Windshields, side glass and the cameras behind them. Trained in months, in demand every winter.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Experienced installer
$56,000
Trainee
$38,000
Senior or shop owner
$83,000
Job Bank's national median is $27 an hour, about $56,000 a year full time. Shops that do camera calibration and mobile service pay more. Chains like Speedy Glass and dealership glass departments sit near the median.
$18 to $21 an hour
Trainee installer, about $38,000 a year
Most shops hire with no experience and train you in a few months. Some pay per job once you are on your own, which rewards speed.
$38 to $40 an hour
About $83,000 a year for senior technicians and shop owners
Calibrating the driver-assistance cameras behind modern windshields is the skill that separates top pay from average pay.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
This is one of the cheapest trades in the country to enter. The low end is zero: you learn in the shop, you are paid from the first day, the shop owns the big equipment and the certification test costs about thirty nine dollars through a member shop. The high end is somebody who also pays for the optional apprenticeship school blocks and buys a good set of their own hand tools. Nothing here needs a student loan.
One of the cheapest trades to enter. Nearly everyone learns in the shop with no tuition.
Company van
Mobile technicians get a stocked van.
Health and dental
At national chains and dealerships.
Per-job bonuses
Common at busy shops.
Steady winter work
Cold snaps crack windshields. Business rises when other trades slow.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Hired and trained on the job. Ontario has a voluntary apprenticeship, most provinces do not.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Shop and any automotive course. A driver's licence is essential.
Get hired as a trainee
Weeks
Glass chains, independents, dealerships and body shops hire and train. Show you are careful and quick with your hands.
Learn to install
3 to 12 months
Windshields, side and back glass, moulding, urethane adhesives and safe drive-away times. Then chip repair and mobile calls.
Optional Ontario apprenticeship
1 to 2 years
Skilled Trades Ontario lists Automotive Glass Technician (274L). There is no certifying exam; you finish with a Certificate of Apprenticeship.
Camera calibration
Ongoing
Learn the calibration rigs for driver-assistance cameras. This is where the trade is going.
Shop or transportation technology
Working around cars without damaging them.
Math
Measurements and cure times.
Computer courses
Calibration tools are software driven.
English
Insurance paperwork on almost every job.
No province requires a licence to replace auto glass. Ontario offers a voluntary apprenticeship (code 274L) that ends in a Certificate of Apprenticeship with no exam, and it is not a Red Seal trade. The industry's own standard is the Auto Glass Safety Council certification, which member shops require of their installers. Insurance companies increasingly want certified technicians on the jobs they pay for.
Things you don't need, but that help.
ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) calibration
Lane cameras and sensors must be recalibrated after a windshield swap. Shops charge hundreds per calibration.
Auto Glass Safety Council certification
The industry standard for safe installation, recognized by insurers.
Heavy truck and bus glass
Fleet work, bigger glass, higher rates.
Glazier (a second trade)
Building and storefront glass. Broader work, Red Seal ticket.
Clean driving record
Mobile work is most of the job.
Attention to detail
A bad seal leaks or, worse, fails in a crash.
Basic auto body skills
Rust around the pinch weld must be handled before glass goes in.
Customer skills
Most customers are dealing with insurance and a bad day.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Two windshields in the shop before 10am: cut out the old glass, clean and prime the frame, lay urethane, set the new glass, then run the camera calibration rig. A chip repair walk-in. Then the van: a mobile windshield in a customer's driveway and a side window at a car dealership. Insurance paperwork on every job. Winter mornings are the busiest of the year.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
In a rollover, a bonded windshield carries a large part of the roof load, and it is what the passenger airbag pushes against. That is why installers follow strict adhesive cure times before the car can be driven.
Most new cars have a forward camera mounted to the windshield for lane keeping and emergency braking. After every windshield replacement it has to be recalibrated, which turned a glass job into a technology job.
Ontario's Automotive Glass Technician apprenticeship (code 274L) is one of the few trades where the highest credential is a Certificate of Apprenticeship: there is no Certificate of Qualification exam at the end.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.