In short
- The Ontario Fire Code requires a smoke alarm outside each sleeping area and on every storey of a home.
- Ottawa Fire Services: a home built after 2014 needs an alarm in every sleeping room, all interconnected, with a battery backup of at least seven days and a strobe light.
- Since 1 January 2026, a home with a fuel-burning appliance, fireplace or attached garage needs a CO alarm on every storey.
- Ottawa electricians charge about $100–$160 an hour, on the HomeStars Ottawa page.
Typical prices in Ottawa
| Job | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Electrician's hourly rate, Ottawa | $100–$160 | HomeStars Ottawa page |
| First hour of a service call | $100–$200 | HomeStars Canada-wide 2026 guide; covers travel and assessment |
| Flat trip fee, where charged | $75–$150 | HomeStars Canada-wide 2026 guide; on top of the hourly rate |
| Ceiling device on a new run from the panel | $300–$600+ | HomeStars 2026, ceiling light on new wiring; the guide has no alarm line |
| ESA notification, alteration with 1–10 outlets, no service work | $46 | ESA 2026 residential fee guide, contractor rate; 11–30 outlets $92 |
Sources. HomeStars, Find an Electrician in Ottawa, cost section, page dated 17.03.2026, seen 29.10.2026. HomeStars, Electrician Hourly Rate in Canada: 2026 Guide, seen 29.10.2026. ESA, 2026 Residential Fees Quick Reference Guide, as of 01.04.2026, seen 29.10.2026. Rules: Ontario Fire Code, O. Reg. 213/07, Sections 2.13, 2.16 and 6.3; Ontario, Carbon monoxide safety; Ottawa Fire Services, Smoke alarms; Ottawa Fire Services, Carbon monoxide alarms; ESA Bulletin 2-3-19, Notification not required, May 2025; ESA, Guideline for electrical installations exposed to water; ESA, Finding the right contractor, all seen 29.10.2026. Contracts: Ontario, guide for home renovation businesses, seen 29.10.2026.
What the Fire Code asks of every Ontario home
Ottawa Fire Services sums up the provincial minimum: a working smoke alarm on every level and outside every sleeping area. Section 2.13 of the Ontario Fire Code requires a smoke alarm in the hallway serving the bedrooms (or between the sleeping area and the rest of the home when there is no hallway) and one on each storey without a sleeping area. The alarm is either wired permanently to a circuit, with no switch between the breaker and the alarm, or battery-operated. It must meet CAN/ULC-S531.
CO alarms follow Section 2.16: next to each sleeping area in a house with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage, and since 1 January 2026 on every storey too. They may be hardwired, battery-operated or plug-in, and must carry CSA-6.19 or UL 2034.
Newer houses carry a higher standard
Ottawa Fire Services says every home built after 2014 must have a working alarm in every sleeping room as well as on every level. Those alarms must be interconnected, have a battery backup lasting at least seven days without power, and include a visual strobe. The Fire Code adds that a replacement may give no lower level or type of protection than Part 9 of the Building Code requires. In a Barrhaven or Kanata house from the last decade, ask the quote to match the interconnection, backup and strobe of the alarms already there.
Four ways to power and link alarms
- Battery only. The Fire Code accepts battery-operated smoke alarms. Ottawa Fire Services advises hardwired alarms or ones with a 10-year sealed battery.
- Hardwired, stand-alone. Runs on house power. The City points out that wiring alone leaves each alarm sounding by itself.
- Hardwired and interconnected. When one alarm detects smoke, all of them sound, so a basement fire wakes the bedrooms upstairs. Newer houses must have this, and Ottawa Fire Services advises upgrading to it.
- Dual-powered. Hardwired with a battery backup, the City’s answer to outages. The backup battery is changed yearly.
Combined smoke and CO units put two devices in one spot. Ontario notes the CO signal sounds different from the smoke signal.
When alarms get added
New alarm spots come with a basement finish that adds a bedroom, an addition, or the 2026 CO rule reaching a bare storey. ESA’s Bulletin 2-3-19 says all new installations need a notification, and the basic exemption does not include installing, extending, altering or repairing wiring. A wired, interconnected alarm needs a cable path to the others, through the attic or an open basement ceiling. Paperwork and inspections are covered on the ESA permits page.
What moves the price
- How many alarms. Ottawa electricians bill about $100–$160 an hour (HomeStars). HomeStars says combining tasks in one visit means one service-call or trip fee.
- Swap or new location. Replacing units on existing boxes is short work. A new location fed from the panel compares with HomeStars’ $300–$600+ for a ceiling light on a new run.
- Access. Finished plaster or drywall takes longer to fish cable through than an open attic.
- Timing. After-hours rates run 1.5 to 2 times standard, HomeStars says.
What the quote should list
The quote names each alarm by location and type (smoke, CO or combined, wired or battery, linked or alone) and the standard it meets. New boxes, cable runs, patching, the ESA fee and HST go on their own lines. ESA says a Licensed Electrical Contractor files the notification and shows a 7-digit ECRA/ESA licence number on estimates. In Ontario, home repair work over $50 needs a written agreement, and the final bill can exceed an estimate by 10% at most unless you sign a change. Buying a house? Add the alarms to the electrical check before closing.
Who you are dealing with
Ottawa Electric Desk passes your request to one independent local electrical company. That company calls you back, prices the alarm work and does it.
Questions to ask the company
- Will the new alarms sound together with the ones that stay, or does the whole set change?
- Which standard is marked on each unit: CAN/ULC-S531 for smoke, CSA-6.19 or UL 2034 for CO?
- Does the job need an ESA notification, and is the fee in your price?
- Where will new cable run, and what patching or painting is left to me?
- What is your ECRA/ESA licence number, and can I see the total with HST in writing?
Have this ready for the call
- A count of alarms on each storey, basement included, and which are wired to the ceiling
- A quick sketch: bedrooms, the hallways serving them, and the storeys without bedrooms
- The fuel-burning appliances, any fireplace, and whether the garage is attached
- The build year, and the replace-by date printed on the alarms if you know it
- Access: attic above the top floor, basement ceiling open or finished
- Whether the home is rented out, and any basement finish or addition being planned
Questions people ask
The builder put in hardwired alarms. Can I swap them for battery ones?
Under Fire Code Article 6.3.3.7, a replacement in a Part 9 building, which covers most houses, may give no lower level or type of protection than Part 9 of the Building Code requires. Ask the quote to say how the new units match the set the builder installed.
How old is too old for an alarm?
The Fire Code points to the maker’s instructions. Ottawa Fire Services says every seven to ten years, and now if an alarm shows no expiry date.
Do we need a CO alarm on every floor now?
Since 1 January 2026, yes, in a house with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage, or one heated by air from a fuel-burning appliance outside the home.
What happens to hardwired alarms in a power cut?
Ottawa Fire Services says they stop when household power fails. Dual-powered units carry a backup battery, changed yearly, and the City suggests extra battery alarms.
Our basement flooded. Do the alarms down there need replacing?
ESA’s guideline says smoke and CO alarms that were sprayed or submerged must be replaced. Put the flood date in the request.
I rent the house out. What does the Fire Code ask of me?
The landlord tests smoke alarms yearly, after each change of tenant and after any change to the circuit feeding wired alarms, and gives the tenant the maker’s maintenance instructions. Disabling an alarm is illegal for anyone.
