Concrete removal in Toronto

What concrete removal costs in Toronto

Small concrete pad removal is $5 per sq ft before HST, with a $600 minimum. Disposal included, so you do not rent a bin or find somewhere to take the pieces. Send photos with the length and width of the pad and we will confirm which pricing applies.

A Toronto price guide we checked in October 2026 posted $2 to $7 per sq ft, or a lump sum of $550 to $1,700, for demolishing and disposing of an existing patio or pad. It is the only concrete range we found, so treat it as a rough frame.

Why concrete is priced by weight and volume

Concrete is heavy. A cubic yard of broken concrete weighs far more than a cubic yard of furniture or boxes, so a load of it uses up its weight allowance long before the space is full. A full load of mixed junk is about 16 cu yd with 1,000 kg included.

That is why heavy material is priced by the cubic yard, from $350 per cu yd, and why weight past the allowance is billed at $250 per tonne from the scale ticket. The per sq ft price above covers a small pad. Thicker or larger concrete, and loose broken concrete, brick, soil or asphalt, are priced by volume.

A pad 4 inches thick over 100 sq ft is about 1.2 cu yd of concrete in place. At 6 inches, the same 100 sq ft is about 1.9 cu yd. Thickness changes the volume as much as the area does, which is why we ask for a photo of the edge.

The City will not take it either. Toronto's drop-off depots do not accept concrete, bricks, cinder blocks, asphalt, gravel, paving stones, rocks, soil or sand, and the City says to contact a private company to arrange disposal.

What happens on the day

Breaking concrete is loud and dusty, so expect the visit to be noticeable from next door.

• We confirm the area with you, check the thickness at an exposed edge and note anything attached: steps, a post, a rail or a drain.
• Furniture, planters and anything else on the pad is cleared first.
• The slab is broken into pieces we can lift. Rebar and wire mesh are cut out as they are exposed.
• Pieces are carried out and loaded, and we walk the area with you before we leave.

What changes the price

Area sets the starting number. These details move it.

• Thickness: a thin walkway slab and a thick garage pad are very different volumes and weights.
• Rebar and wire mesh: reinforced concrete takes longer to break and cut out.
• Size: past a small pad, concrete is quoted by the cubic yard as heavy material, from $350 per cu yd.
• Access to the back yard: a pad behind a house with a narrow side passage means carrying pieces by hand a long way.
• The base layer: many pads sit on gravel or sand. Taking up the base is separate from breaking the slab, so say if you want it out.
• Weight: past the load allowance, extra weight is billed at $250 per tonne from the scale ticket.

What we take and what we do not

We take patio slabs, walkways, small pads, steps and the rebar or mesh inside them. We do not take hazardous waste: paint, propane, chemicals or asbestos.

Foundation walls, footings under the house, retaining walls and structural slabs are a different kind of job. If the concrete holds up soil, a stair or part of a building, ask Toronto Building through 311 before anyone breaks it. We also do not pour the new slab.

Toronto and Ontario rules for concrete

Call before you dig. Breaking a slab on its own is not digging, but lifting one can disturb what lies under it. If anything will be dug out beside or below the pad, a locate request comes first. Ontario One Call, now called Ontario Dig Authority, takes requests for free and asks for at least 5 business days before a single-address project.

Disposal. Because Toronto's depots exclude concrete, brick, asphalt and soil, material from this kind of job goes to a private company. The price above already covers that for a small pad.

Permits. The City's building permit page lists demolishing or removing a building. It does not mention removing a patio or walkway slab. If your pad is attached to the house, ask Toronto Building through 311.

What you can do before we arrive

A few photos and measurements make the quote accurate.

• Measure the length and width, and photograph an exposed edge so we can see the thickness.
• Say whether you can see rebar, mesh or cracks that show a base layer.
• Clear the pad and the path to where we will load.
• Tell us about pipes, drains, wires or a gas line near the pad.
• If anything will be dug out, book early for the locate request. Same-day service adds $50, but digging waits for the locates.