Grab bar height and placement: Canadian and US guidelines

Quick answer

Canada’s building code and the US ADA Standards set grab bar heights for public buildings, and you can use them as a starting point at home. Canada puts the level bar beside an accessible toilet 750 to 850 mm (about 29½ to 33½ in) above the floor [1]. The US puts most grab bars 33 to 36 in (840 to 915 mm) above the floor, measured to the top of the bar [2].

Grab bar heights, measured

The drawings show where each set of rules puts grab bars beside a toilet and in a bathtub, and how big the bar is. They’re drawn to scale, with typical toilet and tub sizes. Pick a country to see its numbers.

Canadian and US rules side by side

Figures from the National Building Code of Canada 2025 [1] and the 2010 ADA Standards [2].

Types of grab bars at a glance

Grab bars go mostly in the bathroom: by the toilet and in the tub or shower. They can also help beside a bed or chair, in a hallway, or at a step by a door. Straight bars can go level, upright or at an angle, which helps line up both ends with wall studs [5]. Our home safety checklist covers the rest of the home.

Where to buy grab bars

Hardware and home improvement stores, pharmacies, and home health and medical supply stores sell grab bars in Canada and the US. You can also shop online. The tables below list bars whose makers publish their specs. The figures come from the makers’ pages, linked in the sources. We haven’t tested the products ourselves.

More options at Amazon: L-shaped bars (opens in a new tab) and flip-up bars (opens in a new tab).

How grab bar height works

A grab bar is a sturdy bar fixed to the wall. You hold it to sit, stand, or step into and out of a tub or shower. It has to be where your hand can reach it during those moves.

The heights people quote come from two sets of rules for public buildings:

• Canada. The National Building Code of Canada says where grab bars go in accessible washrooms, showers and bathtubs [1]. The newest edition came out in December 2025 [3]. Each province and territory decides whether to adopt it, with or without changes, so the rules can differ where you live [1].
• United States. The 2010 ADA Standards cover new and altered businesses, other public places, and state and local government buildings [2].

Neither sets heights for a private home, so you can fit the bars to the person using them. Someone tall who showers standing up may need a different height than someone shorter who sits on a bath seat. An occupational therapist can watch how a person moves and suggest heights and places.

How to measure

• Both codes measure from the finished floor [1] [2]: the top of the tile or flooring, not the bare floor under it.
• The US standards measure to the top of the bar [2].
• Along a bathtub, both codes measure the bar closest to the tub from its rim, not the floor [1] [2].
• Before drilling, mark the spot with painter’s tape and check the person can reach it, for example while sitting on the toilet. A stud finder (opens in a new tab) helps find the studs behind the wall.

New homes and some apartment buildings

The 2025 code extends its accessibility rules to all types of homes [3]. Where a province or territory adopts that part, new houses, duplexes, townhouses and similar homes need solid wood or plywood behind the walls around toilets, tubs and showers, so grab bars can go in now or later. Beside a toilet, for example, the reinforced area runs 1,600 mm (about 63 in) out from the back wall, from 690 to 1,630 mm (about 27 to 64 in) above the floor [1].

In the US, the Fair Housing Act covers buildings with four or more homes first lived in after March 13, 1991 (only the ground-floor units if there’s no elevator). Their bathroom walls must be reinforced for later grab bars. Detached houses, duplexes and triplexes aren’t covered [4].

Features to compare

From simpleaging.com. This checklist is general information, not medical advice.

Use this list when you compare grab bars in a store or online.

• Length. Long enough for the spot. Measure the wall space first.
• Diameter. 30 to 40 mm (Canadian code) or 1¼ to 2 in (US standards), and the person’s hand closes around it [1] [2].
• Grip. Textured or slip-resistant, for wet hands.
• Gap from the wall. 35 to 45 mm (Canadian code) or 1½ in (US standards) [1] [2].
• Load rating. The maker states the load it’s rated for, and the installation that rating assumes.
• Mounting plates. Enough screw holes at each end, and fasteners listed for your kind of wall.
• Finish. Made for wet rooms, in a color that stands out from the wall.
• Instructions and warranty. Installation instructions included, and you know what the warranty covers.

Costs and funding for grab bars

Price depends on the bar, the fasteners and the installation. Installation costs more when wood has to be added behind the wall, when holes go through tile, or when the tub or shower has fiberglass walls. Prices vary by product, store and region, so we don’t list them. Ask for a written quote that includes installation.

Canada

Home Accessibility Tax Credit: up to C$20,000 a year

The Department of Finance Canada names buying and installing grab bars as an example of an eligible expense [6]. You may be able to claim up to C$20,000 a year of eligible renovation costs. You must be 65 or older at the end of the year, or eligible for the disability tax credit. Some family members can claim too. The work must be permanent and must help the person get into or move around the home, or lower the risk of harm [7]. Our tax credit calculator estimates what a renovation may be worth, and our Home Accessibility Tax Credit guide explains who qualifies.

Medical expense tax credit

Some renovation costs can also count as medical expenses. The work must help a person with a severe and prolonged mobility impairment get into or move around the home. It must also be work that wouldn’t normally raise the home’s value, and that people without the impairment wouldn’t normally pay for [8]. From 2026, an expense claimed as a medical expense can’t also be claimed for the Home Accessibility Tax Credit, so you choose one credit for each expense [20] [21]. Our medical expense tax credit guide explains the rules and compares the two credits. Our medical expense tax credit calculator adds up your medical costs, takes off up to 3% of net income, and estimates the federal credit [8].

See Funding in Canada for more programs that may help.

United States

Medical expense deduction

The IRS lists adding grab bars anywhere in the home among the changes made for a disability that don’t usually raise a home’s value, so their full cost can count as a medical expense. You can deduct medical expenses only if you itemize, and only the amount above 7.5% of your adjusted gross income [9]. Our IRS medical expense deduction calculator estimates what you might deduct and whether it would lower your tax.

Medicare

Medicare’s equipment list doesn’t cover grab bars. It calls them self-help devices [10].

Our guide to home modification grants and programs in the US covers other help that may apply.

Questions to ask

An occupational therapist, physiotherapist or doctor

• What height and position suit me, or my parent, given how we move?
• By the toilet: level, upright or L-shaped, and on which side?
• Would an upright bar at the tub or shower entrance help?
• Would a bath seat, transfer bench or raised toilet seat help too?

A contractor or installer

• What’s behind the wall where the bars will go: studs, solid wood, tile or fiberglass?
• Will the bars go into studs or solid wood? If not, what anchors will you use, and does the grab bar maker approve them for this wall?
• For a new or renovated bathroom, can you add solid wood or plywood behind the walls around the toilet, tub and shower, so bars can go where they’re needed later?
• Will you follow the maker’s instructions? Is labor in the written quote?

Your local building department

• Which building code applies to my new home or renovation, and does it require reinforced walls for grab bars?

Safety notes and when to talk to a professional

Towel bars aren’t grab bars. They hold towels, not a person who slips. Alaska’s Department of Health suggests replacing a towel bar with a grab bar that can also hold towels [5].

Suction-cup handles. Alaska’s Department of Health advises against them: they can let go without warning. Makers may say they’re only for steadying, but a person who slips grabs whatever is there [5].

Clamp-on tub rails can loosen. Check the tightening nut and rubber pads often [5].

Flip-up bars need strong support. Alaska’s guide prefers models with a support leg [5], and Canada’s code says its standard wall reinforcement isn’t designed for fold-down bars [1].

Floor-to-ceiling poles should be fixed to the floor and ceiling, not held by pressure alone [5].

Fiberglass tub walls have an air gap behind them. Alaska’s guide warns against mounting grab bars on these surrounds, because bars must be fixed firmly to studs [5]. Ask an installer about options for your tub. Our guide to grab bars on fiberglass tubs and walls without studs explains them.

The whole installation has to be strong. A grab bar is only as strong as its anchors and the wall, so check now and then that bars aren’t loosening [5]. The US strength rule covers the bar, its fasteners, its mounting and the wall behind it [2].

When to talk to a professional. If someone has fallen, feels unsteady or worries about falling, see a doctor. A doctor can look for causes and may refer you to a physiotherapist or occupational therapist. An occupational therapist can also look at the bathroom and suggest where grab bars would help.