How wide should a single-car garage be to comfortably fit a truck in New Brunswick?

A single-car garage designed to comfortably fit a full-size pickup truck should be a minimum of 14 feet wide and 26 feet deep, though 16 feet wide by 28 feet deep is the ideal target for true day-to-day comfort. The standard 12-foot-wide single-car garage that was common in older NB homes is simply too narrow for modern trucks, and a 20-foot depth will not accommodate a full-size pickup without the bumper nearly touching the back wall.

New Brunswick has one of the highest rates of pickup truck ownership in Canada, and the trucks keep getting bigger. A 2024-2026 Ford F-150 crew cab measures approximately 6.5 feet wide (mirrors folded) and 19.5 to 21.5 feet long depending on bed length. A RAM 1500 crew cab is similar, and a heavy-duty 3/4-ton or 1-ton truck can stretch to 22 feet or more. With side mirrors extended — which is how you will actually be driving the truck into the garage — the effective width increases to roughly 8 feet. In a 12-foot-wide garage, that leaves only 2 feet of total clearance on both sides combined, making it extremely difficult to open the driver's door far enough to get out without hitting the wall.

At 14 feet wide, you gain about 3 feet of clearance on each side of the truck body (mirrors folded), which is enough to open a truck door comfortably and walk alongside the vehicle. This is the minimum width that most NB garage builders recommend for a truck garage. At 16 feet wide, you have genuine comfort — room to open the door fully, space for a narrow shelf or workbench along one wall, and enough clearance to walk around the truck without squeezing.

For depth, plan for your truck's full length plus at least 3 feet of clearance in front and behind. A 20-foot-long truck in a 26-foot-deep garage gives you 6 feet of combined front-and-back clearance — enough for a small workbench at the back and room to close the overhead door with the tailgate down. If you have or plan to buy a long-bed truck (8-foot bed), or if you want meaningful storage or work space at the back, 28 to 30 feet of depth is worth the investment.

The garage door itself is equally important. A standard single garage door is 8 or 9 feet wide. For a truck garage, a 10-foot-wide door is strongly recommended — it gives you significantly more margin when pulling in and eliminates the stress of threading a wide truck through a narrow opening, especially in winter when snowbanks narrow the approach. A 10-foot-wide insulated garage door in NB costs approximately $1,500 to $2,800 installed, only marginally more than a 9-foot door. The header over the wider opening requires a larger beam — typically an LVL or doubled-up engineered header — which your builder will account for in the framing design.

Ceiling height matters too if your truck has accessories. A truck with a roof rack, toolbox, or canopy can stand 7 to 8 feet tall. Standard 8-foot garage walls provide very tight clearance after accounting for the overhead door track and opener. Specify 9-foot or even 10-foot walls if you plan to keep accessories mounted, or if you want clearance for overhead storage racks above the truck. The additional wall height adds $500 to $1,500 in framing and siding costs but eliminates a daily frustration.

In New Brunswick, remember that even a single-car truck garage requires a proper foundation extending below the 4- to 5-foot frost line, a building permit in most municipalities, and electrical service with at minimum one circuit for lighting and outlets plus a dedicated circuit for the garage door opener. A 14x26 single-car garage built for a truck runs approximately $28,000 to $45,000 in the current NB market, while a 16x28 version comes in at $32,000 to $50,000. The extra 2 feet of width and depth add relatively modest cost for a dramatic improvement in daily usability. Get matched with a garage contractor for a free estimate on your project through New Brunswick Garages.