How We Set the Cost Ranges on This Site
Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
What the ranges are
Every price on this site is a range for a typical job in Metro Vancouver in 2025-2026, never a single contractor's quote and never a promise of what your job will cost. Each range has two ends because the same job costs different amounts in different houses: a 200 amp upgrade on an overhead service with the panel staying put is a different job from one with an underground service and a panel that has to move, and the cost page for that job says which is which.
Where they come from
The ranges are aggregated across the Vancouver Construction Network, the contractor directory this site belongs to, and its knowledge base of homeowner questions about residential electrical work in British Columbia. Figures are reviewed against published Metro Vancouver rates for the same jobs before they appear here. Where a figure comes from a public body, the page names it: BC Hydro for connection work and the home charger rebate, Technical Safety BC or the municipal electrical department for permits and inspections, CleanBC for heat pump and EV programs.
What they are not
They are not quotes, and they do not include GST, which applies to all electrical work in BC. They do not include the charger, the heat pump, the generator or the fixtures themselves unless the page says so. They do not include drywall or plaster repair unless the page says so, because electricians and drywallers usually quote that separately.
Permit authorities
Seven Metro Vancouver local governments run their own electrical permit and inspection programs: the City of Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, the City of North Vancouver, the District of North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Maple Ridge. Everywhere else in the region the electrical permit is issued by Technical Safety BC. That list comes from Technical Safety BC's published jurisdiction list and is the basis for every permit statement on this site.
When they are reviewed
The ranges carry a review date and are reviewed at least yearly, or sooner when a rebate program, a code edition or BC Hydro's fees change. If a figure on a page looks out of date to you, the estimate form on that page reaches us, and two or three real quotes from local electricians are the fastest way to find out what your job costs today.