How much does a paver driveway cost in Toronto?

Three GTA and Ontario installers put standard interlocking at $15 to $35 per square foot installed: Ultrascape $15 to $25, Khanscapes $16 to $25, and Project Landscaping $17 to $35 with a GTA average of $18 to $22 for standard concrete pavers on a proper base. A fourth, Reliable Hardscapes, publishes $25 to $55 with mid-grade at $25 to $32 and top-tier at $42 to $55 or more. On a 600 square foot double driveway that is roughly $9,000 at the very bottom to $33,000 at the top, before 13% HST.

Why is a paver driveway so much more than asphalt?

Because almost all of it is labour and base. Asphalt in Ontario is $3 to $7 per square foot across three published sources; interlock starts around $15 and the pavers themselves are only 18 to 28 percent of the installed cost, per Reliable Hardscapes. The rest is excavation, 8 to 12 inches of compacted granular base, screeding, laying and cutting each unit, edge restraint and polymeric sand. Two to five times the price of asphalt is the normal published gap, not a bad quote.

Does removing the old driveway cost extra?

Yes, and it is a bigger line than most people expect. Two GTA sources put demolition and disposal at $2 to $8 per square foot, with concrete containing rebar at the top of that. Reliable Hardscapes adds a further $1,500 to $5,000 for what turns up on older GTA properties: old foundation chunks, abandoned utility lines and soft soil pockets. On a 600 square foot driveway the removal alone is $1,200 to $4,800 before any of that.

It is the second most common cause of premature driveway failure in the GTA, according to Reliable Hardscapes, and correcting it is a project-level cost of $1,500 to $12,000 across two sources depending on whether it takes regrading, French drains, catch basins or retaining elements. If the driveway slopes toward the garage or the house, price the drainage work before comparing the paver quotes, because a bid that leaves it out is not comparable to one that includes it.

Is a low quote ever a good sign?

Reliable Hardscapes puts it starkly: if three contractors come in at $24,000, $26,000 and $14,000, the $14,000 quote is a warning rather than a deal, and what is being skipped is almost always the base. Both of the GTA sources that discuss it say the same thing in different words. The cheapest way to protect yourself costs nothing: ask for the compacted base depth and the paver grade to be written into the proposal. A real installer will do it.

Paver driveway cost calculator

Interlock priced from four published GTA bands, with the same driveway in asphalt on the line beneath it. The gap is usually two to five times, and knowing which multiple you are looking at is the useful part.

Last updated: August 25, 2026By The Pavement Desk

$15–$55

per sq ft installed, across four GTA installers

8–12 in

of compacted base, the specification that decides whether it lasts

Size of the driveway

Length (ft)Width (ft)

Paver grade

Standard concrete paversThree GTA installers' bands, widened across all three · $15.00–$35.00 per sq ftMid-grade to top-tier paversOne GTA installer's own three-tier breakdown · $25.00–$55.00 per sq ftPermeable paversOne Toronto installer's figure, no second source found · $24.00–$38.00 per sq ft

The pavers themselves are only 18 to 28 percent of the installed cost, and material alone runs $4.00–$25.00 per sq ft. Almost everything else is excavation, base and labour.

What else the job needs

Break out and cart away what is there nowConcrete with rebar sits at the top of this band · $2.00–$8.00 per sq ftDecorative banding, borders or a complex patternLabour time grows 25 to 60 percent once borders and inlays start · $2.00–$5.00 per sq ftDrainage correction on a difficult lotRegrading, French drains, catch basins or retaining · $1,500–$12,000

Interlock, HST included

$11,526 to $29,154

over 600 sq ft, which is 5.7 to 6.1 times what the same surface costs in plain asphalt. Base depth is the specification that decides whether it lasts: 8 to 12 inches compacted, in writing.

Standard concrete pavers: $9,000–$21,000
Break out and cart away what is there now: $1,200–$4,800
Interlock, before tax: $10,200–$25,800
Ontario HST at 13%: $1,326–$3,354
The same surface in asphalt, HST in: $2,034–$4,746

Interlock rate from Ultrascape, Khanscapes and Project Landscaping, three GTA and Ontario ranges widened

Asphalt comparison rate from Green Building Canada (national Canadian home-building cost guide)

Base depth from Project Landscaping and Reliable Hardscapes, two Ontario sources stating the same band

AsphaltPavingIndex lists asphalt paving contractors, not interlock installers. The comparison is what this site can add here honestly.

Why an asphalt directory publishes a paver calculator

Because the question gets asked by exactly the people who are pricing asphalt, and because the honest answer is a comparison rather than a sales pitch. Interlocking pavers are a different trade from asphalt paving and AsphaltPavingIndex does not list interlock installers. What this site can add is the published gap between the two materials over the same measured surface, from named sources on both sides, so the decision is made with numbers rather than with a showroom brochure.

The GTA figures split into two groups rather than one band, and it is worth knowing that before comparing quotes. Ultrascape publishes $15 to $25 per square foot, Khanscapes $16 to $25 for standard pavers in Toronto, and Project Landscaping $17 to $35 across Ontario with a GTA average of $18 to $22 for standard concrete pavers on a proper base. Reliable Hardscapes publishes $25 to $55, and its floor sits at or above the other three’s ceilings. Averaging those would produce a middle that describes nobody, so both groups are published separately with their sources named.

Almost none of what you pay is the paver. Reliable Hardscapes states that the paver itself accounts for 18 to 28 percent of the final installed cost, and that within a single manufacturer you can spend $4 a square foot on an entry-level unit or $14 on a premium line. Everything else is excavation, base, screeding, laying and cutting each unit by hand, edge restraint and jointing sand. That labour ratio is the whole reason interlock costs multiples of asphalt: a paver driveway is assembled, and an asphalt one is poured.

If there is one specification to argue about, it is base depth. Project Landscaping states a compacted granular base of typically 8 to 12 inches for vehicle traffic in Ontario’s freeze-thaw climate. Reliable Hardscapes states a minimum of 8 to 10 inches of crushed Granular A or 19 mm clear stone compacted in lifts, rising to 10 to 12 inches plus geotextile fabric on the high-clay soils across much of Mississauga, Brampton and parts of Markham. Both say, independently, that cheap installers quote 4 to 6 inches, hide it in the proposal, and the driveway settles within a few winters. The defence costs nothing: get the compacted base depth and the paver grade written into the contract.

A third Toronto installer publishes a 48 inch base depth as its own standard, tied to a 42 inch Toronto frost line, and states that most contractors dig 24 inches. That is four to six times what the other two Ontario sources call adequate. It is one firm’s differentiating claim rather than a corroborated specification, so it is reported here and not folded into the published band.

One more claim is worth flagging because it involves money. Khanscapes states that permeable interlocking is required by Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 681 for new driveways over 538 square feet, and that a rebate of up to $3,400 applies. Neither statement could be found on toronto.ca while this page was researched, so neither is published here as fact. If a permeable driveway is being budgeted around a bylaw requirement or a rebate cheque, confirm both with the City before relying on them.

For the material this site actually covers, priced the same way, see the asphalt driveway cost calculator and the asphalt versus concrete comparison.

Sources

Canadian dollars and GTA installers, August 2026. Where four sources disagreed the two clusters were published separately rather than averaged into one band, and every row names the sources behind it.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a paver driveway cost in Toronto?: Three GTA and Ontario installers put standard interlocking at $15 to $35 per square foot installed: Ultrascape $15 to $25, Khanscapes $16 to $25, and Project Landscaping $17 to $35 with a GTA average of $18 to $22 for standard concrete pavers on a proper base. A fourth, Reliable Hardscapes, publishes $25 to $55 with mid-grade at $25 to $32 and top-tier at $42 to $55 or more. On a 600 square foot double driveway that is roughly $9,000 at the very bottom to $33,000 at the top, before 13% HST.
Why is a paver driveway so much more than asphalt?: Because almost all of it is labour and base. Asphalt in Ontario is $3 to $7 per square foot across three published sources; interlock starts around $15 and the pavers themselves are only 18 to 28 percent of the installed cost, per Reliable Hardscapes. The rest is excavation, 8 to 12 inches of compacted granular base, screeding, laying and cutting each unit, edge restraint and polymeric sand. Two to five times the price of asphalt is the normal published gap, not a bad quote.
What base depth should an interlock driveway have?: Eight to twelve inches of compacted granular, and get the number written into the contract. Project Landscaping states 8 to 12 inches is typical for vehicle traffic in Ontario's freeze-thaw climate. Reliable Hardscapes states a minimum of 8 to 10 inches of crushed Granular A or 19 mm clear stone compacted in lifts, rising to 10 to 12 inches plus geotextile on high-clay GTA soils, and both warn that cheap installers quote 4 to 6 inches and hide it in the proposal. A third Toronto installer digs 48 inches as its own practice, which is far beyond either published band.
Does removing the old driveway cost extra?: Yes, and it is a bigger line than most people expect. Two GTA sources put demolition and disposal at $2 to $8 per square foot, with concrete containing rebar at the top of that. Reliable Hardscapes adds a further $1,500 to $5,000 for what turns up on older GTA properties: old foundation chunks, abandoned utility lines and soft soil pockets. On a 600 square foot driveway the removal alone is $1,200 to $4,800 before any of that.
What about drainage?: It is the second most common cause of premature driveway failure in the GTA, according to Reliable Hardscapes, and correcting it is a project-level cost of $1,500 to $12,000 across two sources depending on whether it takes regrading, French drains, catch basins or retaining elements. If the driveway slopes toward the garage or the house, price the drainage work before comparing the paver quotes, because a bid that leaves it out is not comparable to one that includes it.
Is a low quote ever a good sign?: Reliable Hardscapes puts it starkly: if three contractors come in at $24,000, $26,000 and $14,000, the $14,000 quote is a warning rather than a deal, and what is being skipped is almost always the base. Both of the GTA sources that discuss it say the same thing in different words. The cheapest way to protect yourself costs nothing: ask for the compacted base depth and the paver grade to be written into the proposal. A real installer will do it.

Where this site can and cannot help

AsphaltPavingIndex tracks asphalt paving, sealcoating, line marking and site drainage contractors across the Greater Toronto Area. It does not list interlock or hardscape installers, and it is not going to pretend otherwise by pointing you at asphalt firms for a paver job. If the number above has changed your mind about the material, the asphalt side of the decision is the part this directory is built for.

Asphalt paving contractors in the GTA Toronto asphalt cost guide