A garage addition means building a new attached or detached garage where one doesn't exist, or extending an existing structure to add depth, height, or a second bay. A conversion goes the other direction: turning an existing garage into livable space, a home office, a gym, a rental unit, or a laneway-adjacent suite. Both jobs touch structural work, foundations, electrical, and often plumbing, and in Toronto both typically require a building permit and sign-off against zoning rules for lot coverage, setbacks, and height.
Because the work sits at the intersection of carpentry, structural engineering, and permitting, the contractors who do it well tend to be the ones who handle the paperwork as carefully as the framing. Before you hire anyone, ask to see a recent permit set they pulled for a similar project, confirm who is responsible for engineering drawings if the addition changes the roofline or removes a load-bearing wall, and get a written scope that separates demolition, structural work, insulation, and finishing so you can compare quotes on equal terms.
We score the 7 builders in this category on factors like permit and code experience, communication during the job, how closely final costs matched the estimate, and how past clients rated the finished work. The ranked guide breaks down how each one performs. If you want the full detail on how we weigh those factors, see our methodology.