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dryer: a load that comes out damp and cold at the end of the cycle
In Ontario the first thing both companies behind this page check on a cold dryer is the vent run, and both of them price that check as a job rather than a part. The safety list on this page opens with an instruction rather than a part: the dryer is still plugged in and the cabinet is warm, or you smell burning lint - unplug it and stop running loads until the whole vent run has been cleared [CA1]. That is what puts a load that comes out damp and cold at the end of the cycle in the high-risk column, and it is why the machine has to be unplugged before any diagnosis. Once the machine is safe to work on, clogged vent line (lint restriction) is where the search starts — CA$120–CA$220 installed [CA2], about 60 minutes — with gas supply valve not fully open the cheapest possibility, which needs no part at all [CA2]. It is reported as dryer runs the full 50 minute cycle and the clothes are still damp, the drum turns but the load comes out cold, weak heat that fades part way through the cycle or takes three cycles to dry one load.
What a technician actually does
heating element burned out (electric dryers) [CA1]
high likelihoodadvancedCA$40–CA$80 partabout 75 min
weak heat that fades part way through the cyclethe drum turns but the load comes out cold
The GTA page publishes the part at CA$40-80 and the all-in replacement at CA$120-180. The London page publishes the same job at CA$260-440, with parts at CA$60-180 and 60 to 90 minutes of labour. The two Canadian bands are set side by side here rather than averaged: one is a published GTA price list and the other a London invoice band. Time basis: 75 minutes sits inside the London page's published 60 to 90 minutes of labour.
medium likelihoodadvancedCA$20–CA$60 partabout 60 min
the drum turns but the load comes out colddryer runs the full 50 minute cycle and the clothes are still damp
The London page prices the part at CA$20-60 and the replacement at CA$220-320, and says either thermostat can fail open and kill the heat; it identifies which one with a multimeter rather than replacing both. The GTA page prices a cycling thermostat at CA$100-160 all-in. Time basis: no published duration, so 60 minutes is a book estimate.
medium likelihoodadvancedCA$40–CA$80 partabout 60 min
the drum turns but the load comes out cold
The London page publishes the igniter at CA$40-80 in parts and CA$230-360 fitted, with 45 to 75 minutes of labour, and says igniters fail roughly every five to eight years. The GTA page prices a gas igniter at CA$100-160 and the gas valve solenoids at CA$120-200. The London page states that gas work requires Technical Standards and Safety Authority G2 certification in Ontario. Time basis: 60 minutes sits inside the London page's published 45 to 75 minutes.
Repair or replace?
Under eight years old, the London page's published rule is that a dryer is almost always worth repairing unless the drum bearing has failed. Between eight and twelve years the test is the bill against the replacement price: under 50 percent of a new machine at the GTA page, under 40 percent at the London page and only with a healthy motor. Past twelve years replacement starts to make sense, and both pages say premium machines are worth repairing past eighteen. [CA1]
Only one completed-invoice dataset is cited on this page, and it is a United States one: its publisher records US$368 across 1,155 of the 4,223 completed dryer jobs behind its dryer table, with the middle half of those jobs between US$311 and US$437 [CA4]. At the Bank of Canada's daily average rate of 1.4002 for 2026-09-18 [CA5] that is about CA$515 - a United States invoice expressed in Canadian dollars, not a Canadian price, and it is not added to the Ontario bands above. The two Ontario companies publish no job count at all, so no median and no n appears on this page for either of them.
A new mid-range dryer in Canada is CA$700-1,200 at the GTA page's own published figure, and the counter-tariff measure in effect since 8 September 2026 runs 15 to 50 percent on appliances among approximately US$28 billion of United States imports, which moves the replacement side of this comparison rather than the repair side. Against that, the published GTA band for this repair is CA$100-350, inside half the price of the cheapest new machine named there, so the age of the machine rather than the size of the quote is what decides this one.
the GTA page puts dryer life at 10-15 years and puts replacement at 12 years and older; the London page puts replacement past twelve years on a builder-grade unit; the decision above uses the twelve-year line because both pages name it
high likelihoodeasyCA$120–CA$220 installedabout 60 min
weak heat that fades part way through the cycletakes three cycles to dry one load
The London page prices the full vent line clean at CA$120-220 depending on access and says it is done on every no-heat visit before any part is touched, because it is often the only fix needed. Its frequency claim is a share with a stated scope, not a count: the cause in roughly 35 percent of the no-heat calls that company takes in London. The GTA page prices a professional vent clean at CA$80-120 and says a clogged vent is the root cause of most dryer heating failures and of most thermal fuse failures. Time basis: neither page publishes a duration for the vent clean, so 60 minutes is a book estimate for the full run from the dryer to the outside hood.
no part is involved: the source prices the full vent line clean as a job rather than a part, at CA$120-220 depending on access, so this cause carries an installed price and no part price.
The GTA page calls the thermal fuse the most common repair and prices the replacement at CA$80-120 all-in. The London page prices the part at CA$8-20 and publishes the fuse together with the vent clean as a CA$180-280 total bill, and both pages say a fuse replaced without clearing the vent blows again on the next load. Time basis: no published duration for the fuse alone, so 45 minutes is a book estimate.
One of the owner checks the London page publishes: on a gas unit the supply valve has to be fully open, which it describes as the yellow handle parallel to the pipe. Free, and the page puts it before any part is ordered. The London page also publishes the free checks that come before it: cleaning the lint screen completely, watching the outside vent hood for strong airflow with the dryer running, and checking that a 30 amp double-pole breaker has not tripped on one half.
What each fix costs
Cause
Cost
Time
DIY?
gas supply valve not fully open
no part needed
5 min
easy
tripped thermal fuse
CA$8–CA$20 part
45 min
easy
clogged vent line (lint restriction)
CA$120–CA$220 installed
60 min
easy
heating element burned out (electric dryers)
CA$40–CA$80 part
75 min
advanced
failed high-limit or cycling thermostat
CA$20–CA$60 part
60 min
advanced
igniter failure (gas dryers)
CA$40–CA$80 part
60 min
advanced
A technician visit starts with a diagnostic fee of CA$89–CA$110 [CA1]. Completed repairs run CA$100–CA$350 [CA1].
Sources
[CA1]Nick's Appliance Repair (Toronto and the GTA, Ontario; cost guide updated April 2026) (2026-04). the average dryer repair in the GTA at CA$100-350 for parts and labour combined, the thermal fuse replacement at CA$80-120 described as the most common repair, the heating element at CA$120-180 all-in with the part at CA$40-80 and CA$80-100 of labour, the gas igniter at CA$100-160, the gas valve solenoids at CA$120-200, the cycling thermostat at CA$100-160, professional vent cleaning at CA$80-120, the CA$89 diagnostic waived in full when the repair goes ahead, a 10-15 year dryer life, a new mid-range dryer in Canada at CA$700-1,200, and the page's own replacement thresholds (under 10 years nearly any repair worthwhile, repair under 50 percent of replacement, consider replacing at 12 years and older). The page states its figures rest on repair jobs completed by its own certified technicians across Toronto and publishes no job count.
[CA2]Max Appliance Repair London (London, Ontario; posted April 2026, updated 16 September 2026) (2026-09-16). the clogged vent line at CA$120-220 as a total bill depending on access and the page's own statement that this is the cause in roughly 35 percent of the no-heat calls it takes in London, the element replacement at CA$260-440 with parts at CA$60-180 and 60 to 90 minutes of labour, the igniter at CA$230-360 with parts at CA$40-80 and 45 to 75 minutes and a five to eight year failure interval, the thermal fuse plus vent clean at CA$180-280, the high-limit or cycling thermostat at CA$220-320 with parts at CA$20-60, the gas valve coils at CA$260-380, the CA$89-110 diagnostic waived with the repair, the 60 percent electric and 40 percent gas split of London homes, the statement that the sequence catches the cause in about 95 percent of its London service calls within 30 minutes and that six of seven finish in one visit for under CA$400, the free owner checks (lint screen, vent hood airflow with the dryer running, the 30 amp double-pole breaker, the gas supply valve position), the TSSA G2 certification Ontario requires for gas work, and the page's own replacement thresholds (under eight years almost always repair, eight to twelve years repair under 40 percent of replacement with a healthy motor, past twelve years replacement starts to make sense, premium machines worth repairing past 18 years). The page publishes no job count.
[CA3]Government of Canada, Job Bank (wages for appliance servicers and repairers, NOC 72421; updated 19 November 2025) (2025-11-19). the median hourly wage for this trade within its published low and high bands: Canada CA$28.13, Ontario CA$27.00, British Columbia CA$30.49 and Alberta CA$25.00, each row with its own stated basis (Labour Force Survey, reference period 2023-2024; Small Area Estimation, reference period 2024; Employment Insurance survey data), the source's own update line, and its own statement that wages cannot be published for some provinces because of data limitations. It is an hourly wage and not a repair price, and this page does not multiply it by an hour count.
[CA4]Bozmanfix (first-party records from 4,223 completed dryer jobs, United States) (2026). the publisher's own completed-invoice row for this symptom: US$368 across 1,155 of the 4,223 completed dryer jobs behind its dryer table, with the middle half of those jobs between US$311 and US$437. It is United States data, cited on this page only for the conversion stated beside it, and it is not presented as a Canadian price.
[CA5]Bank of Canada (daily average exchange rate, USD/CAD, 18 September 2026) (2026-09-18). the daily average exchange rate of 1.4002 Canadian dollars to the United States dollar published for 2026-09-18, described by the bank as the daily value of the US dollar expressed in Canadian dollars.
[CA6]ATB Economics (Canadian counter-tariffs in effect, 8 September 2026) (2026-09-08). the counter-tariff measure in effect from 8 September 2026 at a rate of 15 to 50 percent on approximately US$28 billion of imports from the United States, with appliances named in the source's own list of affected goods, and the source's own estimate that the measures add 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points to inflation and cut about half a percentage point from Canadian GDP growth.
Last verified: 2026-09-20. Prices are Canadian market figures from the sources above; your quote may differ.
Built from a fact record, not from a template: every number above is tied to one of the sources and the record is re-checked against them. Editorial choices (which symptom leads, which cause is the single tell) are kept in a separate block so the facts stay auditable.
Quick answers
How much does it cost to fix a dryer with this problem?
Completed repairs run CA$100–CA$350 according to the sources cited on this page, after a diagnostic fee of CA$89–CA$110.
How long does a dryer last?
The decision rule used on this page works from a planning life of 12 years.
Repair or replace?
Under eight years old, the London page's published rule is that a dryer is almost always worth repairing unless the drum bearing has failed. Between eight and twelve years the test is the bill against the replacement price: under 50 percent of a new machine at the GTA page, under 40 percent at the London page and only with a healthy motor. Past twelve years replacement starts to make sense, and both pages say premium machines are worth repairing past eighteen.