Yes. The City of Ottawa requires a building permit to finish a basement. The fee is based on the finished floor area. The permit covers the walls, insulation, any bathroom, bedroom egress windows and smoke and CO alarms.
Ontario sets a 10-day decision timeframe for a complete house permit application. Incomplete applications or drawings that need changes take longer, so allow two to six weeks from first submission for a typical renovation.
Usually yes. For a kitchen, plan a temporary kitchen elsewhere in the house. For large additions or whole-floor work, some families move out for a few weeks. We talk it through during the site visit.
Leda clay is a marine clay left by the ancient Champlain Sea under much of the Ottawa area. It shrinks when dry and holds water when wet. It affects basement moisture, grading and footing design, so we check drainage before finishing a basement and plan footings for additions with care.
A deposit at signing, then payments tied to stages such as rough-in inspections passed, drywall done and final completion. Avoid paying most of the price before the work is done.
If the wall is load-bearing, yes, or a designer qualified under the Ontario Building Code. The beam and posts are shown on the permit drawings. Non-structural walls can often come out without drawings, but it is worth confirming first.