How to turn a lot's square footage into a paving budget

A paving budget starts with one number: the surface the asphalt will cover. That is smaller than the property. Take out the building, landscaped islands, curbs and anything that stays concrete.

A survey or a lease plan usually gives the size of the whole parcel. That figure is too big, and an overstated area flows straight into an overstated budget.

For odd shapes, this site's square footage calculator handles four shapes and shows square feet and square metres side by side. One square metre is about 10.76 square feet. That matters here, because the City of Toronto prices below are per square metre.

Empire Paving, a Toronto and GTA commercial paving contractor, says asphalt typically costs $3 to $6 per square foot. Its page, dated November 2022, names the contractor, the size of the surface and the materials as what moves the price. This is one firm's published range, not a survey of the market.

The Paving Company publishes $3 to $7 per sq ft on average for an overlay, which is a new layer laid over the old asphalt. That is a different job, so do not average the two ranges together.

On a 20,000 sq ft lot, Empire's range gives $60,000 to $120,000 for the paving line alone. The rest of this guide adds what that line leaves out.

Some costs follow a count, not an area. A catch basin is the grated drain box that collects rainwater from the lot. The City of Toronto's preliminary cost estimate for the Broadview Avenue Extension prices each catch basin at $6,800. That is a road project, not a parking lot quote, so treat it as a scale check.

The same City estimate prices full-depth removal of old asphalt and road base at $40.80 per square metre. Converted, that is about $3.79 per sq ft. Taking the old surface out can cost as much per foot as laying the new one. If the old surface has to come out, budget for it as its own line.

Line painting is usually priced per stall. Zusashi Maintenance says an Ontario restripe typically runs $4 to $9 per stall, for water-based paint on an existing lot. A mobilization fee of about $150 to $350, the charge for bringing a crew and equipment to the site, comes on top. The same page puts a 50-stall restripe at around $350 to $700 all-in, and says new layouts cost more. Toronto Line Painting says small plaza restripes of 20 to 30 stalls start at around $3 to $5 per stall.

Ontario's HST page says the Harmonized Sales Tax is 13% in Ontario. Budget it on the drainage, striping and removal lines as well as the paving.

This site's parking lot paving cost guide puts the stakes plainly. On a $50,000 job, 13% is a $6,500 gap between a tax-in quote and a tax-out quote. Ask every bidder which kind they sent.

Here is the whole method on one lot. Say a worn 20,000 sq ft plaza lot, about 1,858 square metres, is being taken out and repaved. It has 50 stalls and needs two new catch basins.

Paving at Empire Paving's $3 to $6 per sq ft comes to $60,000 to $120,000. Removal at the City's $40.80 per square metre adds about $75,800. Two catch basins at the City's $6,800 each add $13,600. Striping at Zusashi's 50-stall restripe figure adds $350 to $700; a new layout costs more.

That is about $149,800 to $210,100 before tax, and about $169,200 to $237,400 with 13% HST. The removal and catch basin figures come from a road project, so a real bid can land well away from them. The example also has no line for a new stone base, which a rebuild would need. The site's parking lot paving cost calculator runs the same lines, plus manholes and curb, on your own numbers.

A per sq ft rate cannot show whether the stone base under the asphalt is sound. If the base has failed, or water has softened the ground below it, the job becomes a rebuild with a different scope and price. Measuring the surface will not tell you which case your lot is in. A contractor's site visit, test holes or a drainage check can. The layers involved are shown in how a GTA parking lot pavement is built.

The City's estimate also shows how a public owner plans for the unknown. After its line items it adds 25% of the major items for minor items. It then adds 30% for contingency and 15% for engineering on the subtotal. A private lot may need far less, but area times rate alone sets nothing aside for surprises.

This index lists 376 companies as of 17 September 2026. Of those, 92 are listed for parking lot paving, 51 for line marking and 7 for site drainage. Of the 92 parking lot paving companies, 20 are also listed for line marking and 4 for site drainage. A budget with drainage and striping lines may therefore need more than one bid. The guide to getting three real bids covers comparing them, and writing a paving spec covers putting each line in writing.

How this page was checked: the counts come from this site's own listing records. The Pavement Desk builds this site's cost guides from published GTA price pages. It checked every price here against its linked source on 17 September 2026. Empire Paving and The Paving Company are listed in the index, and neither pays for its position. Zusashi Maintenance and Toronto Line Painting are not listed. The site is free to use, and its About page says it earns nothing today. A request sent through the quote form goes to one of the highest-scoring companies listed in the area. Corrections go through the contact page.