Short answer. There is no single price, because every honest quote follows the same cost drivers.
As a general Canadian guide (not an Ottawa Luxe Painting quote), industry cost guides put a full interior repaint on a 1,500 to 2,000 sq ft home at roughly $2,000 to $5,000, and a larger 2,500 to 3,500 sq ft home closer to $4,000 to $8,000.
Interior walls run about $2 to $4 per square foot on their own, or roughly $400 to $800 per room. Your real number depends on the size and condition of the space, the number of coats, and whether trim, ceilings, and doors are included.
These are market ranges from published Canadian cost guides, shown so you can sanity-check any quote you receive. We quote from your actual rooms and surfaces, not a flat rate, so the numbers below are a starting frame, not a bill.
On this page
What drives your painting cost in Ottawa
Every real quote comes down to the same six things.
Size and ceiling height. More wall area and taller ceilings mean more paint, more labour, and sometimes scaffolding.
Surface condition and prep. Patching, sanding, caulking, and priming are the steps that decide whether a finish lasts. Prep is often the biggest single variable between two quotes for the same room.
Colour change. Going dark to light, or the reverse, can add a coat.
What is included. Walls only, or walls plus trim, ceilings, doors, and closets. Each addition changes the number.
Paint grade. Better products cost more up front and hold up longer, which matters in a freeze-thaw climate.
Interior vs exterior. Exterior work adds height, access, weather scheduling, and more prep of weathered surfaces.
Labour is the largest part of any painting quote, which is why two homes of the same size can price differently based purely on condition. That prep, our drywall repair and surface preparation step, is where a lasting finish is won or lost.
On a ceiling that prep is often a water stain, which we seal with a stain-blocking primer as part of ceiling repair in Ottawa before any paint goes on. Skip that step and the brown ring comes back through the new coat.
Interior painting cost ranges (2026)
| Scope | Typical Canadian market range |
|---|---|
| Interior walls, per square foot | $2 to $4 (HomeStars); $3 to $6 of wall area (RenoCalc) |
| Per room | $400 to $800 (HomeStars, and RenoCalc's headline figure). RenoCalc's standard-quality tier alone is $500 to $800. |
| 12x12 bedroom (120 to 150 sq ft of floor), walls only, two coats, 8 ft ceilings | $400 to $800 (HomeStars) |
| Full interior repaint, 1,500 to 2,000 sq ft home | $2,000 to $5,000 |
| Full interior repaint, 2,500 to 3,500 sq ft home | $4,000 to $8,000 |
| Whole-house, 3-bedroom, standard quality, Ottawa | about $5,000 |
Sources: HomeStars, “Cost to Paint a House in Canada: A 2026 Pricing Guide” (homestars.com/painting/price-guides/cost-to-paint-a-house); RenoCalc, “Interior Painting Cost in Canada: Room-by-Room Guide (2026)” (renocalc.ca/en/blog/interior-painting-cost-canada), which lists an Ottawa 3-bedroom standard-quality whole-house repaint at about $5,000 and per-room quality tiers of $300 to $500 (budget), $500 to $800 (standard), and $800 to $1,500 (premium).
The 12x12 bedroom row is from HomeStars, “Painting Cost Per Square Foot in Canada: A 2026 Guide” (homestars.com/painting/price-guides/painting-cost-per-square-foot). Both HomeStars guides read updated 2026-08-21; RenoCalc’s is dated 2026-02-22.
For interior painting in Ottawa, Ottawa Luxe Painting prices your rooms in a free written estimate, itemized line by line, so you can hold it against these ranges.
Exterior painting cost in Ottawa
Exterior work is harder to range without seeing the home, because it adds height, access, and how much weathered surface has to be prepped before a coat goes on. It also has to be timed for the Ottawa weather window (roughly late spring through early fall, when temperatures hold above about 10C and surfaces are dry) so the coating cures properly.
That timing is not a cost line, but it affects availability, and the best slots book early. We break the season down in the best time to paint in Ottawa.
For a 1,500 or a 2,000 sq ft house, HomeStars gives one exterior repaint range for both sizes: $3,000 to $8,000 across Canada, with Toronto and Vancouver at the high end. Scaffolding or a lift adds $500 to $2,000 where the height calls for it. Our page on exterior painting in Ottawa covers what the job involves on an Ottawa house.
The outside alone, siding by siding, with worked examples for 1,500 and 2,000 sq ft houses and the months Ottawa’s weather allows, is in our guide to exterior painting cost in Ottawa.
What 1,000 sq ft costs to paint
Painters measure the walls when they price a room. HomeStars notes that two homes with the same floor plan can measure very differently once ceiling height, room count, ceilings and trim are counted, and none of the cost guides cited on this page gives one interior price for 1,000 sq ft of floor.
You can do the conversion yourself. Measure each room’s perimeter, multiply by the ceiling height, and take off the doors and windows. RenoCalc’s rate of $3 to $6 per sq ft of wall area then gives you a range to hold a quote against.
What painters charge per hour and per day
Painters in Canada charge $40 to $80 an hour, according to HomeStars. Independent painters sit at the low end and larger companies at the high end, and most companies add a minimum project fee of $1,000 to $2,000.
By the day, RenoQuotes puts a residential painter at $350 to $600. Commercial and regulated jobs run $650 to $900 per painter per day.
HomeStars also counts the hours: 40 to 80 of crew time for a full interior on a 1,500 to 2,000 sq ft home, and 50 to 100 for an exterior. Ottawa Luxe Painting prices the job itself in a free, itemized written estimate, so you can check it against these rates.
Those hours stretch into days because patches and each coat need time to dry. The dry and recoat times, room by room, are in our guide to how long it takes to paint a room.
Sources: HomeStars, “Cost to Paint a House in Canada: A 2026 Guide” (homestars.com/painting/price-guides/cost-to-paint-a-house, updated 2026-08-21), for the hourly rate, minimum fee, crew hours, exterior range and scaffolding; RenoQuotes, “What Is the Daily Rate for a Professional Painter in Canada?” (renoquotes.com/en/blog/what-is-the-daily-rate-for-a-professional-painter-in-canada, updated 2026-05-26), for the day rates.
Why we do not publish one flat rate
A single advertised price is wrong for most homes in one direction or the other. A tidy, well-maintained 2-bedroom with walls only is a different job from a 4-bedroom that needs drywall repair, wallpaper removal, and trim. We give you a free, written, itemized estimate so you can see exactly what drives your number and compare it fairly against any other quote.
A few photos with your request usually mean a faster, more accurate price. See everything we do inside and out in our overview of a full interior and exterior repaint.
One reason to insist on the number in writing is that Ontario gives a written estimate legal weight: once it forms part of the contract, the final price cannot come in more than 10 per cent above it unless you agree to the change and sign for it.
For commercial painting costs, see our commercial painters Ottawa page.
These ranges are a starting frame. For a real number on your actual rooms and surfaces, get a free, itemized estimate. If you're in Orleans and want a precise price for your home, get a free written estimate from our residential painting in Orleans team.
For a detailed quote from our painters in Ottawa, contact us today.