GTA sees slowdown in home renovations as prices surge across Canada

The two-bedroom condo unit was a time capsule from the early 1980s. Located in Toronto’s Garden District, it hadn’t been touched in more than 40 years. Then, in August, 2023, Joe Siegfried and his husband purchased the third-floor corner suite with $640,000 and a vision to transform the 1,400 square-foot unit into “the last place where we’re going to live.”

The previous year, the couple had completed renovations to the four-bedroom Mississauga, Ont., backsplit they had lived in for 15 years, including repainting the entire house, fully renovating the kitchen and finishing the floors. “We ended up spending about $45,000, which was nothing when I think about what we spent here,” Mr. Siegfried said.