Quebec homeowners are feeling confident to start renovation work following successive Bank of Canada key rate cuts. That finding was revealed in the most recent survey of Quebecers’ renovation intentions conducted at the end of 2024.
RenoAssistance and the Association des professionnels de la construction et de l’habitation du Québec (APCHQ) announced the results of the fourth edition of their Renovation Intentions Survey. After two years of living with high borrowing costs and a trend toward postponing or scaling back their projects, homeowners in the province now feel the stars have aligned for them to start renovation work on their property.
Time to spring into action!
A considerable number of Quebec homeowners (65%) are thinking about undertaking renovations within the next three years. What’s remarkable about this year is how their overall level of confidence about starting a project has grown.
No less than two-thirds of participants in the Survey (68%) said they now feel comfortable and confident to launch their renovation project, a significant 18-point increase compared to last year (50% in 2024). Almost as many (63%) now say they are more willing to undertake work following recent rate cuts.
When asked about the current economic situation, 66% of homeowners surveyed said it will have no impact on their project, a 27-point jump from 2024 (39%). Comparably, the proportion of homeowners who believe that economic conditions will not impact the financial scope of their project (68%) also rose sharply (48% in 2024). We must note that people were surveyed in November 2024 before the threat of cross-border tariffs appeared.
“These numbers reflect the mindset of homeowners at the moment,” says Thomas Bourque, market research specialist at EspaceProprio. “People eagerly waited for rate cuts to happen to move forward with their projects. Many people have had lots of time to refine their plans and now feel it’s the right time to act.”
The million dollar question: buy or renovate?
Along the same lines, a majority of homeowners polled (68%) indicated their willingness to carry out renovations on their current property in order to meet their housing needs rather than purchase a new one (32%). Interest rate cuts can explain, at least in part, the resurging interest to buy (+8 points) in 2024.
It’s mostly younger generations (52% of 18-34 year olds and 43% of 35-44 year olds) who show interest in buying while it seems the older the age group, the greater the penchant for renovation. Case in point, 80% of 65 year olds and up favour renovating their current home over buying somewhere else.
“Older people want to live in their own home for as long as possible,” says Brigitte Roberge, vice-president, operations and integrated customer service at EspaceProprio. “Homeowners inevitably grow attached to their house and many reach a point where they can’t imagine living anywhere else. Those who plan to stay in their home for several more years can feel motivated to undertake renovations.”
The importance of proper planning
For 41% of people with a renovation project, the idea of doing some renos had been floating around in their head for a while–it was a well-considered decision. Moving down the rankings, an inconvenient situation involving something broken, dated or damaged forced 30% of homeowners to start renovations quickly. Just under a quarter (22%) made the choice to renovate rather than sell.
“Consumers like to take their time, do their research and weigh their options before committing to a renovation project,” says Thomas Bourque. “In a perfect world, such important decisions should only be made after doing lots of research and planning. Many people wait until they have their back against a wall before starting work but this approach is not only stressful, it could cost more in the long run, especially if they don’t receive enough support.”
Licensed contractors to guarantee quality
A majority of people planning to carry out renovations (56%) are hiring a licensed contractor to get the job done, making this the preferred option for homeowners. Two out of five people (39%) intend to do the work themselves, while 24% will ask friends and family to help.
For the 81% of homeowners who decide to use a licensed contractor, they go this route because they appreciate the quality guarantee associated with it. RenoAssistance leaves no stone unturned in its efforts to satisfy clients throughout their projects, as evidenced by the impressive 94% satisfaction rate after using its support service.
It's worth noting that consulting the RenoAssistance website (19%) once again ranked in the top 3 most frequently used sources for finding licensed construction contractors, behind word-of-mouth (57%) and Google searches (24%).
When the time comes to choose a contractor, general reputation was again the most important criterion (60%), followed by price (44%) and trusted recommendations (40%).
“RenoAssistance blows out 15 candles this year! Since it launched, more than 137,000 clients have benefited from our support service: the Verified Contractors that we recommend deliver quality work. Our post-work surveys have revealed a 94% satisfaction rate on average for our support service,” says Brigitte Roberge. “We have a solid reputation and we’re extremely proud of it!”
Interior renovations top the list
Leading the pack for another year, interior renovations (75%) are by far the most requested work, far ahead of exterior renovations (46%) and expansion or conversion projects (9%).
Bathroom renovations (45%) take the title of most popular interior work, with kitchen renos coming second (39%), and behind that, replacing flooring (30%).
Talking about exterior improvements, work on the deck, balcony or patio (37%) remains the most popular to undertake. This is followed by, in order of importance, replacing windows and doors, roofing, landscaping and exterior siding for more than one in five respondents in each case.
Thinking of renovating?
How much to put aside for renovations?
Do you always need a fast $100,000 up your sleeve to bring a renovation project to life? Not at all! And the stats confirm it. The average amount that homeowners surveyed expect to spend on their renovations this year is $34,000 in total, a result unchanged from last year.
Average budgets vary depending on the type of work, $25,000 for interior renovations, $19,000 for exterior work and $64,000 for expansion or conversion.
Again this year, three-quarters of homeowners (75%) who intend to carry out renovation work plan to dip into their personal savings to pay for it. A fraction of people surveyed plan to use their homeowner line of credit (19%) or mortgage refinancing (10%).
Turnkey wins hands down
When it comes to buying a new property, only 26% of those surveyed wanted to look at listings requiring major renovations, whereas just 7% reported being very open to the idea. This indicates a vast majority of respondents (73%) have no willingness to jump into major renovation projects after buying their house.
Approximately half of homeowners (48%) would pay more to buy a turnkey property. A bit more than a quarter (27%) preferred to spend less and carry out renovations themselves and 25% were unsure.
“In light of these results, it’s safe to say that renovating is rarely a bad idea,” says Brigitte Roberge. “Of course, homeowners will be able to enjoy their home once the work is done, in the same way that it would appeal to buyers looking for turnkey properties, and all this in a market already firmly in the sellers’ corner.”
Montreal on another level
There are several reasons why Montreal homeowners are different from the rest of the province. First, the shift toward buying rather than renovating is more apparent (37% in the city compared to 25% elsewhere in Quebec).
The numbers also revealed less enthusiasm and fewer skills to undertake renovations–only 32% of homeowners surveyed are planning to do the work themselves, compared to 48% of homeowners in the rest of Quebec. Using a licensed contractor remains the preferred route to take (54%), a figure much higher than elsewhere in the province (35% outside of urban centres).
And if that wasn’t enough, while the overall level of confidence in the current economic climate has improved, Montrealers are still expressing more concerns (36%) than homeowners in the Quebec City region (22%).
Green renovations still have a long way to go!
Similar to what we saw in 2024, energy efficiency (heating and air conditioning) is by far the main sustainable practice that homeowners are willing to consider for their renovation project. On the list of sustainable practices assessed, a quarter of respondents (24%) are planning no sustainable aspects to their renovations, and that trend continues this year.
The perception that green renovations are more expensive (33%) is the number one obstacle preventing people from undertaking this sort of renovation project. Lack of financial resources (29%) was also a reason given by a decent share of homeowners. Only one out of nine people surveyed (9%) are willing to pay 10% more to use eco-friendly materials.
Among those who decide to go ahead with green renovations, the main motivating factors are energy improvements (47%) and improving a property’s sustainability (47%).
In terms of awareness about grants and rebates to carry out green renovations, Rénoclimat remains the most well-known (43%), followed by the Novoclimat (32%) and LogisVert (27%) programs. As for the LogisVert program, awareness about it has almost tripled since last year when it was at 10%.
“The reflex to include environmental aspects in renovation projects is evolving slowly but surely,” says Thomas Bourque. “It looks like the best way to appeal to homeowners is to highlight the economic advantages, as well as renovation grants and rebates that are available.”
Generally speaking, two-thirds of homeowners (64%) are aware of at least one of the seven assistance programs assessed in the study, a proportion that goes up outside major urban centres.
The survey results are unmistakable: successive interest rate cuts have resulted in a significant boost in confidence among Quebec homeowners. They are now much more willing to start that renovation project they’ve been planning for some time.
Is it your turn to renovate? The RenoAssistance team is here to guide you through your project from start to finish. Click the button below to get in touch with our Renovation Advisors. You can also contact us by calling 1 877 736-6360. Our team will recommend up to three Verified Contractors. All of this at no cost or obligation!
Thinking of renovating?
Survey methodology
The Ad hoc Recherche web panel survey was conducted from November 20 to 30, 2024, on behalf of RenoAssistance and the APCHQ, among 1,525 Quebecers aged 18 and over who own at least one property and intend to do at least $5,000 worth of renovations or maintenance over the next three years. Renovation projects were divided into three categories, including interior renovations, exterior renovation work and expansion or conversion work.
