Architecture Firm Website Redesign Cost in Montréal (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a 12-person architecture firm in Montréal, a custom redesign between 14,000 and 28,000 CAD pays off as soon as the website helps win competitions, developers or private clients. A customised premium WordPress theme (4,000 to 7,000 CAD) is still fine if the site is just a business card and the portfolio rarely exceeds 20 projects. In Québec, the hidden cost drivers are the migration of 40 to 60 projects and the French-first bilingual content required by Bill 96, which together often absorb 35 % of the budget.

Customised theme or custom build: what you really pay for

An architecture firm sells a visual signature. Developers and juries judge the site in ten seconds, often on a phone between meetings. Off-the-shelf portfolio themes force generic grids, heavy animations and identical project pages. A custom build gives you project pages that fit the work: plans, sections, before and after photos, key figures (area, budget, delivery date), team and partners.

A partner should reason in cost per year. A 5,500 CAD theme replaced after 3 years costs about 1,830 CAD a year. A 21,000 CAD custom build amortised over 6 years costs about 3,500 CAD a year. The annual gap, roughly 1,670 CAD, is covered by a single residential commission won through the site.

Bill 96 and the bilingual site

Since Bill 96 (the Charter of the French Language reform), a Québec business must make its commercial website available in French, and the French version cannot be less complete or less prominent than the English one. For a Montréal firm courting Toronto or US developers, this means a genuinely bilingual site, not a French page with a few translated headings.

Translating 20,000 words at 0.22 CAD per word adds about 4,400 CAD. Using AI translation reviewed by a professional can bring this down by half, provided the French version stays the reference text.

The hidden line item: images and migration

Most firms have their references scattered across an old site, a Behance account, competition PDFs and photographers' hard drives. Switching to WebP and AVIF cuts page weight by about 3: a project page with 20 JPEGs of 400 KB drops from 8 MB to around 2.5 MB, bringing mobile display time under the 2.5 seconds Google recommends. A serious quote should list the number of templates, who enters the projects, image handling, the redirect plan, accessibility and local SEO ("architect Montréal", "architecte Plateau Mont-Royal"). Maintenance on the Montréal market runs at 140 to 280 CAD a month.

At Kolonell, a showcase site falls within the Starter grid 800,000 to 1,200,000 FCFA (1,220 to 1,830 EUR), Growth 1,200,000 to 2,000,000 FCFA (1,830 to 3,050 EUR) or Premium 2,000,000 to 3,500,000 FCFA (3,050 to 5,340 EUR), with maintenance at 35,000, 75,000 or 120,000 FCFA a month (53, 114 or 183 EUR). Languages and the number of projects migrated are set in the quote. See our showcase websites page.

Mini case study

Émilie, managing partner of a 12-person firm in Montréal, receives about 25 qualified enquiries a year through the current site, 3 of which turn into residential design commissions (average fees 28,000 CAD). After a portfolio-led bilingual redesign with lighter project pages and local SEO, a reasonable target is 35 enquiries and 4 commissions a year.

Calculation: 1 extra commission x 28,000 CAD = 28,000 CAD of additional fees per year. A 21,000 CAD redesign plus 4,400 CAD of translation and 2,520 CAD of annual maintenance (210 CAD a month) gives a first-year cost of 27,920 CAD. Payback comes in about 12 months. With a cautious assumption of half an extra commission per year, break-even stays under 2 years.

Compare with a trade association website budget and the impact of Core Web Vitals on a manufacturer's site.

FAQ

How much does an architecture firm website redesign cost in Montréal in 2026?

Expect 4,000 to 7,000 CAD for a customised premium theme and 14,000 to 28,000 CAD for a custom build (2026 order of magnitude). Translation for Bill 96 compliance often adds 3,000 to 6,000 CAD.

Does my site have to be in French?

Yes, under Bill 96 a Québec business website must be available in French, at least as complete as other versions. An English version is allowed alongside it.

How long does the redesign take?

Plan 8 to 12 weeks for a custom build, including 2 to 3 weeks of project content. The firm should free up about 5 working days to validate texts and photos.

Should every old project be migrated?

No. Out of 60 references, 40 to 45 are usually enough. The rest are 301-redirected so their search ranking is not lost.

What maintenance budget should I plan?

The Montréal market charges 140 to 280 CAD a month, or 1,680 to 3,360 CAD a year, for updates, backups, security and small changes.

Let's scope your project. Tell us about your firm, the number of projects to showcase and your launch date, and we will define the scope and schedule. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.