Quick answer: 2026 Vancouver fence pricing
In 2026, most Metro Vancouver homeowners pay $45 to $95 per linear foot installed for a standard 6-foot cedar, vinyl or aluminum fence, less for chain link, more for fabricated metal. A typical 150-foot backyard replacement, including removing the old fence and one gate, lands around $8,000 to $14,500 all-in.
By budget tier, installed, per linear foot:
- Budget: chain link $25–$45 · pressure-treated wood $30–$55
- Mid-range: western red cedar $45–$75 · vinyl / PVC $45–$80
- Premium: composite $60–$90 · powder-coated aluminum $55–$95
- Fabricated metal: steel / ornamental iron $80–$150 · fully custom wrought iron $120–$250+
Slope, shallow bedrock, tight access and old-fence removal all push a quote above these baselines. The price-band tables below break the same numbers down by length, height and site condition so you can work out your own.
How we built these numbers
These ranges are compiled from published 2026 pricing from Metro Vancouver installers, BC fencing contractors and Canadian cost aggregators, and then sanity-checked against what we see quoting and fabricating fence and gate work on North Shore terrain. Where sources disagreed, we show the combined band rather than picking a number that flatters us. This is not a North Shore Iron Works price list. A price list would be misleading: on our lots, the site drives the number more than the material does. What we can tell you honestly is which line items move a quote, and by how much, that’s what the rest of this page is.
Average cost of a fence in Vancouver by material (2026)
The table below is the installed cost per linear foot, material, labour, posts, hardware and standard footings for a 6-foot fence on reasonably accessible ground. Your quote will land somewhere inside these bands depending on height, terrain, access and finish.
| Material | Cost per linear foot (installed) | Typical 150 ft project | Expected lifespan on the coast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chain link (galvanized) | $25 – $45 | $3,750 – $6,750 | 15 – 20 years |
| Chain link (black vinyl-coated) | $30 – $50 | $4,500 – $7,500 | 20 – 25 years |
| Pressure-treated wood | $30 – $55 | $4,500 – $8,250 | 10 – 15 years |
| Western red cedar (standard) | $45 – $75 | $6,750 – $11,250 | 15 – 25 years with maintenance |
| Cedar, framed or good-neighbour | $75 – $95 | $11,250 – $14,250 | 20 – 30 years with maintenance |
| Vinyl / PVC | $45 – $80 | $6,750 – $12,000 | 20 – 30 years |
| Composite | $60 – $90 | $9,000 – $13,500 | 25 – 30 years |
| Aluminum (powder-coated) | $55 – $95 | $8,250 – $14,250 | 30 – 40 years |
| Steel / ornamental iron | $80 – $150 | $12,000 – $22,500 | 40+ years |
| Custom fabricated wrought iron | $120 – $250+ | $18,000 – $37,500+ | 50+ years |
Why published Vancouver fence prices disagree so wildly
If you have spent an evening reading fence cost pages, you have probably noticed they contradict each other one BC contractor lists ornamental metal at $20–$45 a foot while another Vancouver source puts the same category at $60–$100. Both are quoting real numbers; they are just not quoting the same thing. 3 things explain almost all of the spread:
- Supply-only versus installed. A supplier quoting panels off a rack and a contractor quoting a finished fence with posts in the ground are roughly a factor of two apart. If a number looks too good, check whether labour is in it.
- Stale pages. Several of the Vancouver-specific cost pages still ranking today were last updated in 2021 or 2023. Cedar and steel have not held still since then.
- Nobody defines the site. Most published ranges quietly assume a flat, accessible lot. On the North Shore that assumption is wrong more often than it’s right, which is why we’ve priced the terrain separately below rather than hiding it inside a wide band.
Where the money goes
On a typical residential job, expect roughly 40–55% materials and 45–60% labour. That ratio surprises almost every homeowner who prices out the lumber first and then sees the installed quote — on Canadian renovation forums, “I calculated the material at $X and the quote was 3× that” is one of the most common posts. The gap is not markup; it is holes, concrete, carrying, framing and cleanup. Installers in the region generally bill $35–$65 an hour, or price labour at $10–$25 per linear foot when quoting by the foot and BC’s carpenter wage data supports that, with a provincial median around $32 an hour before overhead, insurance and vehicles. Anyone quoting far below those numbers is either subcontracting to an unvetted crew, using thinner-gauge material, or setting posts shallower than our soil and wind really need.
Work out your own price band: Vancouver & North Shore, 2026
This is the same three-step arithmetic a contractor runs before quoting, written out so you can run it yourself in about two minutes: take the base cost for your material and length, adjust it for height and site conditions, then add the line items your job actually needs. It gives you a budget band, not a quote but it is built on current Metro Vancouver rates rather than the five-year-old numbers most online fence cost pages still run on.
Step 1: Base cost by material and length
Installed cost for a standard 6-foot fence on flat, accessible ground: material, labour, posts, hardware and standard footings. Find your material, then read across to the length closest to your fence line.
| Material | 50 ft | 100 ft | 150 ft | 200 ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chain link, galvanized | $1,250 – $2,250 | $2,500 – $4,500 | $3,750 – $6,750 | $5,000 – $9,000 |
| Chain link, black vinyl-coated | $1,500 – $2,500 | $3,000 – $5,000 | $4,500 – $7,500 | $6,000 – $10,000 |
| Pressure-treated wood | $1,500 – $2,750 | $3,000 – $5,500 | $4,500 – $8,250 | $6,000 – $11,000 |
| Western red cedar, standard | $2,250 – $3,750 | $4,500 – $7,500 | $6,750 – $11,250 | $9,000 – $15,000 |
| Cedar, framed / good-neighbour | $3,750 – $4,750 | $7,500 – $9,500 | $11,250 – $14,250 | $15,000 – $19,000 |
| Vinyl / PVC | $2,250 – $4,000 | $4,500 – $8,000 | $6,750 – $12,000 | $9,000 – $16,000 |
| Composite | $3,000 – $4,500 | $6,000 – $9,000 | $9,000 – $13,500 | $12,000 – $18,000 |
| Powder-coated aluminum | $2,750 – $4,750 | $5,500 – $9,500 | $8,250 – $14,250 | $11,000 – $19,000 |
| Steel / ornamental iron | $4,000 – $7,500 | $8,000 – $15,000 | $12,000 – $22,500 | $16,000 – $30,000 |
| Custom wrought iron | $6,000 – $12,500 | $12,000 – $25,000 | $18,000 – $37,500 | $24,000 – $50,000 |
Not sure of your length? Walk the line and count paces an adult stride is close enough to three feet for a budget number. Corners and returns count; gates do not, because they are priced separately in Step 3.
Step 2: Adjust for height and site conditions
Multiply the Step 1 figure by one factor from each half of this table. A 4-foot front-yard fence is cheaper than the base number; a steep, rocky back yard is dearer. Both ends of your range move together.
| Factor | Multiply by | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Height 4 ft (1.2 m) | × 0.72 | The usual front-yard limit. Shorter posts, less material, shallower footings. |
| Height 5 ft (1.5 m) | × 0.86 | Common on side yards where a 6 ft run would crowd a walkway. |
| Height 6 ft (1.8 m) | × 1.00 | The standard privacy height and the base assumption in Step 1. |
| Height 8 ft (2.4 m) | × 1.28 | Deeper posts, an extra rail, more wind load. Only where the bylaw allows it. |
| Site flat, truck access, clear line | × 1.00 | The base assumption. Rare above the highway on the North Shore. |
| Site moderate slope or tight access | × 1.12 | Panels racked or stepped, material carried in rather than dropped at the line. |
| Site steep grade, shallow rock, or stairs only | × 1.30 | Individual layout for every section, and often hand-digging. See the site-condition table for the per-post version of this. |
Step 3: Add the line items your job actually needs
These are added on top of the adjusted figure, not folded into it. Most of the difference between two quotes for the same fence lives in this table rather than in the material.
| Line item | Add | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Remove & dispose of an existing fence | $1 – $3 per foot |
Almost every replacement. Disposal fees are the variable part. |
| Vegetation & root clearing | $2 – $5 per foot |
Overgrown lines — blackberry, laurel, established cedar roots. |
| Walk gate with hardware | $400 – $1,600 each |
A stock wood gate sits at the bottom; a welded steel frame with self-closing hardware at the top. |
| Fabricated driveway gate, manual | $3,500 – $9,000 | Single or double swing, sized to the opening and the slope of the driveway. |
| Gate automation, sensors & electrical | $2,500 – $7,000 | Operator, safety edge, loop detector and a trenched power run. |
| Stain or seal, first coat | $3 – $7 per foot |
Wood only. Optional, but it is the cheapest year you will ever buy on a cedar fence. |
| Hand-digging or rock-drilled posts | $40 – $300 per post |
Glacial till or bedrock. Posts sit roughly every 8 ft. |
Worked example: a 150-foot cedar backyard in North Vancouver
Standard 6 ft western red cedar, a moderately sloped rear yard with a narrow side-yard approach, the old fence coming out, one walk gate going in.
| Step | Running range |
|---|---|
| Step 1 — cedar, standard, 150 ft | $6,750 – $11,250 |
| Step 2 — 6 ft height (× 1.00), moderate slope and tight access (× 1.12) | $7,550 – $12,600 |
| Step 3 — remove & dispose of the old fence (150 ft × $1–$3) | + $150 – $450 |
| Step 3 — one walk gate with hardware | + $400 – $1,600 |
| Budget band | $8,100 – $14,650 |
≈ $54 – $98 per linear foot, all in
Budget estimate only. Permits, surveys, retaining structures, gate electrical runs and municipal tree-permit fees are not included — see the costs quotes leave out. For a number you can actually sign, we need to see the line. Book a site visit and we will walk it with you.
What hidden factors drive up fencing quotes on the North Shore?
Two houses on the same street can get quotes $4,000 apart for the same length of fence. Almost every cost guide you will read says “terrain affects price” and then declines to say by how much. Here are the numbers.
| Condition | Typical adder | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Racked or stepped panels on grade | +10 – 25% on the fence line |
Every section is laid out individually. Racking needs a system built for it — welded steel and aluminum handle it cleanly; stock vinyl usually can’t. |
| Hand-digging in glacial till | +$40 – $90 per post |
Common on the upper North Shore. An auger that stops on a boulder becomes two people with a bar and a shovel. |
| Rock-drilled or anchored posts | +$120 – $300 per post |
Bedrock means drilling, epoxy anchors or surface base plates instead of a footing. |
| No vehicle access — stairs or narrow side yard | +15 – 30% on labour |
Every post, bag of concrete and panel is carried. Lane-access properties are cheap to fence; steep driveways are not. |
| Fence on top of a retaining wall | +$1,500 – $6,000 plus engineering |
Most municipalities count the wall toward total height and require engineering above roughly 1.2 m. Structurally it is a different job. |
| Established root mass (cedar, blackberry, laurel) | +$2 – $5 per foot |
The line has to be cleared before it can be laid out, and roots move post locations. |
| Coastal salt exposure (waterfront, Deep Cove, West Van shoreline) | +8 – 15% on metalwork |
Hot-dip galvanizing before powder coat and stainless fasteners rather than zinc-plated. |
Slope and terrain
Very little of North Vancouver or West Vancouver is flat. A sloped run has to be either racked panels follow the grade or stepped, where panels stay level and drop in increments, leaving triangular gaps at the bottom that then need infill or grading. Either approach adds labour, and stepping often adds retaining work. Budget 10–25% above a flat-lot quote.
Rock
Hit bedrock and post holes stop being a job for an auger. Rock drilling, epoxy-set anchors or surface-mounted base plates all cost more than digging, and they are common enough on the upper North Shore that any experienced local installer will ask about it before quoting. If a quote doesn’t say what happens when a hole hits rock, ask. That is the clause that turns into a change order.
Our rain, specifically
Metro Vancouver gets well over a metre of rain a year North Vancouver’s annual average approaches 2,100 mm, nearly double flatter parts of the Lower Mainland and that is the single biggest reason material choice matters here more than in a dry climate. Untreated wood at grade sits in wet soil, splashback, mulch and organic debris. It wicks moisture and rots from the bottom up, which is why the posts always fail before the boards do. We see it on nearly every replacement we quote: the homeowner says “the fence looks fine” and then we push on a post near grade and it gives. North-facing fence lines are the worst they hold moisture, collect moss, and develop rot years earlier than the sun-facing side of the same yard. Uncoated or thinly-coated steel corrodes at the welds and fasteners first. This is why hot-dip galvanizing before powder coating is worth paying for on metalwork, and why post bases and end-cuts deserve as much attention as the visible panels.
Season
Fence crews in the Lower Mainland are booked solid from March through September and quiet from November through February. Winter work is slower wet ground, short days, concrete that cures reluctantly — but it is also when you have the most negotiating room and the shortest wait. If your fence is standing but tired, booking a January install is one of the few genuinely free ways to save money on this job.
Three project shapes and what they cost
The three scenarios below are modelled on the market ranges in the tables above rather than on single jobs. They exist so you can take your own quote and map it line by line if a row in your quote doesn’t appear here, or a row here is missing from your quote, that’s the question to ask before you sign.
Scenario A: Replacing a failed wood fence on a flat lot
130 linear ft · 6 ft cedar · level rear yard · lane access · one 4 ft walk gate
| Line item | Range |
|---|---|
| Remove & dispose of the old fence | $400 – $900 |
| Cedar fence, supplied and installed (130 ft) | $5,850 – $9,750 |
| Walk gate with hardware | $400 – $900 |
| Stain / sealer, first coat (optional) | $450 – $900 |
| Realistic all-in | $7,100 – $12,450 |
This is the most common fence job in the Lower Mainland and the one most quotes are benchmarked against. Nothing here is difficult which is exactly why a quote well below this band usually means thinner posts, wider spacing or shallower footings rather than a better deal.
Scenario B: Front-yard curb appeal on a slope
55 linear ft · 4 ft powder-coated aluminum or steel picket · moderate slope · racked panels · one pedestrian gate
| Line item | Range |
|---|---|
| Site prep, layout, minor grading | $300 – $700 |
| Metal picket fence, supplied and installed (55 ft) | $3,025 – $5,225 |
| Racking / stepping allowance on slope | $300 – $900 |
| Pedestrian gate, latch and self-closing hinge | $700 – $1,600 |
| Realistic all-in | $4,325 – $8,425 |
Front yards are height-restricted in every municipality on this list, which is why 4 ft is the working assumption. Check the bylaw table before you settle on a height the front-yard limit is the single most commonly broken fence rule in Metro Vancouver.
Scenario C: Full perimeter with a driveway gate
200 linear ft · 6 ft fence · one 14 ft driveway gate · one walk gate · partial rock
| Line item | Range |
|---|---|
| Demolition, haul-away, disposal fees | $800 – $1,800 |
| Perimeter fence, supplied and installed (200 ft) | $9,000 – $20,000 |
| Rock drilling / anchored posts allowance | $600 – $2,000 |
| Fabricated driveway gate, manual | $3,500 – $9,000 |
| Gate automation, if added | $2,500 – $7,000 |
| Realistic all-in | $13,900 – $39,800 |
The spread here is enormous and that is honest, not evasive. A 14 ft gate can be a simple welded frame on drop rods or an engineered cantilever with an operator, safety edges, loop detectors and a trenched electrical run. See our custom gate fabrication for how those choices change the number.
The costs most quotes leave out
These are the items that turn a $7,000 fence into a $9,500 fence. None of them are unreasonable charges they are just frequently unstated at quote time, which is what makes them feel like surprises.
| Item | Typical cost | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Old fence removal | $3 – $8 / ft standalone ≈ $1 – $3 / ft bundled |
Almost every replacement. Far cheaper bundled with the new install than hired separately, because the crew is already on site with the truck. |
| Breaking out concrete-set posts | $25 – $50 each | Old fences whose posts were properly set. Ironically, the better the old fence was built, the more it costs to remove. |
| Disposal / transfer-station fees | $100 – $500 per load | Treated wood and mixed debris. Ask whether it is inside the quote or billed after at cost. |
| Vegetation & root clearing | $2 – $5 / ft | Overgrown fence lines, blackberry, established laurel or cedar hedging. |
| Gates | $400 – $1,600 (walk) $3,500 – $9,000+ (driveway) |
Every gate is a small fabrication job with its own frame, hardware and swing geometry. Never legitimately priced per foot. |
| Gate automation | $2,500 – $7,000 | Operator, safety sensors, keypad or intercom, and the electrical to reach it. |
| Tree permits | Fee varies by municipality | Every municipality on the North Shore and in Vancouver regulates removal or significant root disturbance of protected trees. A fence line through a root zone can require a permit and an arborist report. |
| Retaining-wall permits & engineering | Engineering typically four figures | Both North Vancouver municipalities require a permit for retaining walls above about 1.2 m, and Coquitlam requires a professional engineer above 1.2 m. If your fence sits on a wall, this is a real line item. |
| Survey / property-line confirmation | Several hundred dollars | Any time the line is disputed or the pins can’t be found. Cheaper than moving a finished fence. |
| BC 1 Call utility locates | Free to request private locates billable |
Always, before any digging. Public utility locates are free; locating private lines on your side of the meter — irrigation, gas to a fire pit, low-voltage lighting, a pool heater feed — is usually a paid service. |
| Finishing (stain, seal, paint) | $3 – $7 / ft | Wood, in year one and again every few years afterwards. |
Fence height rules and permits by municipality (2026)
Short version: in most of Metro Vancouver you may build roughly 1.2 m (4 ft) in the front yard and 1.8–2.0 m (6–6.5 ft) in the side and rear yards without a permit but the exact numbers, and what counts as “height” when there’s a retaining wall involved, differ from city to city. Height is the cheapest thing to get wrong and the most expensive thing to fix.
This is where a lot of fence budgets quietly break. A homeowner prices a 6 ft fence across the whole property, then discovers the front section is limited to 4 ft, or that the retaining wall the fence sits on counts toward the total. Here is what the five municipalities we work in actually publish.
| Municipality | Front yard | Side & rear | Fence permit? | The local catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Vancouver | 1.2 m (≈3 ft 11 in) |
1.9 m (≈6 ft 3 in) |
No fence permit as such over-height requires a discretionary Development Permit | A retaining wall reduces what you may build on top of it the wall counts against the fence allowance. Going over height is a discretionary approval, not a formality. |
| City of North Vancouver | 1.22 m (4 ft) anywhere 1.829 m (6 ft) behind the front face of the house |
1.829 m (6 ft) |
No fence permit | On a corner lot, the 15 ft sight triangle at the intersection is capped at 3 ft. A retaining wall over 1.2 m needs its own permit. Pool enclosures must be 1,070 mm with gaps no wider than 100 mm. |
| District of North Vancouver | 6 ft | 8 ft | No fence permit | The one people miss: a fence on a retaining wall counts the wall toward total height a 4 ft wall leaves you 2 ft of fence. Retaining walls over 1.22 m need a permit. Pool enclosures 1,200 mm. |
| District of West Vancouver | 1.2 m or 1.8 m depending on zone |
1.8 m or 2.4 m depending on zone |
No fence permit | Zone-dependent, so two neighbours on different zoning can have different limits. Exposed wall face is capped at 2.4 m. |
| City of Coquitlam | 1.3 m forward of the front face |
1.8 m | No fence permit at any height | Within 6 m of a corner, 1 m maximum. Wall plus fence combined is capped at 3 m. Retaining walls over 1.2 m need an engineer and over 2.4 m are not permitted at all. Pool enclosures 1.2 m, self-closing and opening outward. |
The rule almost nobody reads until it’s too late
In both North Vancouver municipalities, a fence standing on a retaining wall is measured from the bottom of the wall, not from the ground you’re standing on. On a terraced North Shore lot that can cut your usable fence height in half. If your project involves any change in grade along the fence line, resolve the height question with the municipality before you order material — it changes the design, the engineering and the price.
Property lines, shared fences, and who pays for what in BC
Short version: a fence built entirely on your land is yours to build and yours to pay for. A fence built on the boundary is a shared structure, needs your neighbour’s agreement, and the cost is conventionally split evenly — but only for the standard both parties agreed to. If one side wants an upgrade, that side pays the difference.
Building on the wrong side of the line is the single most expensive mistake in fencing, because the remedy is demolition. If the surveyor’s pins aren’t visible, get the line confirmed before anyone digs. A few hundred dollars for a survey beats a five-figure rebuild and a decade of awkwardness over the hedge.
The practical rules, as they actually play out in BC:
- Wholly on your side — your fence, your decision, your bill. Your neighbour has no say in the material or the colour, though the bylaw height limits still apply.
- On the boundary — a jointly-owned structure. Both owners need to agree, and neither can remove or alter it unilaterally. Splitting the cost 50/50 is the convention, not a statute, so put the split in writing before the work starts.
- One side wants better — if your neighbour is content with pressure-treated and you want powder-coated steel, the reasonable and commonly-accepted arrangement is that they contribute what the agreed standard would have cost and you cover the difference.
- It goes wrong anyway — disputes under $5,000 go to the Civil Resolution Tribunal, which is designed to be used without a lawyer. Above that, up to $35,000, it’s BC Provincial Court’s small claims division.
None of this is legal advice — it is what we see on job sites. People’s Law School of BC has a good plain-language breakdown of fence and neighbour law in this province, and it is worth reading before the conversation with your neighbour starts. But one habit prevents nearly every fence dispute we have been asked to referee: a short written note, signed by both neighbours before the first post hole, stating where the fence sits relative to the line, what it is made of, how tall it is, and who is paying what. Two paragraphs and two signatures.
Cheap today vs. cheap over 20 years
Per-foot price answers one question. The more useful question, if you plan to stay in the house, is what the fence costs you over its life — including refinishing, repairs and eventual replacement. The estimates below assume a 150-foot residential fence in coastal Lower Mainland conditions.
| Material | Install (mid-range) | Maintenance over 20 yrs | Replacement inside 20 yrs? | Rough 20-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure-treated wood | $6,400 | $3,000 – $5,000 | Yes, usually once | $14,000 – $18,000 |
| Western red cedar | $9,000 | $3,000 – $6,000 | Partial — posts and bottom boards | $13,000 – $17,000 |
| Vinyl / PVC | $9,400 | $500 – $1,500 | No | $9,900 – $11,000 |
| Aluminum | $11,300 | $500 – $1,500 | No | $11,800 – $12,800 |
| Steel / ornamental iron | $17,300 | $1,500 – $3,500 | No | $18,800 – $20,800 |
The pattern is consistent and worth saying plainly: wood is the cheapest fence to install and one of the most expensive to own, because our climate charges rent on it every single year. Metal is the reverse — a higher number on day one, then very little until you decide you want a different colour. Which one is right depends entirely on how long you’re staying and how much weekend maintenance you actually want to do. Neither answer is wrong; a five-year owner and a thirty-year owner should reach different conclusions from the same table.
Which material for which job
Choose wood if…
You want full privacy at the lowest entry price, you like the look of cedar, and you are prepared to clean and re-seal every few years. Cedar is the regional default for good reasons — locally available, naturally rot-resistant, and it sits right next to West Coast architecture. Two details separate a cedar fence that lasts fifteen years from one that sags in six: what the posts are, and whether the bottom board touches soil. In Vancouver’s wet climate, untreated cedar posts routinely rot right at the soil line within seven to ten years often while the boards above still look fine. Using a steel or pressure-treated post inside a cedar fence adds a little to the cost and years to the life. It is the single highest-value upgrade on a wood fence in this region. See our residential fence installation page for how we detail wood fences for this climate.
Choose vinyl or composite if…
You want privacy with near-zero maintenance and the flatter, more uniform look doesn’t bother you. Two honest caveats for our region: vinyl becomes brittle in a hard freeze, and stock vinyl panels can’t be racked far, so they suit level lots far better than the graded ones that dominate the North Shore. On a slope, vinyl gets stepped which means visible triangular gaps under each panel.
Choose aluminum or steel if…
You want security, sightlines, or a fence that outlives your mortgage. Metal handles slope beautifully because each panel can be racked to the grade, it doesn’t rot, doesn’t warp, and won’t be taken out by a windfall branch. It’s the right answer for front yards, pool enclosures, boundary fences you never want to think about again, and anywhere a fence should look deliberate rather than utilitarian. Our metal fence fabrication page covers profiles, finishes and galvanizing.
Choose custom fabrication if…
Your property has awkward geometry, a steep grade, an unusual height requirement, or a design you can’t buy off a rack. Anything welded to fit costs more per foot than a stock panel that’s the trade for a fence that actually fits the site instead of approximating it.
Aluminum vs. steel vs. wrought iron, the distinction that actually matters
These three get used interchangeably in quotes and they are not the same product, so it’s worth knowing which one you’re being sold.
| Aluminum | Steel / ornamental iron | Custom wrought iron | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical installed | $55 – $95 / ft | $80 – $150 / ft | $120 – $250+ / ft |
| How it’s made | Extruded sections, mechanically assembled, powder coated | Welded tube and picket, usually galvanized then powder coated | Individually fabricated, welded and finished to a drawing |
| Corrosion | Won’t rust at all | Rusts if the coating is breached — which is why the galvanizing under the paint matters more than the paint | Same as steel; specification and prep decide the outcome |
| Strength | Adequate for boundary and pool fencing; dents | Substantially stronger — the right choice for security and wide gates | Strongest, and the only option for spans and geometry stock panels can’t do |
| Best for | Pool enclosures, front yards, long runs on a budget | Security fencing, driveway gates, commercial and strata work | Feature entries, heritage detail, non-standard heights and shapes |
On the coast, the specification question that decides a metal fence’s lifespan isn’t aluminum-versus-steel — it’s whether the steel was hot-dip galvanized before powder coating and whether the fasteners are stainless. Salt air and 1,500-plus millimetres of annual rain find every uncoated weld. A cheaper steel fence with paint straight over mill scale will show rust bleed at the welds inside a few winters, and no amount of touch-up gets ahead of it.
How long a fence job actually takes
Short version: from accepting a quote to standing back and looking at it, budget three to eight weeks for a standard residential fence, and eight to sixteen weeks if it involves custom fabrication, a driveway gate, engineering or a permit. The install itself is usually the shortest part.
| Stage | Typical duration | What can stall it |
|---|---|---|
| Quote & site visit | A few days to 2 weeks | Peak season. Spring is the busiest quoting window of the year. |
| Design, drawings, material order | 3 days – 2 weeks | Custom profiles, non-stock colours, specialty hardware. |
| BC 1 Call utility locates | Around 3 business days | Free but not instant. Private-line locates take longer and are billable. |
| Permits, if required | 2 – 8+ weeks | Over-height approvals, retaining-wall permits, engineering, tree permits. This is the least predictable stage. |
| Fabrication (metal & gates) | 2 – 6 weeks | Galvanizing and powder-coating queues, not the welding. |
| Demolition & disposal | Half a day – 1 day | Concrete-set posts; disposal-site hours. |
| Post setting & concrete cure | 1 – 2 days, then 24 – 72 hrs cure | Rock, roots, saturated ground, cold snaps. Nobody should hang panels on green concrete. |
| Panels, gates, hardware | 1 – 3 days | Gate alignment on uneven ground; automation electrical. |
| Staining / sealing (wood) | Wait weeks to months | New wood needs to dry before it takes a finish. Sealing too early traps moisture. |
Two things follow from this table. First, a contractor who promises to start next week in June is either exceptionally well-organised or not as busy as you’d want. Second, if you want a fence for summer, the time to book it is winter which is also when you have the most negotiating room.
How to compare Vancouver fence contractors (and spot the red flags)
Get three quotes. Then stop comparing bottom-line numbers and start comparing these ten things, because that is where the actual difference lives.
- Post depth, diameter and material. The posts are the fence. Ask how deep they go, how wide the hole is, and what the post is made of. In our frost and rain, this single answer predicts whether you’re buying ten years or twenty-five.
- Post spacing. Six feet versus eight feet on centre is roughly a 30% difference in post count, and it’s invisible on day one and obvious in year seven.
- What happens when a hole hits rock. If the quote is silent on this, it is not a fixed price on the North Shore. Get the rock clause in writing.
- Whether demolition, disposal and dump fees are included — or billed after, at cost.
- Concrete: full footing, partial, or gravel-set? All three are legitimate in the right situation. Only one of them is what you assumed.
- Hardware specification. Galvanized or stainless fasteners, hinge rating, latch type. Coastal fences fail at the fasteners first.
- Finish process on metalwork. “Powder coated” alone tells you nothing. Ask what’s under it: hot-dip galvanized, zinc primed, or bare steel.
- WorkSafeBC clearance letter. Ask for a current one. If a worker is injured on your property and the contractor isn’t in good standing, that exposure can land on the homeowner.
- Liability insurance and a municipal business licence. $2 million liability is the working standard, and the certificate should name you. Business licences are issued per municipality — a licence in one city does not cover work in the next.
- Who calls BC 1 Call, and what happens to private lines. Utility locates are legally required before digging. Make sure it’s explicit whose job it is.
Red flags, plainly
A quote well below the others without a stated reason. Cash-only pricing or pressure to skip a written contract. A large deposit before material is ordered. No licence, no insurance certificate, no WorkSafeBC number. Reluctance to put post depth and spacing in writing. And the most common one of all: a per-foot number quoted over the phone for a property nobody has looked at.
Why fence prices are moving in 2026
Fence quotes are unusually sensitive to two commodity markets and one labour market, and all three moved this year. This is context for why the number you were quoted in 2023 doesn’t hold.
Cedar and softwood
North American softwood lumber capacity is falling by more than 1.3 billion board feet in 2026 — the largest single-year reduction since 2010 with British Columbia accounting for a significant share of the closures. Western red cedar specifically is tight, squeezed by reduced BC harvest levels and beetle-damaged supply. Reduced supply into steady demand does what it always does. For a homeowner this shows up as a higher cedar per-foot rate and longer waits on wide or clear-grade boards, and it narrows the gap between a good cedar fence and a metal one.
Steel and aluminum
Canada extended its steel tariff-rate quotas through June 2027, with a 50% tariff on over-quota steel from non-CUSMA countries. The intent is protecting domestic mills, and the effect on the fabrication side is a market where imported sections are less freely available and domestic pricing carries less downward pressure. To be clear about what this is not: a BC homeowner is not paying a US tariff on a fence. What you’re seeing is a global metals market that has been volatile for three years and shows no sign of settling.
Labour
BC’s minimum wage rose to $18.25 an hour on 1 June 2026, and the median wage for a carpenter in this province sits around $32 an hour. Fencing is labour-heavy — on most jobs, labour is a larger share of the invoice than material — and on difficult sites it dominates the number completely. That is the mechanism behind every terrain surcharge in the table further up this page: it isn’t material, it’s hours.
Where we fit in
North Shore Iron Works is a fabrication shop. We design, build and install fences, gates and railings for homeowners and builders across North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Vancouver and Coquitlam. Because our metalwork is built rather than ordered from a catalogue, we’re usually the right call when a site is sloped, rocky, oddly shaped, or when a stock panel simply will not fit and we will tell you honestly when a straightforward wood fence is the better use of your budget.
- Residential fence installation: Privacy, boundary and front-yard fencing for houses across the North Shore and Metro Vancouver.
- Metal fence fabrication: Powder-coated aluminum, steel and ornamental iron built to the site, including racked runs and rock-anchored posts.
- Custom gates & driveway gates: Walk gates, double-swing and sliding driveway gates, with automation and access control.
- Fence repair & replacement: Post replacement, storm damage, rust repair and re-coating for when the whole fence doesn’t need to go.
If your existing fence is leaning rather than finished, get it looked at before you budget for a full replacement. A fence repair that resets a handful of posts is frequently a fraction of the cost of starting over, and we would rather say so than sell you a fence you don’t need yet.
Published 28 July 2026. Last reviewed 28 July 2026. Material and labour pricing in this market moves with supply costs and municipal bylaws are amended without notice; we review this page at least twice a year and date every revision.
