The first question almost every GTA homeowner asks me when they look at the calculator is which material they should actually pick. Almost always it’s a choice between cedar — the local natural-wood favourite — and capped composite, which has become the default upgrade for first-time builds since about 2020. The sticker prices look very different. The five-year cost of ownership is closer than most people expect.
I’ll walk through what each material actually costs at install in the GTA in 2026, what you spend on it over the first five years, and which one wins on resale. Everything below is for an installed deck in southern Ontario; numbers are in CAD before HST.
What you actually pay at install
For a 14×16 (224 sq ft) deck with a 36″ aluminum railing on three sides and three steps to grade, installed in 2026 across the GTA:
- Western red cedar:$14,400–$19,200. The variance is mostly the board grade (clear vs knotty) and the contractor’s margin.
- Capped composite (mid-tier — Trex Enhance, TimberTech Edge, Fiberon Sanctuary):$16,800–$21,400.
- Premium capped composite (Trex Transcend, TimberTech Legacy, Fiberon Concordia):$19,800–$25,200.
Cedar undercuts mid-tier composite by roughly $2,000–$3,000 at install on this size of deck. On smaller decks the gap is smaller; on larger decks the gap widens because cedar’s material cost scales linearly with square footage while composite’s does too, but composite labour is slightly faster per board.
The first five years: cedar
Cedar in southern Ontario is a maintained material. If you don’t maintain it, you don’t keep cedar — you keep something that looks like an aged grey pallet two springs in. Realistic annual maintenance for a 224 sq ft cedar deck:
- Year 1:A full clean and a coat of penetrating oil stain in late summer once the boards have stabilized. ~$280–$420 DIY (cleaner, stain, two days of effort) or $750–$1,150 contracted.
- Years 2–5:Clean every spring; re-oil every two years. Annualized: $150–$280 DIY, $500–$850 contracted.
Add the install price and you’re looking at, very roughly:
- Cedar DIY-maintained 5-year cost: $15,000–$20,500 total.
- Cedar fully-contracted 5-year cost: $17,500–$23,500 total.
The DIY path is the only way cedar is meaningfully cheaper than composite, and it costs you about a weekend a year. If you’re someone who isn’t going to do it, contracted cedar maintenance closes most of the gap to composite.
The first five years: composite
Composite’s pitch is that maintenance is essentially zero. That’s mostly true but not entirely. Realistic annual maintenance on a 224 sq ft capped composite deck:
- Year 1: Nothing. The boards arrive sealed and finished.
- Years 2–5: Spring rinse with a garden hose and a mild detergent; occasional touchup for berry or wine stains. $0 in materials. ~1 hour of effort.
- One-off:If a board ever needs replacement (rare on capped composite within five years), you’re looking at $80–$140 per board plus a couple of hours of labour. Match the original lot number if you can or expect a slight colour variation.
Composite 5-year cost: essentially equal to install. Mid-tier: $16,800–$21,400. Premium: $19,800–$25,200.
Putting them side by side
Total 5-year cost of ownership for the same 14×16 deck:
- Cedar, DIY maintained: $15,000–$20,500
- Cedar, contractor maintained: $17,500–$23,500
- Mid-tier capped composite: $16,800–$21,400
- Premium capped composite: $19,800–$25,200
DIY cedar wins on absolute cost, but only narrowly — and only if you actually do the maintenance. Contracted cedar costs more than mid-tier composite over five years. Premium composite is more expensive than either cedar path, but you get a 25- to 30-year warranty and the deck looks the same in year five as it did at install.
Where each material wins
Cedar wins on:
- The cost in year one.Real if you’re stretching to afford a deck at all and you’re prepared to do the maintenance work yourself.
- How it looks oiled up. Nothing about composite looks like fresh-oiled cedar. Period.
- Repairability. A damaged cedar board is a 20-minute fix with a saw, a screwdriver, and a $40 board.
Composite wins on:
- Time saved.Five years of weekend cleaning and oiling adds up. If your time is worth $30 an hour, composite pays for itself.
- Resale appeal.GTA real-estate listings disclose deck material; capped composite is now treated as a value-add in a way cedar isn’t.
- Splinter-free surfaces around kids. Anyone with a toddler running shoeless on a cedar deck in July knows.
What I’d actually pick
For a primary deck off the kitchen on a home you’re planning to live in for more than five years, in 2026, I’d pick mid-tier capped composite. The five-year cost is within a thousand dollars of contracted-cedar maintenance, the look-after-itself factor is real, and the resale story is cleaner.
For a smaller secondary deck, a heritage Victorian where the architectural fit really matters, or a homeowner who genuinely enjoys the spring cleaning ritual — cedar still earns its place. Just budget for the maintenance honestly. The cheapest cedar deck on the market is the one where you never get around to oiling it, and that’s a deck that’s costing you more than composite would have.
Run your specific build through the calculatorand toggle between materials — the per-square-foot delta is one of the things it’s built to show clearly.