A cleaning lady in Montreal typically costs $25 to $35 an hour if you hire someone directly, and $30 to $55 an hour per cleaner through an agency or a platform, as of 2026. The hourly number is only half the answer, though, because an hourly rate tells you what a cleaner costs, not what a clean costs. Two cleaners at the same rate can leave you with very different homes and very different bills. Here is how hourly pricing works in Montreal, what the rate leaves out, and why The Clean Panther prices the job instead of the clock.
Hourly rates in Montreal, 2026
| How you hire | Typical hourly rate | What’s usually included |
|---|---|---|
| Private cleaner, paid directly | $25 to $35 | The person’s time. Usually no insurance, no replacement when they’re sick, no receipt |
| Agency or franchise | $35 to $55 per cleaner | Vetted staff, insurance, scheduling; products vary |
| Online platform (marketplace) | $30 to $45 | A booking system and reviews; the platform usually doesn’t employ the cleaner |
A “3-hour minimum” is common with all three, so the real floor is $75 to $165 per visit before you know what got done.
What an hourly rate doesn’t tell you
How long the job takes. A 4½ can be a 2-hour visit or a 4-hour visit depending on who’s cleaning, what products they brought and how the last visit went. With hourly pricing, that variance is your problem.
What’s included. “Three hours of cleaning” is not a scope. Baseboards? Inside the microwave? Behind the toilet? You find out when you get home.
The incentive. Hourly pay rewards the slow cleaner. Nobody is being dishonest; it’s just that speed costs them money.
Who’s covered when something breaks. A private cleaner rarely carries liability insurance. If a shelf comes down or a floor gets scratched, you’re negotiating with an individual.
Whether you’re now an employer. In Quebec, a person you hire directly and regularly to clean your home can be considered a domestic worker, with obligations for you as the household (CNESST coverage, and source deductions once hours add up). Paying cash doesn’t change that. Check with Revenu Québec if you’re unsure.
Why we price by the task, not the hour
The Clean Panther prices every clean the same way: you choose the rooms and areas in your home, you add any extras, and the price is built from that. The price covers completion of the checklist, not a number of hours. It’s the model in our Terms, and it’s the only one that lets us do three things an hourly cleaner can’t:
- Quote the exact price before anyone shows up. You see every line when you book online. The price doesn’t change on the day unless you add something.
- Publish the checklist. Every task for every service is on our cleaning checklists page. If it’s on the list, it’s done, whether that takes 2 hours or 3.
- Guarantee the result. If anything on the checklist was missed, tell us within 48 hours and we come back at no charge. You can’t guarantee an hour; you can guarantee a task.
What it costs in practice
| Home | Rooms | One-time maintenance visit | Bi-weekly (22.5% off) | Weekly (25% off) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3½ | Kitchen, bathroom, living room, 1 bedroom | $150 | $120 (minimum) | $120 (minimum) |
| 4½ | Kitchen, bathroom, living room, 2 bedrooms | $170 | $132 | $128 |
| 5½ | Kitchen, bathroom, living room, 3 bedrooms | $190 | $147 | $143 |
| Small house | Kitchen, 1.5 bathrooms, living room, dining room, 3 bedrooms | $225 | $174 | $169 |
Prices before tax. Basic cleaning products and supplies are included on every visit; for maintenance cleaning you provide the vacuum, mop and bucket, which is what keeps the recurring price where it is. Full details in our recurring cleaning cost guide.
Compare that to a 3-hour hourly visit at $40: $120 for a scope you didn’t define, without insurance or a guarantee. The task-based price for a 4½ bi-weekly is $132 with all three.
When hourly makes sense
If you want help with laundry, dishes and organizing rather than a defined clean, an hourly helper is the right tool; those aren’t on our checklists. And if you only need one specific job done, hourly is fine for that too.
Same cleaner, insured, with a receipt
Weekly and bi-weekly clients always keep the same cleaner, and monthly clients keep the same cleaner when availability allows (see our Terms). Every cleaner is background-checked and insured. And you get a proper receipt, which matters if you’re claiming Quebec’s tax credit for home-support services for seniors, which covers housekeeping for people 70 and over but only with invoices from a registered business.
To see how our regular visits work, from how often to book to what every visit includes, visit our cleaning lady service in Montreal page.
Book or get a quote
Recurring, deep and move-in/out cleanings can be booked online with the price shown before you confirm. If you’d rather send photos first, request a quote and we’ll reply, typically within one business day.
FAQ
How much should I pay a cleaning lady in Montreal?
Privately, $25 to $35 an hour is the going range in 2026; through an agency, $35 to $55 per cleaner. Task-based cleaning services price the job instead: a 4½ maintenance visit is $128 to $170 depending on frequency.
Is it cheaper to hire a cleaning lady directly?
Per hour, usually. Per clean, often not, once you count the 3-hour minimum, the lack of a defined scope, and what happens when something breaks or she can’t come.
Do you charge by the hour at all?
No. Our services are task-based, with a 30-minute arrival window and a price fixed at booking. The time a cleaner spends on site isn’t a basis for a claim or a price change, in either direction.
What if the cleaner finishes early?
Then the checklist was done faster. The price is the same, and so is the guarantee.
Do I have to be home?
No. Most clients leave a key, a code or a lockbox and get a message when the team is done.