Last updated September 2026. All figures in Canadian dollars unless noted.
The short answer: in 2026, a trades or home service business in Ontario typically pays $10 to $25 per 1,000 impressions, $1.50 to $4 per click, and $25 to $110 per lead on Facebook and Instagram, depending on the trade, the season and the quality of the photos in the ad. A realistic starting point is $1,000 to $2,500 a month in ad spend, paid directly to Meta. Meta leads cost far less than Google leads, and close at roughly half the rate. Both facts matter, and the rest of this article explains why.
One thing to settle before you read on: these are Meta numbers. Google Search costs are a different animal, with leads that run two to three times the price but close at roughly twice the rate, so if that is what you are pricing, see our guide to Google Ads costs in Ontario instead.
How Meta ads pricing works
Facebook and Instagram ads run through the same system, Meta Ads Manager, and Meta charges for attention rather than clicks. The base unit is the CPM, the cost to show your ad to 1,000 people. Everything else, cost per click and cost per lead, falls out of that: if 1,000 people see the ad, 2 percent click and one in ten of those fills in the form, your cost per lead is the CPM divided by two. That is why the photo matters more on Meta than anywhere else. A before-and-after that stops the scroll doubles the click rate and halves the cost per lead with no change to the budget.
Costs are also rising. Meta’s own first-quarter 2026 filing reported the average price per ad up 14 percent year over year in the US and Canada, and Superads’ Canadian data shows the average cost per lead across all industries sitting around $43 USD through 2025 and spiking above $50 USD each January when competition resets. Canada is one of the more expensive Meta markets, and one of the more volatile.
What Ontario trades pay per lead in 2026
Published benchmarks put contractor and construction leads on Meta at roughly $20 to $45 USD when campaigns are built properly, with the construction category projected around $45 USD for 2026. Converted to Canadian dollars and broken out by trade, here is what to expect:
| Trade | Typical cost per lead (CAD) | What drives it down |
|---|---|---|
| Roofing | $35 to $90 | Storm-damage timing, drone shots of finished roofs, free inspection offers |
| Plumbing | $30 to $80 | Water heater and drain promotions; emergency work belongs on Google, not here |
| HVAC | $25 to $90 | Tune-up and maintenance-plan offers in shoulder season are the cheapest leads in the trades |
| Painting | $20 to $60 | Before-and-after photos of your own work, room by room |
| Windows and doors | $35 to $100 | Rebate deadlines and financing offers, install photos |
| Kitchen and bathroom renovation | $40 to $110 | Finished-project carousels, a budget question on the lead form |
| Basement finishing | $40 to $110 | Legal-suite and rental-income angle, before-and-after pairs |
| General home renovation | $35 to $100 | Project galleries, a clear service-area radius |
Cheaper than Google, and why that is not the whole story
A Google Search lead in Ontario runs $60 to $300 because the person typed “furnace repair near me” and needs it fixed today. A Meta lead is a homeowner who was looking at photos of someone’s deck and paused on your ad. That difference shows up in the close rate: Google leads close at roughly 15 to 30 percent, Meta leads at roughly half that. So a $50 Meta lead and a $120 Google lead can cost about the same per booked job.
What Meta does that Google cannot is create demand ahead of the season. A homeowner who was not thinking about their windows sees three of your install photos in March and books a quote in April. The two platforms do different jobs, and published data on running them together shows cost per lead falling by 3 to 29 percent versus either one alone, because the person who saw you on Instagram is more likely to click your name on Google later.
What a month really costs
As with Google, there are two bills. Ad spend goes straight to Meta; $1,000 a month is the practical floor for the system to learn who converts, and $1,500 to $2,500 is where most Ontario contractors settle. Management is the second bill. We charge a flat monthly fee from $800 that covers Google and Meta together, month to month, with the ad spend billed to your own card. Agencies that charge a percentage of spend per platform effectively bill you twice for running both.
A painting company running Meta only might spend $1,200 in ads plus $800 in management for $2,000 a month. At $40 per lead that is 30 estimate requests; at a 12 percent close rate, 3 or 4 jobs, which on a $4,000 average repaint is $12,000 to $16,000 in work.
Six things that lower your Meta cost per lead
- Use your own job photos. Stock images get scrolled past. A real before-and-after from a street they recognize gets clicked.
- Run a lead campaign, not a boosted post. Boosting a post pays for likes. A lead campaign with the pixel installed pays for form fills, and Meta gets better at finding them every week.
- Add one qualifying question to the form. “When are you looking to start?” or a budget range costs you a few cheap leads and saves you dozens of wasted calls.
- Call within five minutes. Meta leads go cold fast. Speed to lead is the single biggest factor in whether a $40 lead becomes a $9,000 job.
- Target the towns you serve, and exclude renters. Homeowner targeting and a tight radius stop you paying to reach people who cannot hire you.
- Refresh the creative every four to six weeks. Meta costs climb when the same people see the same ad; new photos reset it.
Frequently asked questions
Should a contractor start with Facebook or Google?
If the work is urgent (plumbing, HVAC repair, roof leaks), start with Google, because that is where the emergency is typed. If the work is visual and planned (painting, decks, kitchens, windows, basements), Meta can carry a campaign on its own, and Google gets added when the budget allows.
Do Instagram ads cost more than Facebook?
They run through the same auction. Instagram placements often cost a little more per impression and skew younger, but for most trades the right move is to let Meta place the ad across both and cut whichever underperforms after a month.
Why did my cost per lead jump in January?
Every advertiser resets budgets in the new year and competition spikes; Canadian cost per lead has jumped by a third or more each January in the published data. Costs ease through spring. If your season is spring, keep spending; if it is not, pause and come back in March.
Are the leads any good?
They are real homeowners who gave you their number. They are less ready than a Google searcher, so the ones that turn into jobs are the ones that got a call back fast and a follow-up when they went quiet. Lead quality on Meta is mostly a follow-up problem, not an ads problem.
Want the numbers for your own trade and area?
Tell us your trade, your service area and your budget through the contact form and we will reply within a working day with a realistic cost per lead for your situation, and an honest answer if Meta is not the right first step for your business.
Sources: Superads Facebook Ads cost per lead benchmarks, Canada; Meta Platforms Q1 2026 results; Meta ads cost per lead benchmarks by industry, 2026. US-dollar figures converted at roughly $1.35 to $1.40 CAD.