Buying Guide
Countertop Prices in the GTA (2026): Cost Per Square Foot, Installed
Real 2026 installed pricing across every material — and the hidden line items that turn a "great deal" into a frustrating surprise.
How much do countertops cost per square foot in the GTA?
In 2026, installed countertops in the Greater Toronto Area run $20 to $250 per square foot depending on the material. Quartz, the most common choice, starts at $78 per square foot installed. Granite runs $55 to $140, quartzite $90 to $200, and marble $90 to $250 or more.
Those figures include material, fabrication and installation, before HST.
| Material | Installed, per sq ft | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Laminate | $20 – $50 | Rentals, tight budgets, quick refreshes |
| Granite | $55 – $140 | Durability, natural character, value |
| Quartz (engineered) | $78 – $118 | Low maintenance, consistent look, resale |
| Quartzite (natural) | $90 – $200 | Marble look with real stone hardness |
| Marble | $90 – $250+ | Luxury, statement spaces |
| Porcelain / Dekton | Quoted per project | Ultra-durable, outdoor and high-traffic |
These are honest market ranges for York Region and the GTA, not a quote. The only accurate price comes from your actual slab, your measurements, and your edge and cutout details.
Last updated September 2026.
How much do quartz countertops cost installed?
Quartz countertops at XKitchens start at $78 per square foot installed, and most kitchens land between $78 and $118 depending on the colour and veining you choose.
| Tier | Installed, per sq ft | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | from $78 | Solid whites, greys, soft veining |
| Designer | from $92 | Marble-look veining. Caesarstone, Silestone, HanStone, Viatera |
| Premium | from $118 | Cambria, bookmatched and 3D veining |
Every one of those rates already includes the built-up mitred edge on 2 cm stone, the first undermount sink cut-out and faucet hole, delivery and installation. Porcelain and Dekton are quoted per project.
How much do granite countertops cost per square foot?
Granite runs $55 to $140 per square foot installed across the GTA in 2026, which makes it the widest range of any common countertop material.
The spread is real, not marketing. Entry-level granite in a common colour can undercut budget quartz. Exotic slabs with dramatic movement, imported in limited quantities, sit at the top of the range and are priced slab by slab. Granite also needs sealing, roughly once a year, which quartz does not.
How much is quartzite per square foot?
Quartzite runs $90 to $200 per square foot installed in the GTA. That puts it above both granite and engineered quartz in most cases.
Two things drive the price. Quartzite is genuinely hard to quarry, and it is demanding to fabricate. It dulls tooling faster than granite and takes longer to cut and polish cleanly, so the labour side of the number is higher before the slab is even counted.
What you get for it is a true marble look with hardness that beats marble comfortably. For a homeowner who wants the veining without the anxiety, it is usually the honest answer.
Is quartzite more expensive than quartz?
Yes, in almost every case. Quartzite costs roughly 30 to 50 percent more than comparable engineered quartz.
Concretely: quartzite at $90 to $200 per square foot installed against quartz at $78 to $118. On a 40 square foot kitchen, that is a difference of several hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on which slabs you are comparing.
Quartz is cheaper for a straightforward reason. It is manufactured to a consistent spec in a factory, so there is no quarry lottery, no colour variation to work around, and no sealing. Quartzite is pulled out of the ground, and every slab is its own problem to solve.
If you are still deciding between the two on anything other than price, our quartz vs quartzite comparison covers durability, maintenance and heat resistance in detail.
How much does marble cost per square foot?
Marble runs $90 to $250 per square foot installed, and the top end is open-ended. Statement slabs like Calacatta Gold are priced individually and can go well past $250.
Marble is the softest of the stones on this page. It etches with lemon juice and wine, stains if left unsealed, and scratches more readily than granite or quartzite. People who love it accept that patina as part of the material. People who want it to look new in five years are usually happier with a marble-look quartz at $92 to $118.
How much do porcelain and Dekton countertops cost?
At XKitchens porcelain and Dekton are quoted per project, priced after we see the layout rather than at a fixed per-square-foot rate. Send us your layout and we'll price it.
What you pay for is extreme resistance to scratching, heat and UV. You can set a hot pan directly on Dekton without a trivet, and it does not fade in sunlight, which is why it dominates outdoor kitchens and why it is worth the money in a household that cooks hard.
How much does Caesarstone cost per square foot?
Most Caesarstone colours sit in our Designer tier at $92 per square foot installed. The heavier-veined collections move into Premium at $118.
That rate covers the same scope as every other tier here: mitred edge, first sink cut-out, delivery and installation. When you compare a Caesarstone quote against ours, check whether the other number includes fabrication and install or is a slab price with the rest added later.
What does a whole kitchen cost?
Fixed installed prices by kitchen size, with the mitred edge and sink cut-out in. Between sizes it is the same rate per square foot, with no rounding up.
| Kitchen size | Essential | Designer | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 30 sq ft | $2,340 | $2,760 | $3,540 |
| Up to 40 sq ft | $3,120 | $3,680 | $4,720 |
| Up to 50 sq ft | $3,900 | $4,600 | $5,900 |
Porcelain and Dekton are quoted per project. Most GTA kitchens fall between 30 and 50 square feet. A condo galley is often closer to 25, a large kitchen with an island can pass 60.
Kitchens are billed at a 20 square foot minimum. Vanity tops start at $790 installed, or $490 fabricated for pickup, in verified Essential and Designer colours or confirmed remnants up to 60″ wide.
How much does countertop replacement cost?
Replacing an existing countertop costs the same per square foot as a new one, plus a flat removal line: $150 for laminate, $350 for stone, and $700 per full-height backsplash if one comes out. That figure holds for a kitchen of any size, and it is on your quote before you sign rather than appearing on install day.
The rest of the job is identical to a new install. You do not pay a premium for it being a replacement.
What's included in the per-square-foot rate
| Item | In the rate? |
|---|---|
| Slab material | Included |
| Fabrication in our Newmarket shop | Included |
| Built-up mitred edge (2 cm stone) | Included |
| First undermount sink cut-out | Included |
| First faucet hole | Included |
| The sink itself | Supplied separately, from $350 |
| Delivery and installation | Included |
| Final measurement and layout | Included after deposit |
| Old countertop removal | $150 laminate, $350 stone — on the quote up front |
| Old full-height backsplash removal | $700 per backsplash, its own line |
| Stone backsplash or waterfall sides | Quoted separately, see below |
| Extra cut-outs (cooktop, second sink) | $125 each |
| Faucet holes beyond the first | $40 each |
| Plumbing disconnect & reconnect | Not included — please arrange your plumber |
| HST | Not included |
The hidden costs that wreck a budget
A suspiciously low per-square-foot number almost always means something has been stripped out and will be added back later. These are the usual culprits.
- Edge upgrades. Ogee, mitred and bullnose profiles cost more because they take more machine and hand time. At XKitchens the built-up mitred edge on 2 cm stone is already in the price.
- Cut-outs. Often billed at $75 to $150 each around the GTA. Undermount sinks need extra polishing on the exposed edge. Our price includes the first sink cut-out; additional ones are $125.
- Seams. Each seam can add $150 to $300. A smart slab layout minimizes them, a careless one multiplies them.
- Slab thickness. Going from 2 cm to 3 cm typically adds 20 to 30 percent to material cost. It buys a more substantial look and often removes the need for plywood backing.
- Removal and disposal. Frequently quoted separately, sometimes only on install day.
- Backsplash. The $10 to $40 per square foot you see quoted elsewhere is tile. A matching stone splash is cut from the same slab as your counters and priced the same way, by the square foot at your tier rate. A standard 4″ splash is $18 per linear foot. See the backsplash page.
- Waterfall ends. The panel is billed at your tier rate per square foot, plus $450 fabrication and installation per end. On our quartz tiers that works out to roughly $1,000 to $1,300 per end.
When you compare quotes, make sure every one covers the same scope. A quote that looks 15 percent cheaper but excludes cut-outs, seams and removal is not cheaper.
A worked example: counters plus backsplash
The backsplash is where budgets get away from people, because most cost guides price it like tile and a stone splash is quoted like stone.
Here is a real one on Designer quartz at $92 per square foot: a 30 square foot kitchen with a 25 square foot run of wall behind it.
| Line | How it's priced | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Counters, 30 sq ft | 30 × $92, mitred edge and first sink cut-out included | $2,760 |
| Option A — 4″ splash, 22 lin ft | 22 × $18 | $396 |
| Option B — full-height splash, 25 sq ft | 25 × $92, same rate as the counters | $2,300 |
The same kitchen lands at $3,156 with the 4″ splash and $5,060 with the full-height one. Both are honest numbers. They are two different projects.
On the other tiers that same 25 square foot wall is $1,950 on Essential and $2,950 on Premium. Porcelain and Dekton are quoted per project.
How to spend less without regretting it
You do not have to buy the cheapest slab to keep the budget sane.
Choose a standard colour in a mid-range line, and you get the durability and the warranty without the designer premium. Keep edges simple, since eased and straight profiles look clean and are usually included anyway. Design the layout to reduce seams and waste, which a good fabricator will do without being asked. Use remnants for small jobs, because bathroom vanities, laundry tops and bar tops often come out of offcuts at a fraction of the cost.
And get the full scope in writing. Cut-outs, seams, removal, backsplash, all of it. A complete quote beats a cheap one every time.
Why local fabrication changes the math
When the same company measures, fabricates and installs your stone, the middleman markup disappears and so does the finger-pointing. There is no "the fabricator measured wrong" or "the installer wasn't told about the island." One team owns the job.
We fabricate in-house in Newmarket on a Park Industries bridge saw, so your slab does not get shipped around the GTA collecting handling fees and lead time. That is also why we can quote next-day and set your fabrication date on our own saw rather than waiting in another shop's queue.
Frequently asked questions
How much do countertops cost per square foot in Ontario?
Installed countertops in the GTA run $20 to $250 per square foot in 2026. Quartz starts at $78, granite runs $55 to $140, quartzite $90 to $200, and marble $90 to $250 or more. Prices are before HST.
Is quartz cheaper than quartzite?
Yes. Quartz runs $78 to $118 per square foot installed against quartzite at $90 to $200, so quartzite typically costs 30 to 50 percent more.
Is quartz cheaper than granite?
They overlap heavily. Entry-level granite can be cheaper than mid-range quartz, but quartz wins on long-term cost because it never needs sealing.
How much is a countertop for a 40 square foot kitchen?
At XKitchens a 40 square foot kitchen is $3,120 on Essential quartz, $3,680 on Designer and $4,720 on Premium, installed and before HST. Porcelain and Dekton are quoted per project.
Does Dekton cost more than quartz?
Usually, yes. We quote porcelain and Dekton per project, after we see the layout, rather than at a fixed rate like our $78 to $118 per square foot quartz tiers. The premium buys extreme scratch, heat and UV resistance.
How much does it cost to replace a countertop?
The same per square foot as a new one, plus a flat removal charge of $150 for laminate or $350 for stone, regardless of kitchen size. Removing an old full-height backsplash is a separate $700 per backsplash.
Do these prices include HST?
No. Every figure on this page is before tax.
Send us a photo and rough dimensions and you'll have a number within one business day.