Asphalt driveway paving

Rebuilding a driveway means replacing everything that carries the car: the old surface comes out, we dig down to firm native soil, build a crushed-stone base compacted in lifts, then lay hot mix with a paver and roll it. It is the only fix when a driveway sinks, ripples or breaks into a web of cracks, because the cause is in the stone. If the stone still holds, resurfacing costs about half as much.

• 2026 price: $6–10/ft² before tax; $2,400–4,000 for 400 ft², or $2,760–4,600 with tax.
• What’s included: removing and hauling the old asphalt, excavation, fabric over clay, compacted MG-20 stone, 2.5 in (63 mm) of compacted asphalt, transitions.
• Time on site: one day of excavation and stone, one day of paving, then 2 to 3 days without a car.
• Target lifespan: over 20 years, the goal set by the CAA-Québec and Bitume Québec technical sheet for a driveway built on a proper base.

What a rebuilt driveway costs, by size

These ranges are the ones Québec contractors publish in 2025 and 2026; they are broken down source by source on our 2026 price page, with its calculator.

Five items move your price up or down the range:

1. How deep we dig. Draining sand needs 30–45 cm of excavation; poorly drained clay needs 45 cm or more, plus geotextile fabric (CAA-Québec). Every extra centimetre is stone delivered and compacted.
2. What has to come out. A 50 mm layer of asphalt lifts quickly; an old concrete slab, stumps or two stacked layers of asphalt take more truckloads.
3. Access. A plex driveway off a lane, or one squeezed between two houses, is partly paved by hand, without a paver.
4. The street curb. Widening the driveway means a curb cut done by the City or its contractor, billed separately: $56.74 per metre in Mascouche (minimum $299.84), $408.16 in Bois-des-Filion for up to 3.15 m in 2026.
5. Bitumen. The transport ministry’s reference price for PG 58S-28 bitumen rose from $945 to $1,335 a tonne between January and September 2026, a 41% increase that shows up in every tonne of mix.

What we build under your car

A driveway is judged five winters after it’s laid, and what decides those winters is buried. These are the numbers our quotes spell out, and the reference to compare anyone else’s against.

Why density matters so much: a 1989 Transportation Research Board study estimates that each point of air voids above 7% takes about 10% off a pavement’s life. Mix compacted to 93% keeps about 7% voids; mix rolled too late, on a cold surface, keeps more and lets in water that freezes.

The two days on site, step by step

Before we start. We file the locate request with Info-Excavation, which is free, at least 3 business days before digging. If your city requires a certificate or a curb cut, we tell you which one and who to ask: each city’s table is in our driveway permit guide.

Day 1: tear out and build the base.

1. Clean saw cuts along the sidewalk, the street and the garage, so the transitions stay straight.
2. The old surface and soft soil come out, loaded straight into the trucks.
3. Geotextile fabric if the bottom is clay.
4. MG-20 stone spread and compacted in lifts with a plate compactor or roller, setting the slope toward the street.

Day 2: pave.

1. Hot mix delivered and spread with a paver to an even thickness.
2. Rolled while the mix is hot; the Asphalt Institute says to finish before it drops below 85 °C.
3. Edges rolled and bevelled, transitions at the garage slab, the sidewalk and the pavers.
4. The sidewalk and street swept clean.

After. No car for 2 to 3 days, longer in a heat wave. For the first year, avoid turning the wheel while parked and slide plywood under a kickstand or a jack.

Four situations, four ways to do it

The gravel driveway of a new house. The gravel left by the builder is rarely thick or compacted enough to serve as a base. CAA-Québec advises letting the backfill settle for 6 to 12 months before paving. We top up the stone, compact it, then pave: see our new asphalt driveway page.

Old asphalt that sinks or breaks into a web of cracks. The base has failed: we dig it out and rebuild. Our article resurfacing or rebuilding explains how to decide before you pay.

Widening for a second car. It almost always takes a certificate and a curb cut, and every city sets a maximum width: 7 m or half the lot frontage in Terrebonne, 8 m in Saint-Eustache, 6 m per access in Mirabel. We build the added strip on the same depth of stone as the old part, so no crack marks the seam. Each city’s rules are on our driveway widening page.

A duplex or plex off a lane. Tight access means more handwork. In Montréal, check the borough first: Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce bans asphalt for new or replacement parking, and Verdun limits it. Our Montréal asphalt page sums up the rules by borough.

Can you pave in late fall?

Yes, until the asphalt plants close, as long as the surface is dry and not frozen. The transport ministry’s general specifications require air of at least 10 °C and rising for a compacted layer under 50 mm, and at least 2 °C for a thicker one: at 63 mm, a driveway can still be paved on a cool November day. We postpone if it rains or snows, and we tell you the day before.

What your quote should spell out

Two per-square-foot quotes only compare if they describe the same driveway. Check that each one states:

• the excavation depth and the compacted stone thickness;
• the compacted asphalt thickness, not the spread thickness, and the mix type;
• the slope and where the water will go;
• how the transitions are handled (garage, sidewalk, pavers);
• what is not in the price: curb cut, permit, trees, concrete;
• the warranty and its terms. Ours is on the warranty page.

The guide on how to choose a paving contractor lists the questions that get these numbers out.

A new driveway, and a Tempo shelter without new holes every fall

Driving a shelter’s anchors into new asphalt, then pulling them out in spring, leaves holes where water freezes. We drill once, away from the edges, and set permanent anchors. Tempo shelter installation: single $199, double $299 before taxes; $329 and $449 with spring removal. See our prices and prices published elsewhere.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• CAA-Québec and Bitume Québec, technical sheet on the residential asphalt driveway (2011): excavation by soil type, MG-20 stone, geotextile, slope, spread and compacted thickness, waiting period on a new house.
• City of Laval, special specifications for road infrastructure (V3/R1, September 2023), private driveway restoration: 300 mm of MG-20 at 95%, 50 mm of EC-10 at 93%.
• Québec transport ministry, Cahier des charges et devis généraux, art. 13.3.4: minimum paving temperatures; PG 58S-28 bitumen reference price (2026).
• Linden, Mahoney and Jackson, “Effect of Compaction on Asphalt Concrete Performance,” Transportation Research Record 1217, Transportation Research Board, 1989.
• Asphalt Institute, Engineering FAQs (compaction temperature); Ontario Hot Mix Producers Association, The ABCs of Asphalt Driveways (2004).
• Info-Excavation, locate request (3 business days).
• 2026 by-laws and fee schedules of Mascouche, Bois-des-Filion, Terrebonne, Saint-Eustache and Mirabel; City of Montréal borough pages on parking spaces.
• Prices: Casabella Pavage (Montréal, December 2025) and Les Pavages Guilmain (South Shore, January 2026), compiled on our price page.