Does the door from my Barrhaven garage into the house need a closer?

It does. Ontario's Building Code requires every door between an attached garage and the house to be tight-fitting, weather-stripped, and fitted with a self-closing device (clause 9.10.13.15.(1)), and the doorway must not be located in a room intended for sleeping (9.10.13.15.(2)).

That door is part of a wider rule: where a garage is attached to a house, the Code requires an air barrier system between the garage and the rest of the house that provides an effective barrier to gas and exhaust fumes, and every door in that wall must meet 9.10.13.15 (9.10.9.18.(4)). Where the garage serves only the home it is attached to, the Code does not require a fire-rated wall between them (9.10.9.18.(3)). These are minimums for new work; ask the City how they apply to your house, especially if the door or its opening is changing.

The Code text we have does not name a particular type of self-closing device. Ask the contractor what they propose and how it meets 9.10.13.15.(1).

If the door, the frame or the opening is being changed:

• ask the City first: its permit list includes enlarging or relocating a door
• have the quote name the door, the weather-stripping and the self-closing device
• ask that holes in the garage-side wall or ceiling, such as for wiring or ducts, be patched and sealed as part of the gas barrier

Before you agree to a price, ask the contractor to write into the quote that the door will close and latch on its own once the work is done.