Yes — almost all electrical work in Ontario has to be reported to the Electrical Safety Authority before it starts, and a panel swap is squarely inside that rule.
Short answer
Yes. A panel change is electrical work, and the Ontario Electrical Safety Code requires almost all electrical work to be reported to the Electrical Safety Authority by filing a notification of work — what most people still call a “permit” — before the work begins. It’s separate from any municipal building permit, and a panel swap commonly needs both.
This is the detail that trips people up most: two different systems, both possibly required for one job. The Electrical Safety Authority states that “the Ontario Electrical Safety Code requires almost all electrical work be reported to the Electrical Safety Authority by filing a notification of work (or ‘permit’),” and that “the person doing the work… should file the notification before the work starts.” Critically, ESA is explicit that “having a building permit isn’t the same as filing an electrical notification. You may need both.” A panel change is precisely the kind of work where both can apply at once.
The notification isn’t something a homeowner typically files themselves. ESA’s licensing page states that “Licensed Electrical Contractors (LECs) are the only businesses in Ontario legally authorized to do electrical work in your home,” identified by “a 7-digit ECRA/ESA licence number.” A qualified electrician or even a Master Electrician can’t be hired directly for the job — they work through a licensed contracting business. If someone asks the homeowner to file the ESA notification personally, treat that as a warning sign rather than a shortcut.
ESA’s own rule is that “an electrical installation must be inspected before it’s concealed or buried,” and a panel change is squarely the category that rule was built for: the utility has to disconnect power around the work and the installation gets checked before everything is closed back up and re-energized. Skipping the notification doesn’t just risk a paperwork gap — it risks having live electrical work go back into service without the inspection the Code is built around.
Assuming a municipal building permit covers the electrical side, or assuming a “simple swap” is minor enough to skip notifying ESA, are both common and both wrong — the two systems run in parallel and a single job can trigger both. The same logic applies across the board on this hub: see whether a deck needs a permit for another case where “it’s small” is not the same thing as “it’s exempt.”
A 30-minute call is enough to tell you which permits and notifications your project actually needs.
