Guide · Pricing

Showing prices on your website,
without getting it wrong.

Most service businesses avoid putting prices online because every job is different. Customers look for them anyway, and a range with honest conditions answers the first question before they call. Two rules decide what an honest price looks like in Ontario: the federal drip pricing rule and the provincial rule on estimates. Both are current as of September 2026.

Published 2026-09-21 · Formory Group

The short answer.

You can publish ranges, starting prices and flat rates. What you cannot do is advertise a price nobody can actually pay because a fixed, mandatory fee gets added later. Sales tax is the exception: HST can be shown separately.

If you give an Ontario consumer an estimate, the final bill cannot exceed it by more than 10 percent unless the customer asks for additional or different work and you agree a new price. Build your published prices so they survive both rules.

What the drip pricing rule says.

Amendments to the Competition Act in force since June 23, 2022 added the same sentence to the criminal provision, section 52(1.3), and the civil provision, section 74.01(1.1). A representation of a price that is not attainable due to fixed obligatory charges or fees is a false or misleading representation. The only exception is an amount imposed by an Act of Parliament or a provincial legislature, meaning taxes and similar government charges.

The Competition Bureau's guide to the 2022 amendments explains the practical effect: the Bureau no longer has to prove that drip pricing is deceptive, only that the advertised price could not be paid because of mandatory fees. Its drip pricing page sums up the advice for businesses: never promote an unattainable price. The rule applies to any business promoting a product or service, not only large ones. In September 2024 the Competition Tribunal found that a mandatory $1.50 online booking fee on Cineplex tickets was drip pricing and ordered a $38.9 million penalty, the amount the fee had collected from June 2022 to December 2023. A small fee on every order was enough.

What counts as a hidden fee for a service business.

Think about every charge that appears on every job. A service call fee, trip charge, booking fee, admin fee, fuel surcharge, disposal fee or "shop supplies" line that every customer pays is a fixed obligatory charge. If your website says "Furnace tune-up $X" and every tune-up invoice also carries a mandatory trip charge, the advertised price is not attainable. Fold the charge into the price you show.

Charges that depend on the job are different, but only if you say so. Extra parts, a second technician for heavy items, or after-hours work can be listed as conditions next to the price. The Act also looks at the general impression a representation gives, not only its literal meaning, so fine print that contradicts the headline price is not a safe harbour.

HST can be shown as "plus HST", because it is imposed by law. Showing prices that already include HST is also fine; just be consistent across the site.

Ontario's estimate rule.

Section 10 of Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002 says that if a consumer agreement includes an estimate, the supplier cannot charge more than 10 percent above it. If you do, the consumer can require you to do the work at the estimated price. You and the customer can still agree to amend the estimate if they want additional or different work. Ontario's business guide to consumer protection advises getting that agreement in writing.

Ontario passed a new Consumer Protection Act in 2023. As of the September 16, 2026 e-Laws currency date it is not yet in force, and its estimates section keeps the same 10 percent limit. The 2002 Act still applies.

The rule covers the estimate you give a specific customer, not the range on your website. But the two are connected: if the website range is lower than the estimates you actually write, customers notice, and you spend the first call explaining the gap.

Page structures that work.

Flat price. For work that really is the same every time: the name of the service, one price, what is included, what is not, and whether HST is included. Example structure: "Water heater flush: $X plus HST. Includes travel within [area], labour and disposal. Parts extra if needed, quoted before work starts."

Starting price with conditions. "From $X" works when a real, common job costs $X. Name what that job is and what moves the price up: "From $X for a single-storey home up to [size]. Two storeys, steep roofs or access issues increase the price; we confirm in writing before starting."

Range with drivers. For variable work, publish the range you actually see and the two or three factors that decide where a job falls in it. Use your own invoices from the past year to set the range, not competitors' pages. A range built from your own jobs is one you can defend.

Minimum charge. If you have a minimum, say so next to every price it affects. A "from $X" headline for a job that always triggers a higher minimum is a price the customer cannot actually pay.

Keeping the website honest over time.

Published prices go stale quietly. Put a review date in your calendar each time you raise prices, and change the site the same day. If you list prices in more than one place, such as service pages, a pricing page and booking or payment tools, keep a short list of every place they appear.

Prices work best next to the service they describe. Our guide to what belongs on a service business home page covers where they fit, and we publish our own on our pricing page. If you plan to add a card fee, read our guide on card surcharges and e-Transfer first, since a surcharge has its own disclosure rules.

This is general information, not legal advice. For a specific pricing question, ask the Competition Bureau or Consumer Protection Ontario.

Sources.

Straight answers.

Is it legal to add a service call fee after showing a price online?

Not if the fee is mandatory on every job. Since June 23, 2022, advertising a price that cannot be paid because of fixed obligatory fees is a false or misleading representation under the Competition Act. Include the fee in the price you show.

Can I show prices plus HST?

Yes. The drip pricing rule excludes amounts imposed by federal or provincial law, such as sales tax.

How much can a final bill go over an estimate in Ontario?

No more than 10 percent above the estimate under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, unless the customer asks for additional or different work and you agree a new price.

Is a price range on my website an estimate?

Not by itself. The 10 percent rule applies to an estimate in an agreement with a consumer. The range should still match what you actually charge.

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Showing prices on your website,without getting it wrong.