What appliance repair costs in Canada

The diagnostic fee, and the question to ask about it

A technician charges to come out and find the fault. That is fair — the drive, the time and the expertise are real whether or not you go ahead. What varies, and what you should ask before booking, is whether the fee is credited against the repair if you approve it. Many companies credit it in full. Some credit part. Some do not credit it at all, and you should know which before the van is dispatched, not after.

Ask two more things on the same call: whether the fee covers one appliance or the visit, and whether there is an evening, weekend or emergency premium.

Parts are the schedule, and sometimes the whole answer

Once the fault is known, the price is the part plus the labour to fit it. Control boards are expensive and often the diagnosis on a modern machine. Pumps, belts, igniters, door seals and thermostats are cheap. The variable nobody controls is availability: a part in a Canadian warehouse arrives in days, a part coming from the manufacturer overseas can take weeks, and a discontinued part ends the conversation.

If your machine is more than eight or ten years old, ask about part availability before authorising any work.

Repair or replace

There is no clean rule, but there are honest questions:

• What does the repair cost against the price of a comparable new machine?
• How old is it, and how long do machines of that type usually last?
• Is this the first repair, or the third?
• Is the failed part the expensive one — a compressor, a sealed system, a control board — or a consumable?
• What will delivery, installation and hauling away the old one add to the replacement price?

A 600 dollar repair on a twelve-year-old machine that has already been fixed twice is rarely the right call. The same repair on a three-year-old machine usually is.

Gas appliances are not general repair work

A gas range, a gas dryer or anything else burning fuel is regulated work. In Ontario, fuels technicians are certified under the Technical Standards and Safety Authority's framework, and a contractor is required to ensure the technicians they employ on regulated equipment are properly trained and certified, working within the scope of the certificate they hold. Every province runs an equivalent system. If the fault is on the gas side, the person who comes has to be certified for it, and it is reasonable to ask.

Electrical is the same story. In Ontario, only a Licensed Electrical Contractor may do electrical work for hire — so a dedicated circuit or a rewired outlet behind the machine is not part of an appliance call.

Get the estimate in writing

Ontario's consumer guidance is the clearest in Canada and worth applying wherever you live: if a contract includes an estimate, the final price cannot come in more than 10 per cent over it unless you have agreed in writing to the additional work. For a repair that is diagnosed on the spot, that means getting the number written down — even as a photo of the technician's tablet — before they start.

For a sense of what sits under the bill: Job Bank puts appliance service technicians in Canada between 20.00 and 41.59 CAD an hour, updated 19 November 2025. The shop rate covers the truck, the parts inventory, the training and the warranty as well.