Price pages on contractor sites usually exist to get the phone to ring; this one exists so a quote can't surprise you. Halifax Panel Upgrades is a referral service, not the contractor, so the numbers below aren't ours — they're the ranges published by Halifax and Canadian cost guides and by contractors who post real figures, assembled in one table with their sources and their soft spots labelled. Where a Halifax-specific figure doesn't exist in print, we say so instead of inventing one.
The 2026 table
| Job | Published range | Source basis |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminum pigtailing, whole home (~3-bed) | $2,000–$4,500 | Ontario contractor-published; Halifax quotes typically comparable — confirm in writing |
| COPALUM crimp method | ~$50–$80 per connection | Contractor-published; certified-installer availability in Atlantic Canada is limited |
| CO/ALR device replacement | ~$30–$60 per device | Contractor-published per-device figures |
| Panel swap (like-for-like, e.g. Stab-Lok out) | $1,500–$3,500 | Nova Scotia cost guides |
| Panel upgrade, Halifax overall range | $2,200–$5,300 | Halifax-specific cost guides; ~$5,000 average with parts and labour per one Canadian guide |
| Panel + 100→200-amp service bundle | upper half of the range above | Mast, meter base and service conductors move the number — see the 200-amp page |
| Full copper rewire | $8,000–$15,000+ | Ontario-published; access and finishes dominate — treat as an order of magnitude for Halifax |
What actually moves your number
- Device count, for pigtailing. The job is priced per connection point; a 1,900 sq ft split-entry with finished basement has far more outlets than a 900 sq ft bungalow.
- Service condition, for panels. A sound mast and meter base keep a swap simple. Corroded service equipment — common near salt water in HRM — pulls service replacement into scope.
- Amperage decision. Staying at 100 amps is cheaper today; going to 200 amps while the panel is open is dramatically cheaper than doing it later as its own project.
- Access. Finished ceilings under the panel route, crawl spaces, and panel relocations all add hours honestly.
- How many flags one visit clears. Aluminum + Stab-Lok + a 60-amp service in one house is common in HRM's 1960s–70s stock. One permit, one disconnect, one inspection beats three of each.
The bundling rule in one sentence: the permit, the Nova Scotia Power disconnect and the crew's day on site are fixed costs — every extra job added to that same day is priced at its marginal labour and materials, which is why the combined quote is consistently less than the sum of separate ones.
Quotes that are safe to compare
Any quote worth signing in Nova Scotia states four things: the contractor's licence and insurance (electrical contractors here must carry $1 million liability coverage and bonding to be licensed), that a wiring permit will be opened with NS Power, the connector method for aluminum work (AlumiConn, COPALUM or other approved AL-CU connectors — named, not implied), and that the final inspection report is included, since that report is what your insurer actually accepts. A number missing those four items isn't a lower price; it's a different, lesser product.