Windows and Glass in Scarborough: A Homeowner's Guide
Scarborough is Toronto's most house-based, owner-occupied district: 37.2% of dwellings are single-detached and 64% of households own. More than half its homes were built between 1961 and 1990, so the typical job here is an ageing sealed unit or cracked pane in a sound frame, paid for by the owner rather than a condo board.
37.2% of Scarborough dwellings are single-detached, the highest share of Toronto's four council areas, and 64% of households own (2021 Census).
52.2% of Scarborough homes were built between 1961 and 1990 and only 3.2% from 2016 to 2021, so most jobs are ageing sealed units or cracked panes fixed with new glass in the existing frame.
Seal failure from age isn't covered by home insurance, and a single-window repair often costs less than a typical deductible.
New glass in an existing sash is generally treated as repair, but 7.3% of dwellings are duplex apartments, and replacing whole windows in anything but a single-dwelling house needs a Toronto building permit.
Enlarging a basement window for a bedroom needs a permit and must meet the Ontario Building Code's egress minimums.
None of Toronto's heritage conservation districts is in Scarborough, so heritage permits rarely apply here.
On this page
Scarborough is the most house-based, owner-occupied part of Toronto, and that shapes almost every window job here. In the 2021 Census, 37.2% of Scarborough dwellings were single-detached houses, the highest share of the city's four council areas, and 64% of households owned their home. Most of those homes went up between 1961 and 1990.
The usual Scarborough glass problem, then, is an ageing sealed unit or a cracked pane in a frame that's still sound. The owner pays for it directly, rather than a condo board or landlord. This guide covers when the housing was built, how the climate treats it, what repairs cost, and the few rules that apply.
When Scarborough was built
Scarborough became a borough in 1967 and developed rapidly as a suburb over the following decade, becoming a city in 1983. The census shows that boom clearly. Compared with the city overall, Scarborough has far more housing from 1961 to 1990 and far less from recent years.
| Period built | Scarborough | City of Toronto |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 or earlier | 22.1% | 29% |
| 1961–1980 | 36.9% | 29% |
| 1981–1990 | 15.3% | 9% |
| 1991–2000 | 10.5% | 8% |
| 2001–2015 | 12.2% | 18% |
| 2016–2021 | 3.2% | 7% |
The neighbourhoods behind the numbers
- South Scarborough bungalows. Postwar bungalows, predominantly built in the 1950s and 1960s, are common in South Scarborough. They are single-storey houses, usually with a basement and often with a side entrance to it.
- Guildwood. Development started in 1957 with the "Avenue of Homes" display, on land bounded by the Scarborough Bluffs south of Kingston Road.
- Malvern. Farmland was expropriated in the late 1950s for a CMHC model community of affordable homes, and the first residents moved in in 1972.
- Scarborough City Centre. Condo high-rises started going up here early this century. Towers of five or more storeys now hold 35.2% of Scarborough dwellings, and 18.2% of households are condo owners.
What that age means for your glass
If your house is from the 1970s or 1980s, first work out whether its windows are original or a later replacement. What matters is the age of the sealed units in them now. Certified units carry a permanent mark inside the unit with the manufacturer and year of manufacture, usually on the spacer bar between the panes. Seal failure rises with age. In a 25-year field study of more than 2,400 sealed units, 4.9% had failed at 10 years, 7.9% at 15 and 9.2% at 25.
A failed seal costs you energy before it fogs. Gas loss after seal failure can raise a unit's U-factor by up to 32%. A weaker unit means a colder inside pane and more condensation in winter. If the fog is between the panes, the seal has failed and the sealed unit needs replacing; the frame usually doesn't. If it's on the room side, the cause is humidity, and the condensation guide will help.
Climate: a little colder than downtown
Scarborough has 3,800 heating degree-days, about 8% more than Toronto City Hall's 3,520. That difference shows up on glass. The humidity limit for double glazing is about 41–49% when it's −18 °C outside, far above single glazing's 12–27%. Health Canada recommends keeping indoor humidity between 30% and 50%. In a Scarborough house with ageing sealed units, keep humidity toward the low end of that range on the coldest nights.
What repairs cost
Because most Scarborough owners pay for their own glass, the numbers matter. These are GTA market ranges for 2026, in CAD, before tax. Prices vary with size, glass type and access.
| Job | Typical GTA range |
|---|---|
| Single-pane glass, scheduled | $150–$300 |
| Sealed unit, glass-only: small / standard / large | $300–$450 / $400–$650 / $650–$1,000 |
| Sealed unit, same-night emergency | $550–$1,000+ |
| Emergency board-up | $300–$600 |
| For comparison: full window replacement you avoid | $600–$1,200 per window |
Insurance rarely changes the math for one window. Seal failure from age isn't covered, and deductibles typically run $500–$2,000. Window breakage counts as an insured peril only in a building that is normally occupied. Claims make sense for storm or break-in damage across several openings. Our insurance guide goes through it. Your policy wording governs.
Rules: permits, basement windows and heritage
Two-unit houses. The census counts 7.3% of Scarborough dwellings as apartments in a duplex. Statistics Canada defines that as one of two dwellings located one above the other. That matters for permits. New glass in an existing frame is generally treated as a repair, but Toronto's no-permit rule for same-size window replacement covers detached, semi-detached and row houses with a single dwelling unit only. Replacing windows in other building types needs a permit, and so does adding or enlarging any opening.
Basement bedroom windows. Enlarging a basement window is a permit job. A bedroom window used for egress must give an unobstructed opening of at least 0.35 m², with no dimension under 380 mm, and must open without tools. That's the Ontario Building Code requirement; confirm the wording against the current code with your designer or Toronto Building. Re-glazing an existing basement window in the same frame is a different, much smaller job.
Heritage. None of the heritage conservation districts on the City's list is in Scarborough. An individually designated property is still subject to heritage review, so check before changing visible windows.
Neighbourhoods we serve
Agincourt, Malvern, Guildwood, Scarborough Village, Highland Creek, Birch Cliff, Wexford and the Scarborough City Centre condos, among others.
What we'd do
- Check the frame and sash first. If the window opens, closes and locks properly, a glass-only repair is the right call; if a crank or lock is worn, we fix it at the same visit. If the frame has failed, we'll tell you it's a window-replacement job. See foggy window repair.
- Read the date on the spacer bar, then check the other windows with the same date. They have the same age, so it's worth budgeting for them before they fog too.
- For a broken pane, make the room safe: wear gloves and closed shoes, keep children and pets out, and cover the opening. Then book a broken window repair rather than living with taped glass.
- Give you an itemized quote you can use for insurance or your own records.
Next step
Send us a photo of the window and, if you can, the date stamp on the spacer bar. We'll tell you whether it's a glass-only job and roughly what it costs. Start on our Scarborough window repair page or contact us for a free quote.