Concrete or asphalt driveway?
Last updated: By ConcreteFinder Research Team
Comparing the two on the install price alone answers the wrong question. Asphalt is always cheaper on day one and always shorter lived, so the real question is how long you intend to own the driveway. Set the size and the period below and both surfaces are costed the same way: what it takes to lay it, what it takes to seal it on its own schedule, and how many times it has to be done again before your period is up.
Concrete or asphalt, over how long you will own it
600 sq ft over 25 years
Too close to call over that period
- Asphalt, to install ($3 to $13 per sq ft across three Ontario sources)
- $1,800 to $7,800
- Asphalt, sealcoating (12 to 25 visits at $0.50 to $1.00 per sq ft)
- $3,600 to $15,000
- Asphalt, times it has to be redone in 25 years (12 to 30 year service life)
- 0 to 2
- Asphalt, total over the period
- $5,400 to $38,400
- Concrete, to install ($9 to $20 per sq ft, Nice Guy Concrete and The Art of Concrete)
- $5,400 to $12,000
- Concrete, sealing (8 to 12 visits at $0.50 to $1.50 per sq ft)
- $2,400 to $10,800
- Concrete, times it has to be redone in 25 years (25 to 40 year service life)
- 0
- Concrete, total over the period
- $7,800 to $22,800
- Asphalt, per year
- $216 to $1,536
- Concrete, per year
- $312 to $912
Over this period the two bands overlap, so neither surface is clearly cheaper. That is the honest answer: at short horizons asphalt wins on the upfront number, and the longer you hold the driveway the more concrete's service life pulls it back. Compare the per-year lines rather than the totals.
Removing what is there now costs $1 to $2 per square foot on either surface (Eastern Ontario Paving) and is not in these totals, because it is the same cost whichever you choose. Excludes 13 percent HST. Resale value, appearance and how a surface handles road salt are real reasons to choose one over the other and none of them are money in this model.
How the whole-of-life number is built
Three pieces, each of them a published figure rather than an assumption. The install is area times a rate. The sealing is area times a rate times the number of visits, where visits is the period divided by the interval that source states. The replacements are the number of times the surface reaches the end of its service life inside the period, which is the period divided by the service life, rounded up, minus one. A surface installed today with a fifteen year life needs redoing at year fifteen and again at thirty; over a thirty year window that is one replacement, because the one landing exactly at the end is the next owner's.
The low end of each band pairs the cheapest install with the longest service life and the least frequent sealing. The high end pairs the dearest install with the shortest life and the most frequent sealing. Both are combinations a real Ontario source states; nothing between them has been invented.
One thing the model deliberately leaves out is the cost of taking out what is there now, which Eastern Ontario Paving puts at $1 to $2 per square foot. It is the same cost either way, so including it would only make both numbers bigger without changing which one wins.
Where the sources disagree, and why it matters
The asphalt service life is contested along exactly the line you would expect. Eastern Ontario Paving, an asphalt contractor, states a well-maintained asphalt driveway can last 20 to 30 years. Seven Stones Landscape and The Art of Concrete, both of whom sell concrete, state 12 to 20. Rather than pick a side, this page carries 12 to 30, so the width of the band tells you honestly how much the answer depends on an unsettled number.
Concrete's life is much less contested: 25 to 35 years from one source, 30 to 40 or more from the other. In practice, a GTA driveway's real enemy is freeze-thaw and de-icing salt, and a slab that is sealed on schedule outlives one that is not by a wide margin on either surface.
If you want the third option costed, Seven Stones Landscape puts a 2-car interlock driveway at $28,000 to $48,000, or $55 to $80 per square foot, over a 25 to 40 year life, and says outright that interlock can cost six to seven times what asphalt does on day one. ConcreteFinder tracks 137 driveway companies in the Greater Toronto Area who will quote all three.
Frequently asked questions
Is a concrete or an asphalt driveway cheaper in Ontario?
Asphalt is cheaper to install and concrete lasts longer, so the answer depends entirely on how long you keep it. Eastern Ontario Paving puts asphalt at $3 to $7 per square foot and Seven Stones Landscape at $7 to $13; concrete runs $9 to $15 per Nice Guy Concrete and $12 to $20 per The Art of Concrete. Over a long enough period the second replacement of the asphalt closes the gap.
How long does an asphalt driveway last in Ontario?
The sources disagree, and the disagreement runs along business lines. Seven Stones Landscape and The Art of Concrete both say 12 to 20 years. Eastern Ontario Paving, which lays asphalt, says a well-maintained driveway can last 20 to 30. This calculator carries 12 to 30 so the comparison is not decided by whose page you read.
How long does a concrete driveway last?
Seven Stones Landscape puts it at 25 to 35 years and The Art of Concrete at 30 to 40 or more in Ontario. That is the whole argument for concrete: it is a two-generation surface where asphalt is a one-generation one.
Which needs more maintenance?
Asphalt, by about double. The Art of Concrete states asphalt needs sealcoating every 1 to 2 years and concrete every 2 to 3. A sealcoat visit is $0.50 to $1.00 per square foot per Eastern Ontario Paving, and sealing concrete is $0.50 to $1.50 per Nice Guy Concrete.
What about interlocking pavers?
Interlock is a third answer and the most expensive on day one by a distance. Seven Stones Landscape puts a 2-car interlock driveway at $28,000 to $48,000, or $55 to $80 per square foot, with a 25 to 40 year life, and notes interlock can cost six to seven times what asphalt does on day one.
Does the calculator include taking out the old driveway?
No, deliberately. Eastern Ontario Paving puts removing the old pavement at $1 to $2 per square foot, and it costs the same whichever surface goes back down, so leaving it out keeps the comparison clean. Add it to both sides if you want the full project number.
Sources
Every rate and every service life above was re-read from its source on 2026-08-25. Canadian dollars, before 13 percent HST. Dataset July 2026.
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