that if everything has to be done by hand because the gate is 32 inches wide, the labour doubles. Measuring the gap between your house and the fence is a two-minute job worth thousands on a long run.
Where is a french drain allowed to discharge in Toronto?: Somewhere that is not the sanitary sewer. Running to daylight is free where the lot falls away. A sump pit and pump connection is $1,400 to $2,800 and is the usual answer on a flat lot. A storm sewer connection is $1,800 to $4,500, and a full municipal connection in Toronto is $2,500 to $6,500 with the permit, per OCM Excavation. Where the water goes is often a bigger decision than how long the trench is.
Is an interior system cheaper than digging outside?: Usually, and it is why so many Toronto basements have one. AquaMaster Plumbing puts interior weeping tile at $30 to $230 per linear foot and a complete interior system at $3,000 to $10,000, against $10,000 to $20,000 for a complete exterior system. Nothing in the yard is touched, which removes the restoration line entirely. The trade-off is that an interior drain manages water that has already reached the wall rather than keeping it away from the wall.

Sources

Where these numbers came from

Seven Ontario drainage and waterproofing price lists, each read on its own page in August 2026 and stored with the sentence carrying the figure. Canadian dollars, before HST.

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