Architecture Proposal Template (Canada)
Updated on August 8, 2026
A fee proposal is how most Canadian architectural work is won: what the practice understands the project to be, what it will do at each phase, what it will deliver, what it costs with taxes stated, and how long the offer stands. It is a sales document with contractual consequences, because the moment the client signs the acceptance block something has been agreed — and the only question worth settling in advance is what.
In Canada there is a second reason to be careful about that. Where the client is a homeowner and the proposal is signed somewhere other than the practice's place of business, provincial consumer legislation can turn it into a direct agreement with written-content requirements and a cancellation right. This template makes you choose what signing does, prints the cancellation notice when the client is a consumer, and fixes the mechanical faults in the free proposal it replaces — which asks the client to accept terms and conditions it does not contain and prints two separate signature blocks for the same acceptance.
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Architecture Fee Proposal
- Prepared for:
- ,
- Prepared by:
- ,
- Contact:
- Licence and certificate of practice:
- Project:
- ,
- Reference:
- Date:
- Valid until:
This proposal, including its concepts, sketches, drawings and pricing, is confidential and is provided so that you can consider appointing us.
1. Our Understanding of the Brief
2. Services and Deliverables
Each phase includes . Further options or revisions, and any change to the brief, scope, quality or budget after a phase has been approved, are additional services.
3. Exclusions
Our fee does not cover the following, which are provided by others or as additional services if you ask us: .
Land survey, geotechnical investigation, structural, mechanical, electrical and civil engineering, building-code consulting and certification, heritage, environmental and traffic studies, committee of adjustment or variance applications, and permit and development fees are excluded from this proposal. We can recommend consultants for any of them, and you engage them directly unless we agree otherwise in writing.
4. Assumptions
This fee is based on the following assumptions: . If any of them proves incorrect we will tell you promptly, and the affected work will be treated as an additional service and priced before it is carried out.
5. Schedule
. Durations are indicative and depend on the timing of your decisions and approvals and on the timelines of the authorities having jurisdiction. They are not guaranteed dates.
6. Fee
Our fee for the scope described above is a lump sum of .
. Our registration number is . The estimated total payable for the services described, including applicable taxes, is . Payment schedule: . Invoices are payable within days, and interest on overdue accounts is charged at . Disbursements and permit fees are charged in addition at cost: . Additional services are charged at and confirmed in writing before work starts.
7. Estimated Construction Cost
The estimated cost of building this project is , which is separate from our fee. It is a professional opinion based on experience and current market information, not a bid or a guaranteed price, and we do not control labour or material costs or the way contractors price work. If bids exceed your budget we will review the program, scope and specification with you, and redesign requested for that purpose is an additional service.
8. Changes
Either of us may propose a change to the scope, schedule or deliverables. We will confirm in writing the effect on the fee and the schedule, and the change takes effect once you approve it in writing. We will not carry out chargeable work outside this proposal without that approval.
9. Confidentiality and Copyright
We will keep your brief, budget, site information and personal information confidential. This proposal and everything in it, including concepts, sketches, drawings and pricing, remains our property and our copyright. You may use it to evaluate this appointment. No licence to use, build from, develop or share any concept in it with another designer or contractor arises unless we are appointed and our fees are paid.
If we are appointed, we may photograph the completed project and publish it in our portfolio, website, media and award submissions, excluding anything you have identified in writing as confidential.
10. Your Rights
You are entering into this agreement as a consumer, and it is being signed at , which is not our place of business. Provincial consumer protection legislation may treat it as a direct agreement. You may cancel it without giving any reason at any time from the date you enter into it until ten days after you receive the written copy of the agreement. If you do not receive a copy that meets the statutory requirements, your right to cancel may extend to one year from the date you entered into the agreement. To cancel, give us notice in writing at the address above by any method that lets you prove the date it was given. We are giving you a written copy of this agreement at signature.
11. Validity and Acceptance
This proposal is open for acceptance until . After that date it may be withdrawn or revised, including the fee and the estimated construction cost.
Signing below accepts this proposal and forms an agreement between and on the terms set out in it, including the scope, exclusions, assumptions, fee, payment, change, confidentiality and copyright terms above.
Accepted for and on behalf of by , . This proposal is governed by the laws of .
Client
Date:
For the practice
Date:
Decide what signing does
The template opens with that choice and writes the acceptance wording to match. If signing forms the agreement, the proposal has to carry the scope, exclusions, assumptions, fee, payment terms, change control, copyright, liability and termination provisions. If signing is acceptance in principle, the proposal says so and names the architect and client agreement that will follow, carrying the same scope and fee.
It also fixes the signature problem with one acceptance block showing the signatory's name, position and date. Two blocks for one acceptance invites the wrong person to sign the wrong one and creates an argument about authority.
Consumer rules that catch a signed proposal
Where the client is an individual acting for personal, family or household purposes, provincial consumer protection legislation may apply to the agreement. Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002 is the clearest example. An agreement negotiated and entered into in person somewhere other than the supplier's place of business — a kitchen table, a site visit — is a direct agreement, must be in writing, must be delivered to the consumer and must meet prescribed content requirements.
The cancellation right that goes with it is real. A consumer may cancel a direct agreement without any reason at any time from entering into it until ten days after receiving the written copy. And if the consumer never receives a copy meeting the statutory requirements, the right to cancel extends to one year from the date the agreement was entered into. A practice that signs a homeowner up on site and does not hand over a compliant written copy is exposed for a year rather than ten days.
There is also a change to watch. Ontario has passed a Consumer Protection Act, 2023 to repeal and replace the 2002 Act. On the sources reviewed for this page it had not been proclaimed in force, so the 2002 Act continues to apply — but this is an area to check rather than assume, and other provinces have their own regimes with different triggers and periods.
The template's response is practical: the client-type selector prints the cancellation notice for consumers and the business statement for everyone else, and the practice is prompted to deliver a written copy at signature rather than after the first meeting.
Scope, exclusions and assumptions
Fee disputes on small Canadian projects are rarely about the rate — they are about whether something was inside the fee. The cure is a short, blunt exclusions list: survey, geotechnical investigation, structural and mechanical engineering, code consulting and building-code certification, heritage or environmental assessment, committee of adjustment or variance applications, permit and development fees, interior fit-out, renderings beyond a stated number.
Assumptions turn hidden risk into priced risk: one permit application allowed for; no heritage designation or site-plan control; an existing survey available; no committee of adjustment required; ground conditions as reported. If an assumption proves wrong, the proposal already says the affected work becomes an additional service at a stated rate.
Deliverables per phase matter for the same reason. Concept design means one thing to an architect and another to a homeowner, so naming the outputs — a site analysis, two concept options, one developed option, a drawing set at a stated scale, a stated number of renderings — turns a phase heading into a promise.
Fees, taxes, validity and the concepts
The template supports a lump sum, an hourly rate against a not-to-exceed figure, or a percentage of construction cost, and it requires the sales-tax position to be stated — GST, HST, or GST plus provincial sales tax depending on the province and the practice's registration. Quoting a bare figure to a homeowner and adding tax at the first invoice is the fastest way to damage a new relationship, and where consumer legislation applies the total the consumer will pay is exactly the sort of thing the written agreement is expected to be clear about.
The construction budget stays separate from the fee. The practice's fee is what it is quoting; the estimated cost of building the project is an opinion about somebody else's price in today's market, not a figure the practice underwrites. If bids exceed the budget, the remedy is a joint review of program, scope and specification, with redesign for that purpose charged as an additional service.
A validity date matters because an open offer is priced against costs that move. And so does copyright: a proposal often carries a sketch, a massing study or a zoning strategy, and the author owns those from the moment they are recorded. The template states that the proposal and everything in it remains the practice's copyright, that the client may use it to evaluate the appointment, and that no licence to build from or pass on any concept arises unless the practice is appointed and paid. It also flags the Quebec language-of-contract requirements for consumer and adhesion contracts, which apply to a proposal that becomes the agreement.
Section-by-section guide
- Cover and understanding of the brief
- Restates the project as the practice understands it, so a misunderstanding surfaces before it is priced.
- Services by phase
- What the practice does at each phase, with named deliverables and the number of options and revisions included.
- Exclusions
- Survey, engineering, code consulting, variance applications, permit fees and fit-out — the most valuable list in the document.
- Assumptions
- The facts the fee depends on, with a stated consequence and rate if one turns out to be wrong.
- Schedule
- Indicative durations per phase, dependent on client decisions and the timelines of authorities having jurisdiction.
- Fee, taxes and payment
- Lump sum, hourly with a cap or percentage of construction cost, with the GST, HST or PST position, payment days, interest and disbursements.
- Estimated construction cost
- Kept separate from the fee and expressed as a professional opinion, with an agreed route if bids exceed the budget.
- Changes and additional services
- How a change is proposed, priced in writing and approved before any chargeable work is done.
- Copyright in the proposal
- Concepts, sketches and pricing remain the practice's property, with no licence until appointment and payment.
- Consumer cancellation notice
- Printed where the client is a consumer, covering the written-copy requirement and the cancellation period that runs from delivery of that copy.
- Validity and acceptance
- How long the offer stands, and one acceptance block stating whether signing forms the agreement or leads to a separate one.
Canadian checklist before you send it
Consumer protection, taxes and language are provincial. Confirm the position where the client and project are.
Work out whether the client is a consumer
Provincial consumer legislation generally protects an individual acting for personal, family or household purposes and not a person acting for business purposes. A homeowner engaging a practice for their own house is usually a consumer; a developer is not.
Treat an off-premises signing as a direct agreement
In Ontario, an agreement negotiated and entered into in person somewhere other than the supplier's place of business is a direct agreement: it must be in writing, must be delivered to the consumer, and must meet prescribed requirements.
Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (Ontario)Give the consumer a compliant written copy at signature
A consumer may cancel a direct agreement without reason at any time until ten days after receiving the written copy — and where they never receive a copy meeting the statutory requirements, the right to cancel extends to one year from the date the agreement was entered into.
Check whether Ontario's replacement Act is in force
A Consumer Protection Act, 2023 has been passed to repeal and replace the 2002 Act. On the sources reviewed it had not been proclaimed in force, so the 2002 Act continues to apply — verify the current position before relying on either.
Consumer Protection Act, 2023 (Ontario)State the sales tax position and the total
Say whether the fee is quoted with or without GST, HST or PST, give the registration number, and treat disbursements and permit fees separately so the client can see the total they will pay.
Use the title architect accurately
Architectural services are restricted to licensed members of the provincial regulator, and in Ontario a certificate of practice is required in addition to a licence. A proposal is marketing as well as a contract, so the wording matters.
Architects Act (Ontario)Do not present an estimate as a price
A construction cost estimate is a professional opinion informed by experience, not a bid. Say so, keep it separate from the fee, and set out what happens if bids exceed the budget.
Keep copyright in the proposal
The author owns the drawings and sketches in a pitch. Say the proposal remains the practice's copyright and that no licence to build from or share the concepts arises unless the practice is appointed and paid.
Check Quebec language requirements
Language-of-contract requirements apply to consumer and adhesion contracts in Quebec, and a proposal that becomes the agreement is caught. Confirm what is needed before sending an English-only proposal to a Quebec client.
How to build this fee proposal
- Restate the brief. Summarise the project, the site and what you understand the client wants, so any misunderstanding surfaces now.
- Set services, exclusions and assumptions. List the phases and deliverables, then the exclusions and the assumptions the fee depends on.
- Price it and state the taxes. Choose a lump sum, hourly with a cap or percentage of construction cost, then set the payment schedule, payment days, interest and the GST, HST or PST position.
- Set the client type. Say whether the client is a consumer or a business, and where the agreement is signed, so the correct cancellation notice prints.
- Set validity and acceptance, then send. Choose how long the offer stands and whether signing forms the agreement, then download the DOCX or PDF and give the client a written copy at signature.
Frequently asked questions
Does a signed fee proposal become the contract?
It can, which is why the document should say which it is doing. If the proposal contains the terms and the client signs an acceptance, an agreement is generally formed on those terms. This template makes you choose between that and a proposal that leads to a separate architect and client agreement.
Can a homeowner cancel after signing?
Often, yes. Where provincial consumer legislation applies and the agreement was signed away from the practice's place of business, the client may cancel without reason until ten days after receiving the written copy of the agreement — and if they never receive a compliant copy, that right can extend to a year.
What makes it a direct agreement?
In Ontario, an agreement negotiated and entered into in person somewhere other than the supplier's place of business — typically the client's home or the site — is a direct agreement. It must be in writing, delivered to the consumer, and meet prescribed requirements. Signing at your own office is a different situation.
Is Ontario's consumer law changing?
A Consumer Protection Act, 2023 has been passed to repeal and replace the 2002 Act. On the sources reviewed for this page it had not been proclaimed in force, so the 2002 Act still governs. Check the current status rather than assuming either way, and remember other provinces have their own regimes.
Should the fee be quoted with or without tax?
Either, as long as you say which and give the rate and registration number. Where consumer legislation applies, being clear about the total the client will pay is exactly what a compliant written agreement is expected to do — and adding tax at the first invoice after quoting a bare figure is how relationships start badly.
Do exclusions make a proposal look negative?
No, they read as professional. Almost every fee dispute is about whether something was in the fee, and a clear exclusions list plus stated assumptions gives you a priced route when an assumption turns out to be wrong instead of an argument.
Who owns the concept sketches if we are not appointed?
The practice does. The author owns the drawings from the moment they are recorded, and this template states that the proposal and its concepts remain the practice's copyright with no licence to use, build from or share them unless the practice is appointed and paid.
What if bids come in over the estimate?
The template treats the construction budget as a professional opinion rather than a guarantee, because the practice does not control labour rates, material prices or bidding conditions. The stated remedy is a joint review of program, scope and specification, with redesign for that purpose charged as an additional service.
Related templates
Disclaimer
This template and guide are for general information only and are not legal, tax or professional-practice advice, and no Canadian lawyer has reviewed them. Consumer protection, sales tax, architectural regulation and language-of-contract rules differ by province and territory.
