Medical clinic construction in Toronto costs $460 to $800 per square foot in 2026, according to Altus Group’s Canadian Cost Guide range for a new medical clinic or treatment centre in the Greater Toronto Area. That is hard construction cost only: GST/HST, site development, parking, land and financing come on top, so a realistic clinic budget starts from that range and builds up.
Below: how the clinic range compares with offices and hospitals, worked budgets by size, what makes clinics cost more, Toronto permit timing, and what this means for a clinic fit-out in Yorkville or other leased space. The full benchmark is on our medical clinic cost benchmark page.
Medical clinic construction cost in Toronto: the 2026 range
Altus puts a new GTA clinic at about 1.5 to 1.8 times the cost of a Class A office building at each end of the range, and a little under half the cost of a hospital. The gap with offices comes from the building services and room-by-room detail that clinical space needs.
View the data
| Building type | Low ($/sq ft) | High ($/sq ft) |
|---|---|---|
| Class A office fit-out (interior fit-out only) | $160 | $265 |
| Class A office building (new building) | $305 | $450 |
| Medical clinic / treatment centre (new building) | $460 | $800 |
| Hospital (new building) | $1,030 | $1,620 |
Turning the range into a first clinic budget is simple arithmetic on the floor area:
| Gross floor area | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| 5,000 sq ft | $2.3M | $4.0M |
| 10,000 sq ft | $4.6M | $8.0M |
| 30,000 sq ft | $13.8M | $24.0M |
Treat the low end as a simple, mostly consult-and-exam clinic and the high end as a clinic with procedure rooms, imaging or more demanding mechanical systems. Where your project lands depends on the clinical program, not the square footage alone.
What makes a clinic budget higher than an office
- Plumbing. Hand sinks in exam and treatment rooms, accessible washrooms and, for some clinics, sterilization or lab areas mean far more fixtures, drains and water lines per square foot than an office.
- Mechanical and ventilation. CSA Z317.2:24, the Canadian standard for HVAC in health care facilities, sets requirements that are more stringent than those for non-health care buildings. Check with your design team which parts apply to your clinic type early, because ventilation drives ductwork, equipment size and ceiling space.
- Imaging and shielding. X-ray rooms need shielding built into walls, floors or doors. In Ontario, X-ray equipment used on people is registered through the Ministry of Health’s X-Ray Inspection Service, and the application includes plan drawings showing shielding. Build that review into the schedule before walls close.
- Accessibility. Patients arrive with mobility devices, so entrances, corridors, washrooms and exam rooms need space and hardware to suit. Retrofitting an older building for barrier-free access can add cost a new building avoids.
- Infection control and finishes. Cleanable, seamless finishes, more doors and more millwork cost more than standard office finishes, and work inside an occupied medical building needs extra protection and sequencing.
Clinic fit-out in Yorkville and other leased space
Many Toronto clinics, including in Yorkville, go into existing buildings rather than new ones. The Altus clinic range is for a new building, and Altus doesn’t publish a separate clinic fit-out range, so we don’t offer one here. Office fit-out ranges (Class A $160 to $265 per sq ft in the GTA) aren’t a substitute: they don’t carry clinical plumbing, ventilation or shielding. See our office fit-out cost guide for what those ranges include.
For a leased clinic, the base building decides much of the cost. Before you sign, confirm where plumbing stacks and risers are, whether the floor and HVAC can take clinical loads, what the landlord delivers, and whether the use is permitted under zoning.
Toronto permit timing for a clinic
The City of Toronto sets review targets by permit stream. They apply only to complete applications:
View the data
| Review stream | Business days |
|---|---|
| Express Service | 3 |
| House | 10 |
| Small Building (Part 9) | 15 |
| Large Building (Part 3) | 20 |
| Complex Building | 30 |
The City is direct about the catch: “There is no time frame for review of incomplete permit applications,” and applications without a Zoning Applicable Law Certificate “are considered incomplete.” Start zoning early, especially for a change of use in an existing building. Our Toronto building permit timeline guide walks through the full sequence.
How to build a clinic budget you can trust
- Start from the clinical program: room types, counts, imaging and procedures.
- Price hard cost from the benchmark, then add taxes, design fees, permits, equipment, IT, furniture and contingency.
- Test the base building or site before you commit to a lease or purchase.
- Refine the estimate at each design stage. Our Class D estimate guide explains how wide early ranges really are, and our owner tools help you size them.
Run your own numbers: our clinic cost calculator turns the range into a budget for your floor area, with soft costs and contingency.
FAQ
How much does medical clinic construction cost in Toronto?
Altus Group's 2026 Canadian Cost Guide puts the hard construction cost of a new medical clinic or treatment centre in the Greater Toronto Area at $460 to $800 per square foot. That excludes GST/HST, site development, parking, land and financing.
How much should I budget for a 10,000 sq ft medical clinic?
At $460 to $800 per square foot, the hard cost of a new 10,000 sq ft clinic building in the GTA works out to about $4.6 million to $8.0 million, before taxes, land, financing, design fees, equipment and contingency.
Does the same cost apply to a clinic fit-out in Yorkville or another leased space?
Not directly. The Altus range is for a new clinic building. Altus does not publish a separate range for fitting out a clinic in leased space, so a fit-out budget should be built from the actual space, the services it needs and the landlord's base building, then checked by a cost consultant.
How long does a Toronto building permit take for a clinic?
The City of Toronto's review targets for a complete application range from 3 business days for Express Service to 15 for a Small Building (Part 9), 20 for a Large Building (Part 3) and 30 for a Complex Building. The City says there is no time frame for reviewing incomplete applications, and an application without a Zoning Applicable Law Certificate is considered incomplete.
The bottom line
At $460 to $800 per square foot in hard cost alone, a new Toronto clinic is a specialized building, and the clinic budget should be built that way: from the program, the services and the site, not from an office number. Planning a clinic or a clinic fit-out? Book a 30-minute call and we’ll help you test the budget before you commit.
Sources: Altus Group, 2026 Canadian Cost Guide, GTA medical clinic / treatment centre range, as shown on our medical clinic benchmark page; City of Toronto, Building Permit Review Streams; Standards Council of Canada, CSA Z317.2:24 HVAC in health care facilities; Ontario, Guidance on completing the X-ray registration and application form. Cover photo: Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash (Unsplash Licence). This article is general information, not professional advice for a specific project.