Electrical panel replacement in Gatineau

In Gatineau, replacing a 200 A or a 100 A electrical panel at STM-Électrique leaves the house without power for about five hours; the price is in the written quote, free of charge. The City requires a permit for electrical work only above $26,000 before taxes, unless the building is subject to a PIIA or a heritage citation.

How much does a panel replacement cost in Gatineau?

At STM-Électrique, the price of an installed 200 A or 100 A panel is in the quote, written and free of charge. It depends on each house.

From one job to the next, the price of a panel replacement varies: you get it in the quote. A secondary panel, for a garage or a basement, costs less.

When the service entrance is also at the end of its life, we often redo it in the same job, and it costs less that way. The details are on our service entrance page.

The price covers what a master electrician does from start to finish: the load calculation, the steps with Hydro-Québec, the permit if one is needed, the declaration of work and the labelling of every circuit.

Aylmer, Hull, Gatineau, Masson-Angers, Buckingham: houses from several eras

The city of Gatineau was born on January 1, 2002, from the merger of five cities: Aylmer, Buckingham, Gatineau, Hull and Masson-Angers. Their names now designate the city’s five sectors.

The 2021 census counts 126,476 occupied dwellings there. About 40% date from before 1981: 16,660 were built in 1960 or earlier, and 33,650 from 1961 to 1980. The following decades added 19,295 dwellings from 1981 to 1990 and 18,185 from 1991 to 2000.

A house that received a dryer, a dishwasher, then a heat pump over the years has often kept the panel it was built with, and the insurer is often the first to flag it.

Which amperage for which house?

It isn’t the age of the panel that sets the amperage you need: it’s the load calculation, which we do before every replacement.

• 60 A: found mostly in houses from before 1960 heated with oil or gas. It’s maxed out when not a single space is left, or when the insurer worries about it at renewal.
• 100 A: common in houses from the 1960s to the 1990s that are still original. It’s no longer enough if a breaker trips as soon as two large appliances start, or if there’s no room at all for an EV charger.
• 200 A: the current benchmark, the one that handles electric heating, a heat pump or an EV charger.

To go further: the 60 amp panel, is 100 amp service enough? and the 200 amp panel.

Fuses, Federal Pioneer and the panels to watch

We replace fuse panels, 60 or 100 amp panels that have become too small, and Federal Pioneer panels with Stab-Lok breakers.

Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok panels are something Adam Chirola, our master electrician, replaces all the time. Commander, CEB and Sylvania panels come up often too. The name on the door isn’t enough to judge a panel: we look at its condition first.

Keeping a fuse box in good condition is allowed, but many insurers refuse it or raise the premium; and screwing in a higher-rated fuse so it stops blowing can start a fire.

Our guides: replacing a fuse box, Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok, Commander and Zinsco and Sylvania.

Do you need a permit from the City of Gatineau?

Gatineau sets its rule in dollars. Work on an existing building whose labour and materials cost less than $26,000 before taxes doesn’t require a permit; above that, electrical work does.

Two exceptions: the exemption doesn’t apply if the work is subject to a site planning and architectural integration program (PIIA) or to a heritage citation bylaw.

A panel replacement on its own therefore usually stays well below the threshold. If your project goes over it, for example with other work in the same job, the permit is part of our job.

Even when no permit is required, the City points out that standards apply and must be followed: a panel is installed to Code, permit or not.

Hydro-Québec: the power cut and reconnection

Gatineau is supplied by Hydro-Québec: to replace a panel, it’s Hydro-Québec we ask for the power cut.

Those steps are ours. We fill in all the forms needed and coordinate the disconnection and the reconnection; you have no calls to make.

Only a master electrician, a member of the Corporation des maîtres électriciens du Québec, can send a declaration of work to Hydro-Québec.

How replacement day goes

On the day, the house is without power for about five hours.

Once the power is off, we take down the old panel and mount the new one. Then comes the longest step, and the most useful for the years ahead: identifying every circuit, one at a time. The power comes back, and we check everything before leaving.

If the house dates from before 1960, we also take a look at the mast and the meter base, often as old as the panel: better to know now than to have to cut the power again later.

Only an electrical contractor is allowed to do this work, including in their own home: that’s Québec’s Master Electricians Act. STM-Électrique holds RBQ licence 5815-0137-01 and is a CMEQ member.

Frequently asked questions