Ontario Roofing Industry Statistics September 2026

Roofing is a large and steady business across Canada. The market was worth about 4.37 billion US dollars in 2025, and it is expected to reach 6.09 billion by 2033. That growth follows a simple fact: every roof in the country eventually wears out and needs to be replaced.

The Niagara Region was home to 207,926 private dwellings and 477,941 residents in the 2021 census, with 195,914 of those dwellings occupied year-round. That is a lot of roofs spread across a wide area, from lakeside towns to escarpment communities. Each one is exposed to the same lake-driven wind, snow, and freeze-thaw weather year after year.

Older homes mean older roofs. About 61 percent of Niagara's occupied housing was built before 1981, based on the 2021 census, with 32 percent dating from 1960 or earlier. Another 20 percent went up between 1981 and 2000, and only 19 percent has been built since 2001. A typical asphalt roof lasts 15 to 25 years, so most of these homes have already been re-roofed at least once and a steady share reach replacement age every year. (Corrected September 2026: an earlier version of this page understated the pre-1981 share.)

Niagara sits between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, which feeds strong winds, lake-effect snow, and fast summer storms. Between July 21 and 28, 2026, three storms dumped nearly 400 mm of rain on St. Catharines, flooding thousands of homes and prompting a state of emergency. Six months earlier, the December 2025 windstorm hit 110 km/h and cut power to more than a thousand homes. Our Niagara Storm Damage Tracker logs each major event as it happens.

A new asphalt shingle roof on a typical 1,500 square foot Ontario home runs about 8,500 to 18,000 dollars installed, with most jobs landing near 10,500. The final price depends on roof size, shingle grade, and how complex the roof is. Metal costs more up front but lasts far longer.

Asphalt shingles are the most popular roofing choice in Canada. They made up about 37 percent of the roofing materials market in 2025, the largest share of any single material. They stay popular because they cost less and hold up well to cold, snow, and the freeze-thaw cycle.

Weather drives roofing demand in Niagara. St. Catharines gets about 137 cm of snow a year across roughly 43 snowy days, based on Environment Canada climate records. Snow load, ice dams, and the freeze-thaw cycle wear roofs down and push most repair work into spring and fall.

Severe weather stays expensive even in a quieter year. Insured damage across Canada hit a record 8.55 billion dollars in 2024, then eased to 2.4 billion in 2025, still the tenth-costliest year on record. The Insurance Bureau of Canada puts the last decade's average at 3.7 billion a year, up from 1.4 billion the decade before. Closer to home, the June 30 to July 3, 2026 thunderstorms across Ontario and Quebec caused 439 million dollars in insured damage, which feeds into the premiums homeowners pay across the province.

Building stayed busy in Niagara even as the rest of Ontario slowed down. CMHC counted 2,514 housing starts in the St. Catharines-Niagara area in 2025, up 44 percent from 1,743 the year before, while Ontario as a whole fell 13 percent. Across Canada, builders started 259,028 homes in 2025, up 5.6 percent. The pace cooled in 2026: the area recorded 191 starts in July 2026 against 288 in July 2025. Every new home is a new roof, and in a couple of decades it becomes a replacement.

Roofing prices track the wider cost of building. Statistics Canada's residential building construction price index for its eleven-city composite rose 0.5 percent in the second quarter of 2026 and 2.3 percent over the year. Toronto was one of only three cities where residential prices fell in the quarter, down 0.8 percent, as Ontario builders paused on projects. Metal and steel products led the cost increases, which matters for anyone pricing a metal roof or flashing this year.

Your roof does more than keep water out. Natural Resources Canada's Keeping the Heat In guide sets minimum roof and ceiling insulation by climate zone, from R-45 in the mildest zone up to R-80 in the coldest, and notes that a properly insulated and ventilated attic is what keeps warm indoor air from melting roof snow and forming ice dams. A roof replacement is the best time to fix venting and top up insulation, because the deck is open and the work costs far less than doing it later.

How long a roof lasts depends on the material. Basic asphalt shingles last about 15 to 25 years, architectural shingles 25 to 35, and metal roofs 40 to 70. Flat membrane roofs usually last 20 to 30 years. Cold, snowy climates like Niagara's tend to sit at the lower end of each range.