How to Choose a Commercial Electrician for a Restaurant or Retail Fit-Out in Calgary

What permits does a Calgary tenant improvement need?

Any alteration beyond paint and furniture needs a building permit, and so does a change of use or being the first tenant in a new building. Electrical work needs its own trade permit, which only a certified electrical contractor can apply for: the City requires an Alberta Master Electrician certificate, a City business licence and City Qualified Trade registration. There is no homeowner-style permit for a commercial tenant.

Calgary issues separate electrical permits for the base building and for each tenant space. Commercial jobs are inspected at the underground, rough-in, service and final stages. The City’s commercial alteration fee is $10.14 per $1,000 of construction value with a $112 minimum, plus the 4% Safety Codes Council fee.

Do I need a single-line diagram and ENMAX approval?

If the service changes, yes. ENMAX asks for a single-line diagram for every commercial service, plus the panel size and a site plan, and tells applicants to confirm with an electrician or consultant that the secondary system can carry the load. The City also requires plans and a single-line diagram showing fault current at each overcurrent device for any service of 600 A and up.

Utility lead time is the schedule risk most tenants miss. ENMAX does not publish commercial lead times, so the application should go in as soon as the load is known, not after demolition.

What is different about a restaurant fit-out?

Restaurants add three things to the electrical scope. First, the load: cooking lines, walk-in coolers and freezers, dish machines and make-up air are large, often three-phase loads, so the load calculation should be built from the equipment schedule and nameplate data, not estimates. Second, life safety: Alberta’s joint STANDATA on commercial cooking requires the hood fire-suppression system to be tied into the building fire alarm where one exists, so a discharge sounds the alarm, and appliance shut-off on discharge is typically part of the design. Third, emergency lighting and exit signs sized to the code and the occupancy.

Alberta Health Services reviews restaurant plans as well, so the electrician has to work to the final equipment layout the AHS approves.

Questions to ask a commercial electrician before you sign

• Who is the Master Electrician on the permit, and are you registered as a City Qualified Trade?
• Can you send a current WCB clearance letter? (WCB Alberta says to check before work starts, during the contract and before final payment.)
• What liability coverage do you carry, and can you name the landlord as additional insured? Check your lease for the amount it requires.
• Have you worked to this landlord’s technical criteria or with its base-building engineer?
• Who prepares the single-line diagram and the ENMAX application, and when will it go in?
• For restaurants: have you coordinated hood suppression and fire alarm tie-ins with the suppression and alarm vendors?
• Will we get as-built drawings and typed panel schedules at handover?

What does a Calgary fit-out cost?

Published Calgary figures cover the whole fit-out, not the electrical alone. Cushman & Wakefield’s 2026 guide puts Calgary office fit-out hard costs at $181.10 per sq ft, up from $166.52, and says the increase was driven mainly by rising electrical costs. Turner & Townsend’s 2025 data gives Calgary medium-quality commercial fit-out at $210–$335 per sq ft and strip-mall retail at $195–$260. Your electrical number depends on the service size, the equipment list and what the landlord already provides, so get an itemized quote from drawings.