Container 100A Electrical Panel Install Ontario 2026

By Paul LeBlanc, owner, and Christian LeBlanc, second-generation operator, Van Blanc Ent. Inc.

The question we hear most after a container sale closes is “how do I put real power in it?” For a workshop with a welder, a compressor, and a heat source, that means a proper 100A panel. Real panel, real breakers, real grounding, real ESA paperwork. This guide walks the install the way a licensed electrician in Ontario actually does it in 2026, and the way we coach buyers to plan before the container leaves the yard.

Van Blanc has been in the container trade for roughly 20 years and operating in Brantford since 1995. Christian LeBlanc runs day-to-day operations as the second-generation operator alongside his father Paul. The electrical work is not something we do ourselves. We sell the box, coach the buyer on what the licensed contractor will need, and keep our hands off the wiring. The box decisions you make before delivery shape every electrical decision after delivery.

Why Is 100A the Right Panel Size for a Container Workshop?

A container sub-panel is an electrical panel installed inside the converted unit and fed from an existing main service elsewhere on the property. It carries its own breakers for the workshop or office loads, but relies on the upstream main for capacity and for the connection to the utility. Sizing it correctly is the first decision a buyer makes.

A 60A sub-panel runs a few outlets and lights. A 200A is overkill unless the build includes a commercial kitchen, a CNC machine, or an EV charger inside the unit. 100A sits in the honest middle. Load budget for a typical workshop conversion:

• Mini-split heat pump (12,000 to 18,000 BTU): 1,500 to 2,400 watts running, 240V dedicated
• Welder (140 to 220A MIG or stick): 4,000 to 6,000 watts peak, dedicated 30A or 50A circuit
• Air compressor (single-stage 5 to 7 HP): 2,000 to 3,500 watts, dedicated 240V circuit
• LED lighting (8 to 12 fixtures): 200 to 400 watts total, two lighting circuits
• General-purpose 120V outlets (12 to 18 across 3 to 4 circuits): variable, sized for tools
• Dedicated dust collector or shop vac: 1,000 to 1,500 watts
• Block heater plug or work-area heat: 1,000 to 1,500 watts

Connected load adds to 12,000 to 20,000 watts. At 240V, 100A service delivers 24,000 watts, the legal headroom an Ontario inspector wants for diversified workshop loads. A 60A panel cannot run a welder, compressor, and heat pump together without nuisance tripping. A 100A panel can. An office conversion is smaller, and 60A can be defended for a single heat pump and a few workstations, but the cost delta between 60A and 100A on the container side is modest, often a small fraction of the total install once the feeder and panel are already being run. That buys ten years of headroom. We coach buyers to size up when budget allows. Paul puts it plainly: “Buyers come back to add a welder circuit two years later and wish they had run the 100A the first time. The panel is the cheap part to oversize while the feeder is already open.” If you are still choosing the unit, the 20ft and 40ft options on our page of containers ready to buy are the two shells most workshop conversions start from.

Should You Run a Sub-Panel or a Separate Utility Service to the Container?

A sub-panel fed from an existing main service is the right answer for almost every container electrical install in Ontario. The main lives in the house, shop, barn, or pole-mounted meter base. The container becomes a satellite panel fed by one buried or overhead feeder. This is the right answer 95 percent of the time.

The alternative, a separate utility service drop with its own meter and main panel at the container, is technically possible but rarely sensible. Hydro One or the local utility (Brantford Power, Alectra, Hydro Ottawa) will quote a new service connection before any container-side wiring starts. Once you add the meter base, mast, and disconnect, a standalone-service install costs several times what a sub-panel fed from existing service does, because you are paying for an entire utility connection rather than one feeder.

The exception is a remote property where no main service exists within feeder distance, or a multi-container compound where the load exceeds what an existing house service can supply. Christian on this: “The shortest, code-compliant path from existing power to the container panel is the right install. Buyers ask about standalone meters because that is what they see on YouTube. The Ontario answer for nine out of ten container conversions is a clean sub-panel feeder.” Feeder length sweet spot is 50 to 100 feet. Over 150 feet, voltage drop pushes the wire up a size. Over 250 feet, separate utility service sometimes becomes cheaper.

ESA Ontario Permit and Inspection Reality

The Electrical Safety Authority is the provincial body that enforces the Ontario Electrical Safety Code. Two facts every container buyer should hear up front, factually:

• Any new electrical work in Ontario, including a sub-panel install in a container, requires a Notification of Work filed with ESA. The notification is the permit. It must be filed before or within 48 hours of work starting.
• If the work is done by a contractor, that contractor must be a Licensed Electrical Contractor (LEC). The LEC files the notification under their licence number. The homeowner cannot file a notification on a contractor’s behalf.

A homeowner can sometimes do their own electrical work on their primary residence and file the notification themselves, but the exemption is narrow. It does not cover work on a detached structure used commercially, rental property, or work by anyone who is not the registered owner. The honest path is to hire a licensed contractor regardless.

The inspection: contractor files notification, schedules rough-in (before drywall or insulation closes the walls), schedules final (energized, panel labelled, GFCI tested). ESA issues a Certificate of Inspection. The total ESA fee in 2026 is a modest flat-and-per-inspection charge that scales with circuit count and scope, and it is set by ESA rather than the contractor. That fee is separate from the contractor’s labour. ESA inspectors today are familiar with container conversions in Ontario, where five years ago they were not. Steel-shell grounding, conduit routing, and labelling are the points an inspector will look at hardest.

How Do You Route Wire Through a Container’s Corrugated Steel Walls?

Wire routing through corrugated steel is what distinguishes container wiring from a wood-frame outbuilding. Romex (NMD90) inside the container behind drywall is allowed in residential conversions, but the feeder and any wiring exposed to mechanical damage must be in conduit. Three routing choices:

• EMT (electrical metallic tubing). Rigid thin-wall steel conduit, mounted to the corrugated wall with standoffs. Acts as an equipment grounding conductor when properly installed with steel couplings. The right choice for clean workshop conversions where conduit will be visible.
• IMC (intermediate metal conduit). Heavier steel conduit, tougher against impact. Used where forklift or equipment movement might strike it. Slightly more expensive than EMT.
• Liquid-tight flexible metal conduit. Used for the final connection to the panel and at bends through corrugation or wall penetrations. The bridge between rigid runs and the panel.

Romex inside conditioned wall cavities (between insulation and finished interior surface) is allowed in residential container conversions in Ontario. The contractor fishes Romex through stud bays the same way as in any wood-frame wall, with bushings at penetration points. Romex is not acceptable outside conditioned wall cavities, exposed inside a workshop, or running across bare corrugated steel.

The feeder penetration through the container wall gets done once and gets done right. Contractor cuts a clean hole sized for a watertight conduit fitting (1.25 inch trade size for a 100A feeder), installs a bulkhead or gland fitting rated for outdoor weather, and seals on both sides. A leaky feeder penetration is the most common avoidable failure mode in the first year of a conversion.

Does the Steel Container Shell Count as a Ground?

Grounding a steel container gets misunderstood more often than any other part of a container install. The steel shell is conductive end to end but not a substitute for a dedicated equipment grounding conductor or a grounding electrode. Three separate requirements have to be satisfied independently.

• Equipment grounding conductor (EGC). The green or bare copper wire pulled with the feeder, sized per Ontario Electrical Safety Code Table 16. For a 100A sub-panel fed by #3 AWG copper, the EGC is typically #8 AWG copper, running continuously from the main panel ground bar to the sub-panel ground bar. This carries fault current back to the source.
• Bonding of the steel shell. The shell must be bonded to the sub-panel ground bar with a dedicated bonding conductor (#6 AWG copper minimum), connected with a listed grounding lug welded or clamped to clean bare steel. This bonds the container body to ground so that any contact between an energized conductor and the shell trips the upstream breaker.
• Grounding electrode (ground rod). A supplemental 8 foot copper-clad steel ground rod driven within 1.5 metres of the container, connected to the sub-panel ground bar with #6 AWG copper. Two rods at least 6 feet apart may be required if soil resistance is high. The Ontario Electrical Safety Code treats a detached structure with its own sub-panel as requiring a grounding electrode at the structure.

Neutral and ground stay separate at the sub-panel. This is the rule that catches DIY installers. The main bonding jumper, which connects neutral to ground at the main panel, must not be installed at the sub-panel. Neutral goes to an isolated neutral bar, ground to a separate ground bar bonded to the panel enclosure. Bonding neutral to ground at the sub-panel creates parallel current paths through the EGC and the shell, which is both a code violation and a fire risk. When the conversion is roughed in alongside venting, insulation, and a man door, those trades get coordinated in the conversion work we do at the Brantford yard before the unit ships, so the electrician walks into a unit that is ready for wire.

Outlet and Lighting Circuit Count for a Workshop or Office

A workshop conversion in a 20ft container, 100A panel, typical circuit breakdown that an Ontario inspector will sign off cleanly:

• Two 15A lighting circuits (one for general overhead LED, one for task lighting over workbenches)
• Three 20A general-purpose 120V receptacle circuits (12 to 18 receptacles total, every 6 feet of usable wall, plus a dedicated bench-edge run)
• One 20A dedicated circuit for the air compressor (120V single stage) or one 30A 240V if a larger compressor
• One 30A or 50A 240V circuit for the welder, on a NEMA 6-30 or 6-50 receptacle, dedicated
• One 20A or 30A 240V circuit for the mini-split heat pump, dedicated
• One 20A dedicated circuit for a dust collector or shop vac
• One 15A or 20A circuit for an exterior service receptacle (GFCI weather-resistant) for power tools used outside the container

That is 10 to 11 circuits in a 20-space panel, leaving 8 to 10 slots for expansion. GFCI is required on every 120V receptacle within 1.5 metres of a water source, every exterior receptacle, and every receptacle in a wet or damp location. Most workshop conversions get GFCI on every general-purpose 120V circuit as default. Arc-fault (AFCI) protection is required on 120V circuits in any classified habitable space. A container office with a desk meets that classification; a pure workshop does not.

Outlet placement is the small detail that makes a workshop livable. Receptacles every 6 feet of usable wall, additional receptacles at workbench height (42 to 48 inches off the floor) instead of the residential 12 inches, and a quad receptacle at the welder location. Bench-edge receptacles save extension cords. Floor-level receptacles in a workshop are largely useless.

Where Should the Sub-Panel Be Mounted Inside the Container?

Sub-panel placement inside the container wants a spot that meets clearance rules and stays accessible. The Ontario Electrical Safety Code requires 1 metre of clear working space in front of the panel, 750 mm of clear width, and the panel to be mounted with its top breaker no higher than 1.85 metres off the finished floor. Three placement guidelines we coach buyers to think through before the box leaves the yard:

• Mount on a long sidewall, not the end wall. The end wall is the door wall and sees foot traffic. Long sidewall opposite the workbench keeps the panel out of the way and visible.
• Locate within 3 metres of the feeder penetration. Every metre of feeder inside the container adds conduit, labour, and a code question about feeder support. Short and direct is cheap and clean.
• Leave clearance for a person plus a closed cabinet door. If the panel sits behind a cabinet door, the door must open to 90 degrees without obstruction, and clearance is measured to where the open door sits.

Insulation choice on the panel-side wall matters too. Closed-cell spray foam works around an electrical box because foam is applied after the panel and conduit are roughed in. Rigid foam panels need furring strips and cut-outs that complicate panel mounting. Most contractors prefer closed-cell spray foam in container conversions for exactly this reason. The order these trades happen in matters, which is why we lay out the sequence buyers plan before delivery; if the build also needs heating and cooling, the heat pump install for an Ontario workshop shares the same panel and should be planned with it.

Honest 2026 Container Electrical Install Cost

What actually moves the container-side quote for a 100A sub-panel install in southern Ontario, ranked from smallest to largest swing:

• 100A sub-panel install, basic workshop, 10 to 12 circuits, EMT conduit, 50 foot feeder run: the baseline scenario, covering materials, labour, the ESA notification fee, and inspection in one clean number
• 100A sub-panel install, full workshop, 15 to 20 circuits, mix of dedicated 240V circuits, 75 foot feeder run: steps up as dedicated welder and compressor circuits, extra breakers, and a longer feeder are added
• 100A sub-panel install, office or live-work conversion, AFCI and GFCI throughout, fixture supply by owner: the AFCI requirement on habitable-space circuits adds device cost over a pure workshop
• Long-run feeder add-on, 100 to 250 feet, buried conduit, trenching included: the single largest add-on, driven by trench length, wire upsizing for voltage drop, and any driveway crossings
• Main service upgrade at house from 100A to 200A to support a new container sub-panel: a separate job entirely, often required if the existing main is already near capacity, and quoted by the utility and contractor on its own

Excluded from those numbers: any fixtures (LED lights, receptacles, switches, welder cord) the owner supplies versus the contractor supplies, any framing or drywall closing up the rough-in, data or low-voltage runs, and equipment-specific cord and plug work. A clean total for a fully-wired workshop container in 2026 southern Ontario comes down to how many of those line items the build actually needs.

The biggest cost swing is feeder length and routing. A 30 foot overhead run on a tidy property is the cheap end. A 200 foot buried run through hard fill across a yard with two driveway crossings is the expensive end. Trenching is charged by the foot, so distance and soil conditions set that part of the quote. Buried runs use direct-burial cable in conduit (Teck cable in PVC is one common Ontario solution) at the depth specified by the OESC, typically 600 mm below grade for residential service. The pad the container sits on shapes the trench and the ground-rod location, so the way you level and prepare the base before the unit lands feeds straight into the electrical scope.

Frequently Asked Questions: Container 100A Electrical Install Ontario

Sources

1. Electrical Safety Authority (Ontario). Electrical Permits and Inspections Overview for Ontario.
2. Electrical Safety Authority (Ontario). Submit a New Notification or Permit for Electrical Work in Ontario.
3. Mobile Modular Containers. How to Wire a Shipping Container: 60A to 200A Panel Sizing and Code Guide.
4. Volta Electric Inc. Sub Panel Wiring Guide: Safety, Wire Sizes, and Installation.
5. Wilson Electric. Electrical Panel Upgrade Cost 2026 Ontario Pricing Guide.
6. Ottawa Electric Service. ESA Electrical Permits Ontario Homeowner Guide 2026.
7. Government of Ontario. Electricity Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 15, Schedule A.

Related Reading

• Shipping Container Modifications in Ontario: The Full Walkthrough
• New Containers: The Cleanest Base for an Office or Live-Work Conversion
• Container AC Install: Mini-Split for Ontario Workshops and Offices
• Container Accessories Field Guide for Canada
• a closer look at container base prep
• more on container delivery
• Container Types in Canada: A Buyer’s Field Guide