You have a radon result over 200 and a quote on the kitchen table, or you’re about to get one, and you want to know if the number is fair. Here’s the short answer on radon mitigation system cost on the Prairies: Winnipeg installers advertise systems from about $1,500 to $3,000; a Regina installer quotes $2,500 to $3,500.
Those are ranges individual companies publish on their own websites, in Canadian dollars before tax. They are not a price anyone can promise for your house, and they are not our quote. We don’t install anything.
Below: why a quote lands where it does, what a system costs to run, and where the grants are. No test result yet? Start with the first section.
A radon mitigation system cost only makes sense after a long-term test
Radon is measured in becquerels per cubic metre, written Bq/m3. Health Canada’s guideline is 200 Bq/m3, measured as the average annual level in the part of the house you actually live in: a space used four or more hours a day, like a finished basement. A crawl space or the furnace room doesn’t count. If you’re reading American material, 200 Bq/m3 is about 5.4 pCi/L.
It’s a guideline, not a law. Neither Manitoba nor Saskatchewan requires homeowners to test or to fix a high reading. Health Canada recommends corrective action within one year when a home is above 200, and it also says there’s no level considered risk free.
Why bother at all? According to Health Canada, radon is the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers and is linked to more than 3,000 lung cancer deaths in Canada each year. That’s the only scary number on this page. The practical point is that you can’t guess your level from the age of the house, the street, or your neighbour’s result.
The test that counts is a long-term one. Health Canada wants at least 91 days in the heating season, in the lowest lived-in level, at least 30 cm off the floor and 30 cm from any wall. The Manitoba government puts long-term kits at between $50 and $100. Our radon testing page goes through placement in more detail.
A short-term test, or a digital monitor borrowed from the library, is a screening tool. It tells you whether to run a proper test. It shouldn’t be the reason you spend $2,500.
No result yet? Test first. Call (204) 555-0173 or use the contact form and we’ll point you to the right kind of test, or put you in touch with a certified measurement professional if you’d rather someone else place it.
What Prairie installers advertise for a radon mitigation system
Every price we could source for this region, with its origin. Read the city labels.
| What | Figure (CAD, before tax) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mitigation system | from about $1,500 to $3,000 | Winnipeg installers’ own published ranges |
| Mitigation system | $2,500 to $3,500 | one Regina installer; crawl spaces or multiple suction points “could be much higher” |
| Off-season surcharge | extra 20%, 30 Nov to 20 May | one Winnipeg installer |
| Mitigation system, national | $2,000 to $3,000 | Health Canada, 2014 |
| Mitigation system, national average | about $3,000 | Take Action on Radon, 2022 |
| First visit | free 15-minute screening test at one Winnipeg firm; $50 in-person consultation at another | Winnipeg installers |
| Replacement fan | $200 to $300 | Health Canada, 2014, national estimate |
| Fan electricity | about $50 to $75 a year | Health Canada, 2014, national estimate |
The $1,500 figure is a starting price. The same Winnipeg installer that advertises it says jobs “commonly range between $1,800 and $2,800”. Starting prices are built around the easy house.
We couldn’t find a single Saskatoon installer that publishes a price. The same goes for Brandon, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert. If you live there, treat the Winnipeg and Regina numbers as Winnipeg and Regina numbers, and use Health Canada’s national $2,000 to $3,000 as the sanity check. A Saskatoon quote is whatever the professional who walks your basement says it is.
The fan figures are Health Canada’s 2014 national estimates. Nobody publishes a current Prairie number.
What pushes a radon mitigation quote up or down
Almost every system on the Prairies is the same basic design, called sub-slab depressurization (or active soil depressurization). A pipe goes through the basement floor into the gravel or soil underneath. A fan on that pipe runs all day, every day, pulling radon from under the slab and venting it outside. It also flips the pressure difference so the house stops drawing soil gas in through the foundation.
Health Canada says a system like this will cut the radon level by more than 80% in most homes, and that one can usually be installed in less than a day. Nobody can promise your house a specific result before the job.
Why does one house land near the bottom of the range and another near the top? The installer has to see a few things first:
- How many suction points. Some houses need one hole through the slab. Some need more. The Regina installer says multiple suction points can cost much more.
- Crawl spaces. A crawl space, often under an addition, is a separate problem from the main slab. That same installer flags it as a reason the price climbs.
- The sump pit. An open sump has to be sealed with an airtight cover. If a floor drain feeds it, it needs a trap too. Sometimes the sealed sump becomes the suction point.
- Where the pipe and fan can go. Health Canada notes that a fan in a garage or attic cools in winter, which can mean condensation and ice that damage the fan. A fan kept indoors with a short discharge near ground level avoids a lot of that. In a finished basement, finding a route for the pipe can take some thinking.
- Combustion appliances. The installer should check the system won’t cause backdrafting of your furnace, water heater, fireplace or wood stove.
How much each one adds depends on your house. Nobody publishes a figure for it.
Two cheaper-sounding fixes deserve a warning. Sealing cracks on its own isn’t a standalone way to lower radon, according to Health Canada. It helps a depressurization system work better, but it doesn’t replace one. And balanced ventilation (an HRV or ERV) generally cuts radon by only 20% to 50%, Health Canada says. If someone quotes you an HRV as the radon fix, ask why.
Three houses, three ways the number can go
These are illustrations built from the ranges above, not real jobs.
A 1962 bungalow in St. Vital with a finished basement bedroom. The owners ran a long-term test in the bedroom from November to March and got a result over 200. The slab is simple and there’s a clear route for the pipe out through the rim joist. If the installer finds one suction point will do the job, this is the kind of house Winnipeg’s advertised ranges are written for: somewhere in the $1,800 to $2,800 band one Winnipeg installer calls common. If they book the install between 30 November and 20 May with the installer that charges an off-season surcharge, they should expect that extra 20% on top.
A library radon monitor reading 480 Bq/m3 in a Regina rec room. The Regina Public Library lends monitors for three weeks. A reading of 480 is a strong reason to run a long-term test. It isn’t a reason to sign a contract yet. Of the Regina homes tested in the 2024 Cross-Canada survey, 46.6% came in at or above 200, so the family isn’t unusual. If the 91-day test confirms it, the one Regina installer that publishes prices quotes $2,500 to $3,500, more if there’s a crawl space under the back addition. The long-term result also matters for money: the Lungs Matter grant below needs a test of 90+ days.
A 2015 Winnipeg build with a capped radon rough-in pipe that was never activated. Manitoba put the radon rough-in into its building code on 1 April 2011, so houses like this usually have a pipe under the basement floor, sealed and labelled. The code is blunt about what it does: “the depressurization rough-in does not actively reduce radon levels”. A fan has to be added. Whether the rough-in makes the job easier depends on where it is. A 2013 study of Winnipeg Parade of Homes houses found rough-ins in all but one house, but “almost half are in inaccessible locations”. Test first. If it’s high, ask the professional to quote using the rough-in and to explain why if they’d rather not. Our post on radon rough-ins in new homes has more.
What a radon mitigation system costs after the install
The fan runs for years and should never be turned off.
Health Canada’s 2014 national estimates put fan electricity at about $50 to $75 a year, depending on the fan and your rates. Fans last five to ten years or more, and Health Canada put a replacement at $200 to $300. Both numbers are old and national, so treat them as a ballpark. When a fan gets loud or quits, our radon fan replacement page explains what happens next.
There’s also testing after the install. Health Canada’s current advice has three steps:
- A short-term test by a certified professional once the system is on, to confirm it’s working.
- A long-term test in the first heating season, in the same spot as your original test.
- Retesting every five years, plus regular checks of the system.
Most systems have a U-tube manometer on the pipe. If the liquid sits at different levels on the two sides, the fan is pulling. Glance at it now and then.
Grants, loans and tax credits that lower the radon mitigation system cost
Manitoba. The Canadian Lung Association’s Lungs Matter program, run in Manitoba by the Manitoba Lung Association, offers up to $1,500 to low- and moderate-income households, meaning household income below the provincial median. A lung cancer diagnosis also qualifies. You need a 90+ day test by a C-NRPP professional showing more than 200, and a quote from a C-NRPP mitigation professional. It doesn’t cover work already done, and funding is limited. So apply before you book the install, not after.
Manitoba Hydro’s Home Energy Efficiency Loan covers radon mitigation up to $5,000, repaid over 5 years at 6.2% (on approved credit) through your energy bill. There’s no income test. The contractor must be C-NRPP certified. See our Manitoba radon grants guide for the steps.
Saskatchewan. Lung Saskatchewan has offered reimbursement in the past; check its site for the current status. The province’s Home Renovation Tax Credit is worth 10.5% of eligible expenses above a $1,000 base, on up to $4,000 of spending, so a saving of up to $420 (seniors up to $525 on $5,000). It applies to expenses from 1 October 2024. The government’s own list doesn’t name radon, but Lung Saskatchewan says radon mitigation counts as an eligible expense. Confirm with CRA before you count on it. Our Saskatchewan tax credit post goes through it.
Federally, there is currently no federal radon tax credit that we could find.
Checking a quote before you sign
Health Canada recommends a mitigation professional certified by C-NRPP, the Canadian National Radon Proficiency Program. It’s voluntary: no province regulates radon contractors, so anyone can call themselves one. Measurement and mitigation are separate certifications. You can check a name in C-NRPP’s online directory, and both the Lungs Matter grant and the Manitoba Hydro loan require a certified professional.
When the quote arrives, it should answer these questions:
- How many suction points, and where they go.
- Where the fan sits and where the discharge exits the house.
- Whether the sump and floor drains are being sealed.
- Whether they’ll check for backdrafting.
- Whether the post-install test is included.
- Whether the price includes tax, and what the warranty covers.
Our radon mitigation quote checklist has the full list. For the system itself, Health Canada’s page on reducing radon levels in your home is plain and worth ten minutes. Our radon mitigation page covers how an install day usually goes.
Already have a long-term result over 200? Call (204) 555-0173 or send the contact form. We’ll put you in touch with a certified radon professional who can look at the house and quote it. The price is theirs to set, and the decision is yours.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a radon mitigation system cost in Winnipeg?
Winnipeg installers advertise systems from about $1,500 to $3,000, before tax. One installer says jobs commonly fall between $1,800 and $2,800, and another adds 20% for off-season installs between 30 November and 20 May. Your quote depends on your house, so get one from a C-NRPP certified mitigation professional.
Is there a price for Saskatoon, Brandon, Moose Jaw or Prince Albert?
We couldn’t find an installer in any of those cities that publishes a price. The nearest published numbers are Winnipeg’s (about $1,500 to $3,000) and one Regina installer’s ($2,500 to $3,500). Health Canada’s national range is $2,000 to $3,000.
Can I just seal the cracks instead of paying for a system?
Health Canada says sealing on its own is not a standalone way to reduce radon. Sealing cracks, gaps around pipes and the sump helps a depressurization system work better. It doesn’t replace the system.
Do I have to fix radon before I sell my house?
We found no Manitoba or Saskatchewan rule that requires radon testing or disclosure at sale. In Saskatchewan, sellers must still disclose known latent defects. Radon conditions, holdbacks and what to disclose are questions for your realtor or lawyer.