Can a door from an attached garage open into a bedroom in Ottawa?

Ontario's Building Code answers this directly: no. Clause 9.10.13.15.(2) states that a doorway between an attached garage and the house must not be in a room intended for sleeping. A bedroom is a room intended for sleeping, so that door location is not permitted under the Code.

The same clause, 9.10.13.15.(1), sets out what any door between an attached garage and the house must be: tight-fitting, weather-stripped, and fitted with a self-closing device. Ask the contractor what they propose for the self-closing device and how it meets that clause.

The reason those door rules exist sits in clause 9.10.9.18, which deals with the air barrier between an attached garage and the rest of the house. Where a storage garage serves only the dwelling unit it is attached to, the Code requires an air barrier system between the garage and the house that provides an effective barrier to gas and exhaust fumes, with all joints sealed and penetrations such as wiring, boxes, piping and ductwork sealed as well. The door is part of that barrier, and its location and construction matter to how well the barrier works. These are minimums for new work, and you should ask the City of Ottawa's Building Code Services how they apply to your specific renovation.

If the current layout has a door from the garage into a bedroom, that is something to raise with the City before any work starts. The City decides through the permit process how existing conditions are addressed.

On the drywall side of this job, many builders use taped and sealed drywall to form the gas barrier on the garage-side wall and ceiling. What the Code requires is that the barrier is continuous and sealed, so any holes in the garage-side wall or ceiling need to be patched and sealed as part of the work.

When you have two written quotes in front of you, set them side by side and check that each one names what is being removed and replaced, the board specified (thickness and type), the finish level the contractor will deliver, and whether primer and paint are included or are separate.