Short answer: yes, you can paint your Toronto condo — the interior of your unit is yours to change — but the building will have conditions, and a painter who knows them is the difference between a two-day job and a two-week argument with management. Most boards want a certificate of liability insurance, a written scope of work and an elevator booking. On cost, condo painting in Toronto is priced on floor area like any interior: a 600–700 sq ft one-bedroom runs roughly $2,850–4,000 as a Complete job (walls, ceilings, trim and doors), and a 900–1,000 sq ft two-bedroom roughly $4,300–5,750, before HST. Below: what boards ask for, a cost table by unit size and tier, how long it takes, and what is different about painting in a high-rise.
What Toronto condo boards usually require
Every building has its own rules, and the property manager will tell you exactly what applies. The requests that come up in nearly every Toronto condo are:
- Certificate of liability insurance from the contractor, naming the corporation where the building asks for it. IntraBuild carries liability insurance and provides the certificate on request; it is usually the first thing management wants to see.
- A written scope of work — which rooms, what is being done, roughly how long. Some boards want it on their own form.
- Contractor references for buildings that vet trades before approving them.
- Service elevator booking for bringing in materials and taking out waste; booking windows fill up, so this is done a week or more ahead.
- Working hours — typically weekdays, roughly 9 to 5, with no noisy work outside that window. Painting is quiet, but sanding and moving furniture are not.
- Protection of common areas — floor coverings in the corridor from the elevator to your door, and nothing stored in the hallway.
- Waste — empty cans, drop sheets and debris leave the building with the contractor, not in the chute.
We are not on specific building lists at the moment, but we provide everything a Toronto condo board usually needs to approve a contractor: the certificate of liability insurance, references and a written scope. Most boards sign off within one to two weeks of submission, so send the request the same day you get the quote. More on how we work in the city is on the interior painting in Toronto page.
Condo painting Toronto cost by unit size
Painting is priced per square foot of floor area, and the packages are the same ones on our interior painting page: Colour Change at $2.50–3.00 per sq ft (walls only), Complete at $4.75–5.75 (walls, ceilings, trim and doors, one door per 150 sq ft included), Premium at $6.50–8.00 and Signature from $9.50 by consultation. Multiply by your unit size and you have a working budget. The figures below are that arithmetic, rounded, before HST.
| Unit | Typical floor area | Colour Change (walls only) | Complete | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 450–500 sq ft | roughly $1,150–1,500 | roughly $2,150–2,900 | roughly $2,950–4,000 |
| One-bedroom | 600–700 sq ft | roughly $1,500–2,100 | roughly $2,850–4,000 | roughly $3,900–5,600 |
| Two-bedroom | 900–1,000 sq ft | roughly $2,250–3,000 | roughly $4,300–5,750 | roughly $5,850–8,000 |
“Complete” covers walls, ceilings, trim and doors, with one door per 150 sq ft of floor area included (closet and bifold doors count toward the allowance); extra doors and closet interiors are priced per piece. Minimum projects are $750 for a Colour Change, $1,200 for Complete and Premium, and $2,500 for Signature, which matters for a single accent wall or one bedroom in a small unit: a bedroom on its own is $350–600, so a one-room job in a condo is billed at the $750 minimum — bundling the hallway or bathroom into the same visit gets full value from it. Toronto sits at the top of each band because of access — elevator bookings, paid parking and carrying everything in from the loading dock. A full breakdown of what moves painting prices, room by room, is in our guide to interior painting cost in Ontario.
How long condo painting takes
Typical timelines with an empty or lightly furnished unit and walls in reasonable shape:
- Studio or one-bedroom: one to two days.
- Two-bedroom: two to three days.
What adds a day: painting ceilings as well as walls, dark or saturated colours that need a third coat, wall repairs that have to dry before paint, and a unit that is fully furnished and has to be worked around. What does not add time but has to be planned: the elevator window and the building’s hours, which set when the crew can start and stop.
What is different about painting a condo
Concrete ceilings
Many Toronto towers have exposed or skim-coated concrete ceilings rather than drywall. They take paint well once primed, but older buildings from the 1970s to 1990s often have a sprayed popcorn texture on that concrete. That texture cannot be painted to look new, and removing it comes with an asbestos question in buildings of that age — the options and costs are in our guide to popcorn ceiling removal.
Ventilation and smell
Condo windows open a few inches and the HVAC is shared. We use low-VOC paint as standard so the unit is livable the same evening and the corridor does not smell of solvent, which is also what most boards expect.
Small areas and minimums
A condo is efficient to paint — short walls, no stairwell — but a single room can fall below the $750 Colour Change minimum. Bundling a bedroom with the hallway and bathroom, or doing the whole unit at once, gets better value from the visit.
Wall repairs first
Anchor holes from TV mounts and shelving, scuffs from moving, cracks at window corners: a condo wall usually needs a round of patching before paint. Small repairs are $120–200 each at the Patch tier with a $200 service-call minimum, and they are quoted with the painting so there is one crew and one invoice; details on our drywall repair page and, for the city specifically, drywall repair in Toronto.
Furniture
There is nowhere to put it. Furniture gets moved to the centre of each room and draped, and the crew works around it; a unit cleared before we arrive paints faster and cleaner.
Repainting between tenants or before a sale
The two most common condo jobs in Toronto are a landlord’s repaint between tenants and a pre-sale refresh. Both are usually done with standard-quality paints, as a Complete job or a Colour Change, in a single neutral colour throughout — which shades work and why is in our guide to paint colours that sell and rent — it photographs well, hides the previous tenant’s accent wall, and lets the next occupant see the space rather than the paint. An investor with several units often standardizes one colour and one sheen so touch-ups are simple later. If the unit is being staged, the painting happens before the stager, and the elevator gets booked for both.
Downtown towers vs midtown low-rise
A unit in a waterfront or downtown high-rise means a loading dock, a freight elevator, a concierge and paid parking, all of which push the job to the top of the band and make the booking the critical path. A midtown or east-end low-rise with a walk-up and street parking is closer to painting a house. Either way the per-square-foot rate is the same; access is what changes. If you also own a home in the west end of the GTA, the same tiers apply there — see interior painting in Mississauga.
How to get a quote within 48 hours
- Send the floor area (it is on your listing or floor plan) and a photo of each room.
- Say what you want painted: a Colour Change (walls only), or a Complete job with ceilings, trim and doors — and count the doors so the allowance can be checked. Note any dark colours.
- Photograph the wall damage — anchor holes, cracks, scuffs — so repairs are on the quote.
- Tell us the building name, the floor, and what management needs: insurance certificate, scope form, elevator window, hours.
IntraBuild paints condos across Toronto with one insured crew, a written price, the paperwork your board needs and no travel fee. Get a Toronto condo painting quote or call (647) 558-8723.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need condo board approval to paint my unit?
Painting the inside of your own unit rarely needs approval of the colour, but the building will need to approve the contractor’s access: a certificate of liability insurance, a scope of work and an elevator booking are the usual requirements. Most Toronto boards approve within one to two weeks.
How much does it cost to paint a one-bedroom condo in Toronto?
Roughly $2,850–4,000 as a Complete job on a 600–700 sq ft unit, or $1,500–2,100 as a Colour Change (walls only), before HST. Premium paint and wall repairs move it up; the exact number comes from the floor area and a look at the walls.
How long does it take?
One to two days for a studio or one-bedroom, two to three for a two-bedroom, within the building’s working hours. Ceilings, dark colours and repairs can add a day.
Can you paint concrete ceilings?
Yes. Bare or skim-coated concrete is primed and painted like any ceiling. A popcorn-textured concrete ceiling is a different job — it needs to be tested and either removed or covered before it will look clean.
Do you work weekends?
Only where the building allows it. Most Toronto condos limit contractor work to weekdays, typically 9 to 5, so we schedule inside those hours and book the elevator to match.