01Lévis, QC · tier 2 market
Low-rise apartment building cost in Lévis
A four to six storey wood-frame or light-structure rental building with double-loaded corridors and surface or partial underground parking. Unit count matters more than area: repetition of kitchens and bathrooms sets the rate.
02The curated band
Hard cost, standard spec
$275/sf
Band $224 – $344
All-in, preset build
$394/sf
60,000 sf, 4 storey
Hard share of all-in
73%
Rest is soft cost, charges, contingency, escalation
QC escalation
3.5%/yr
Quarter ending 2025-09-30
Buildlor Construction Cost Index · Last updated 2026-01-15 · Maintained by Buildlor Cost Desk
Scope: Lévis, Quebec — Low-rise apartment building
Inputs: Altus Group Canadian Cost Guide 2025, Toronto base range; Statistics Canada Building Construction Price Index, table 18-10-0135-01
Next scheduled review: 2026-04-15
03Build the stack
Your build
All-in cost — Apartment (low-rise), Lévis
$23,635,915
$394/sf · band $18,963,633 – $30,034,745
At this specification the apartment (low-rise) prices at about $394 per square foot all-in, with a 47% spread between the low and high band. Hard cost is 73% of the total and everything above it is soft cost, charges, contingency and escalation.
| Line | Amount | $/sf |
|---|---|---|
| Substructure and foundations | $1,928,203 | $32/sf |
| Structure and frame | $3,856,406 | $64/sf |
| Envelope, roofing and glazing | $2,892,305 | $48/sf |
| Interior partitions and finishes | $2,249,570 | $37/sf |
| Mechanical and plumbing | $2,570,938 | $43/sf |
| Electrical and life safety | $1,767,520 | $29/sf |
| General conditions and fee | $803,418 | $13/sf |
| Site work and servicing | $1,285,469 | $21/sf |
| Hard cost subtotal | $17,353,829 | $289/sf |
| Design and consultants | $1,388,306 | $23/sf |
| Permits, approvals and reviews | $347,077 | $6/sf |
| Project management and testing | $694,153 | $12/sf |
| Financing, insurance and legal | $1,041,230 | $17/sf |
| Contingency (10%) | $2,082,459 | $35/sf |
| Escalation to midpoint (12 mo) | $728,861 | $12/sf |
| All-in cost | $23,635,915 | $394/sf |
How these figures were produced
- Observed — Recorded directly from the cited source series, unadjusted.
- Modelled — Derived arithmetically from observed inputs using the published method; not a market quote.
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04What moves the number
Cost drivers for this type in Lévis
Unit mix
a building of bachelor and one-bedroom units carries more kitchens and bathrooms per square foot than a two-bedroom building.
Parking type
switching from surface to a single level of underground parking is one of the largest single cost swings in the stack.
Encapsulated mass timber or six-storey wood frame prices below concrete but has firestopping and inspection cost.
Encapsulated mass timber or six-storey wood frame prices below concrete but has firestopping and inspection cost.
Development charges per unit, not per square foot, dominate soft cost in most Ontario municipalities.
Development charges per unit, not per square foot, dominate soft cost in most Ontario municipalities.
Lévis shares Quebec City's trade pool but its greenfield industrial land keeps site work simple. That is why the same drawings priced in Lévis and in Toronto do not land at the same number even when the trades are the same.
On the preset build above, hard cost is $17,353,829 and everything after it — soft cost, charges, contingency and escalation — adds $6,282,086. Budgeting off a hard rate alone is the single most common way an early construction budget goes wrong.
Buildlor facts
- Hard cost for a apartment (low-rise) in Lévis sits at $275 per square foot at standard specification.
- Soft cost at 20% of hard adds $3,470,766 to the preset build.
- QC construction escalation is running at 3.5% a year, or $728,861 over twelve months on this build.
05Related
Other types in Lévis
- Warehouse and distribution shellWarehouse · tier 1 topic
- Low-rise office buildingOffice (low-rise) · tier 1 topic
- Retail strip and plaza shellRetail strip · tier 1 topic
- High-rise apartment towerApartment (high-rise) · tier 2 topic
- Office tenant improvementOffice fit-out · tier 1 topic
- Retail tenant improvementRetail fit-out · tier 2 topic
- Medical and dental clinic fit-outMedical fit-out · tier 3 topic
06Questions
What does it cost to build a apartment (low-rise) in Lévis?
On the curated Lévis band, hard cost runs $224 to $344 per square foot for a apartment (low-rise) at standard specification. Adding site work, soft cost, charges, contingency and twelve months of escalation puts the all-in figure near $394 per square foot on a 60,000 sf preset. Your own area and specification change that number, which is what the builder above is for.
Why does Lévis price where it does?
Lévis shares Quebec City's trade pool but its greenfield industrial land keeps site work simple. The published Toronto base range is scaled by a documented factor of 0.86 for this market, and the QC escalation series is running at 3.5 percent a year.
Is the development charge in this number?
No. We do not yet hold a charge row for Lévis. Enter the figure from the municipality's schedule in the builder.
What is excluded from every figure here?
Land, financing interest during construction beyond the soft-cost allowance, taxes recoverable as input credits, tenant furniture and equipment, and any remediation or off-site works. Those are separate line items in a real proforma.
07Sources
Sources
- [1] Altus Group Canadian Cost Guide 2025, Toronto base range — Published Toronto range scaled by a documented city cost factor of 0.86. Hard cost only: excludes land, soft costs, development charges and contingency.
- [2] Statistics Canada Building Construction Price Index, table 18-10-0135-01 — Non-residential building construction, Montreal CMA.
Not advice — Buildlor is a data publisher. We do not bid, price, estimate, or build work, and nothing here is a quote, a tender price, or construction advice. Figures are indicative order-of-magnitude benchmarks for early budgeting and must be confirmed by a qualified cost consultant, quantity surveyor, or general contractor before you rely on them. About Buildlor