Commercial & Industrial · 24/7 service
Storefront Glass Repair & Replacement
Replacing glass in storefronts — a smashed bay, a cracked lite, a fogged unit, or a whole elevation of tired glazing. We match the existing framing and finish, work around your trading hours, and board up the same night when the opening will not lock. Toronto and the GTA, since 1979.
Call 800-522-6825 — 24/7Request a Glass Quote
Dispatched from our Mississauga shop · since 1979 · we reglaze storefronts we did not install
A storefront is glazed in bays, and when one goes it takes the front of the business with it. Replacing storefront glass means putting the right unit back into framing that is staying — matching the make-up, the thickness and the finish so one bay does not read as a repair from the pavement, and doing it at an hour that does not cost you a trading day.
Canuck Door Systems has reglazed storefronts across the GTA since 1979, and we build storefront framing too. That matters more than it sounds: a lot of storefront glass calls turn out to be framing that has been hit, a door that has dropped and is stressing the lite beside it, or a glazing pocket that will not take the unit somebody has already ordered. We can tell you that on the first visit and quote the actual fix.
When the whole front has to go, see the Yonge Street storefront we replaced for Intercity Properties, worked from a busy sidewalk early in the day.
What we replace in a storefront
- Full-width display bays — the large lites that make up the storefront, in the existing aluminum framing.
- Glass in and beside the entrance — sidelites, transoms and the lite in a storefront door leaf, always safety glazing.
- Fogged and failed sealed units — the hazed bays that have lost their edge seal, usually several on the same elevation.
- Cracked lites — from impact, edge damage or thermal stress, reglazed to the same make-up or upgraded.
- Interior storefront glazing — glazed office fronts, vestibule screens and partition bays inside the building.
- The framing around it — stops, gaskets, glazing tape and sealant renewed with the glass, and bent or corroded sections repaired before anything is glazed.
The bay is broken: what happens tonight
Nobody stocks a storefront lite. Every one is made to the measured opening, and tempered glass cannot be cut after it is manufactured, so the replacement arrives days later however urgently it is needed. The same-night job is different work: clear the remaining glass, board the opening into the existing framing without damaging it, and measure while we are there so the unit is on order before we leave.
Broken right now? Call the 24/7 line rather than filling in a form — the sequence, the costs and what a board-up actually involves are on emergency glass repair & board-up.
Reglaze the bay, or rebuild the storefront?
Most calls are the first. The test is not the age of the elevation — it is whether the framing is still doing its job.
| Reglaze the bay | Replace the storefront | |
|---|---|---|
| Framing condition | Straight, sound, anchored, finish intact | Bent, corroded, dropped, or hit by a vehicle |
| What failed | The glass, the gaskets, the sealed unit | The framing, the anchoring, or the thermal break |
| Glazing pocket | Takes the unit you need | Built for single glazing and too shallow for a sealed unit |
| The opening | Stays exactly as it is | Has to change size, or gain a door or an operator |
| Time on site | Hours, usually overnight | Days, phased and hoarded |
| What you are buying | Glass, gaskets and labour | Aluminum, glass, anchoring and making good |
When it is genuinely close we quote both and say which one we would do. New framing is covered on storefront doors & systems.
Glass worth specifying on the way back in
A bay that has broken once is glass. A bay that has broken twice is a decision, and the reglaze is the least expensive moment to make it.
| Make-up | Typical thickness | Specified for |
|---|---|---|
| Sealed insulating unit, low-E | 25 mm overall (6 / 12.7 / 6) | The default for every exterior storefront bay |
| Tempered | 6 mm | In and beside doors, and any code safety-glazing location |
| Laminated | 6.38 mm and up | Bays that keep getting hit — holds the opening together when it breaks |
| Monolithic annealed | 6 mm | Interior lites only, away from doors |
| Tinted or reflective | 6 mm | Glare and solar control on a west-facing storefront |
| Security film | Applied to existing glass | Delaying entry without replacing the bay |
Laminated glass does not stop a break-in — it delays one, and it keeps the opening closed while the alarm does its work. On a storefront that has been hit twice, laminated glass plus a shutter or grille costs less over two years than a third emergency glazing call.
Retail scheduling is half the job
A storefront cannot be reglazed with customers in front of it, so the constraint is your trading hours rather than the glass. We try to work early in the morning, before your shop opens.
For chains, the same crew and the same specification go to every location, so the twelfth store is glazed the way the first one was. Send us the portfolio rather than one address and the pricing improves with it.
What this page is not
Three neighbouring jobs get called "storefront glass" on the phone, and they are quoted differently:
- The door, not the glass — a leaf that has dropped, a closer that has failed, a lock that will not throw. That is commercial glass door repair.
- Windows away from the storefront — punched openings and elevations above the ground floor, where the frames are staying. That is window glass replacement & reglazing.
- New windows rather than new glass — frames included. That is commercial windows.
Storefront glass work from our own files
Named clients and real elevations — storefront glazing is the largest single share of our glass work.
PCI Pharma Services
Replaced the exterior glass-and-aluminum storefront door and the surrounding windows.
Intercity Properties Limited
Replaced the exterior glass-and-aluminum storefront at their Toronto property.
Shelburne Dental
Replaced the exterior glass-and-aluminum storefront doors and windows, plus interior glass-aluminum frames and wood doors.
Four decades of storefront glass for names Ontario knows — Canada’s Wonderland, Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire, the LCBO, Metrolinx, Marriott & Hilton hotels, the University of Toronto — plus thousands of businesses across the GTA. Dependable people, quality products, since 1979.
Storefront glass across Toronto & the GTA
We reglaze storefronts right across the core GTA and out into the Southern Ontario belt, dispatched from our shop in Mississauga. Emergency board-up runs 24/7; planned reglazing is scheduled around your trading hours, including overnight.
Core GTA
- Toronto
- Mississauga
- Brampton
- Vaughan
- Markham
- Scarborough
- North York
- Etobicoke
- Richmond Hill
- Oakville
- Burlington
- Milton
Southern Ontario belt
Not on the list? Retail chains rarely have all their stores in one city — we quote and service portfolios right across the belt from one contract. See all service areas
What storefront glass costs
A storefront pane is priced per unit, and those panes are large, which is the single biggest driver. What else moves the number:
- The size of the bay — a full-width storefront lite needs more glass and more hands than a window
- The make-up — a 1″ low-E sealed unit, monolithic tempered, or laminated where the bay keeps getting hit
- Whether the opening has to be secured tonight and glazed later — that is two visits
- Matching the existing anodized or powder-coat finish on the stops and framing
- Frame condition — bent, dropped or corroded framing has to be fixed before glass goes in
- Access from the street — parking, a lift, and whether the sidewalk needs a permit or hoarding
- Trading hours — night and Sunday glazing carries a labour premium and is usually worth it
Tempered and insulating units are made to size and cannot be recut, so we measure before ordering. On a bay we have boarded, the measure happens on the board-up visit — the glass is on order before we leave.
Common questions
Can you replace just the glass in a storefront, or does the framing have to come out?
Almost always just the glass. Storefront framing is designed to be reglazed: the stops come off, the gaskets come out, the broken lite is removed and the new unit is set into the same pocket with new gaskets and stops. The framing only has to come out when it has been bent or corroded, when a vehicle or a break-in has distorted the opening, or when the new glass make-up is too thick for the existing pocket — which is the usual catch on upgrading an old single-glazed storefront to a sealed unit.
What type of glass do storefronts use?
Exterior storefront bays are glazed with a 1″ sealed insulating unit — two lites around an argon or air cavity — with a low-E coating on one surface, and the glass is tempered where it is in or beside a door, which the Ontario Building Code treats as a safety-glazing location. Interior storefront and partition glazing is usually monolithic 6 mm tempered. Where a bay has been broken more than once, laminated glass is the upgrade worth pricing.
Are storefront windows tempered?
In and beside a door, yes — that is a safety-glazing location under the Ontario Building Code and CAN/CGSB-12.1, and it is not optional. Larger bays away from the door may be annealed in older storefronts, which is one of the things worth changing at the reglaze: tempered breaks into small blunt pieces instead of standing shards, which matters when the failure happens over a public pavement. We will tell you what is in your elevation when we measure.
How much does it cost to replace a storefront window?
It is driven by the size of the bay, the make-up, the access and whether the opening had to be secured first. Storefront lites are large, so the glass itself is a bigger share of the cost than on an ordinary window, and a bay that had to be boarded on a Saturday night is two visits rather than one. What changes the price is the hour you called: after-hours work carries a labour premium, not a different price for the glass. We measure and itemise before anything is ordered.
Our storefront door has dropped and won't latch — is that this?
Only partly. If the glass in the leaf is broken, that is glass work. If the leaf has dropped, drags, will not latch or the closer has failed, that is the door hardware — pivots, continuous hinges, closers, locks and thresholds — and it is covered on our commercial glass door repair page. The two turn up together often enough that we send a crew who can do both, but they are different jobs and a dropped door will break the new glass if it is glazed and left.
Can you match the aluminum finish on our existing storefront?
Usually. Clear, bronze and black anodized finishes are stock and match well across bays; custom powder-coat colours are matched from a sample or a colour reference, which we take at the measure. On an older elevation the honest answer is that a 30-year-old anodized finish has weathered and a new section beside it will read slightly different — if that matters on a brand-facing elevation, the fix is refinishing or replacing the run rather than one bay.
Will you work overnight so we can stay open?
Yes, and for retail it is the normal way we schedule it. Reglazing a bay is a few hours of work in an opening that has to be empty while it happens, so doing it at 2am is the difference between losing a trading day and losing nothing. Night and Sunday work carries a labour premium; on a storefront that premium is routinely smaller than a day's takings.
How long does storefront glass take to arrive?
Plan on a lead time, always. Tempered and insulating units are made to your measured size and cannot be cut, drilled or edged afterwards, so every unit is fabricated to order — plain tempered is quickest, laminated and sealed insulating units take longer. Usually it is 1–2 weeks to produce and install the glass. That is why a broken bay is boarded on the first visit and glazed on a second: the board-up is what makes the wait safe, and we measure while we are there so the glass is on order that night.
Do you reglaze storefronts your company didn't install?
Yes, and most of this work is exactly that. We reglaze storefronts whoever supplied them, including framing systems no longer manufactured, so the job starts with identifying the frame and the glazing method before anything is ordered. Because we also build and install storefront framing, when the answer is that the framing has to be repaired or replaced we can quote that instead of handing you to another contractor.
Storefront glass broken, or a bay that needs replacing?
Call and we dispatch 24/7 — the store gets secured tonight and glazed properly after. Planning ahead instead? Send us the elevation and we’ll quote it.