Place, level and finish concrete floors, sidewalks and slabs. Early mornings, because concrete waits for no one.
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An apprenticeship: you are hired by a sponsor, paid while you learn on the job, and go to class for a few weeks at a time. Every fact here is from Skilled Trades Ontario (STO) and the Ontario government. See every Ontario trade side by side
You are paid from your first day. Over the 4,500 hours on the job, even at the minimum wage you would earn at least $80,775 before tax while you train, and most sponsors pay more as your skills grow.
The trade on Skilled Trades Ontario's site(opens in a new tab)
Still in high school? In Grade 11 or 12, with at least 14 credits and age 15 or older, you can start an apprenticeship through co-op placements and earn credits at the same time. Ask your school's OYAP recruiter, guidance counsellor or co-op teacher. Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP)(opens in a new tab)
Not ready to find a sponsor? Free pre-apprenticeship programs (up to a year at a college or community agency, tools and books covered, with a work placement) get you ready and in front of employers. Employment Ontario helps you apply. Pre-apprenticeship training(opens in a new tab)
Ontario sets no percentage of full pay for apprentices. Your sponsor agrees your wage with you, and it can never be below the minimum wage: $17.95 an hour from 1 October 2026. Source (opens in a new tab)
The median pay is about $71,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $51,000 at the lower end to about $90,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
2 to 3 years, on the usual route, and you are paid while you train from the first day.
$500 to $4,350 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
It depends where you work. You need a licence, certificate or registration in Quebec. Elsewhere there is none to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$71,000
Lower end
$51,000
Upper end
$90,000
Job Bank's national median is $34 an hour, about $71,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The lower and upper ends are Job Bank's low and high wages for everyone in the group, $24.50 and $43.47 an hour.
A share of the full rate
Apprentices are usually paid a share of the journeyperson rate, rising at each level
Most people start as a labourer on a concrete crew, raking and shovelling on pour days, before an employer sponsors them. In Ontario no share is set in law: your sponsor agrees your rate, often in a union or company agreement, and it can never be below the minimum wage.
$38 an hour
The median in Quebec, the highest of any province
Ontario follows at $35.70 and British Columbia at $35. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are lowest, at $25. Pour days run long and overtime adds up fast. Winter is slower in most of Canada, though heated enclosures keep commercial pours going.
Roughly, all in
$500 to $4,350
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
This is one of the cheapest trades to enter and the apprenticeship is paid work from the first day. The low end is trowels, floats, edgers and boots, with the employer covering the two in school levels and the first Certificate of Qualification exam try free in Ontario once your apprenticeship is complete. The high end is paying for both levels yourself at the top provincial rate and buying a fuller set of tools. The Canada Apprentice Loan lends up to $4,000 per school block with no interest, and EI (Employment Insurance) can replace part of your income while you are in class.
One of the cheapest trades to enter. The federal Apprenticeship Incentive Grant closed in March 2025. The new federal Red Seal Completion Bonus pays $5,000 if you finish your apprenticeship and get certified in a Red Seal trade on or after April 1, 2025. Applications open November 16, 2026.
Union pension and health plan
Cement masons and labourers' union locals cover most commercial and infrastructure work.
Overtime on pour days
A big slab does not stop at 3:30pm.
EI (Employment Insurance) in the off-season
Common for outdoor crews in winter, though it pays much less than working.
Own-business potential
Driveways, patios and garage floors are a steady residential business with low start-up cost.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A short apprenticeship, mostly learned on pour days.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Grade 12 with math and shop. Some employers will take you without it.
Find a sponsor
Weeks
A concrete contractor, a forming company or the union hall. Labouring on a crew for a season is the normal way in.
Register the apprenticeship
Days
With Skilled Trades Ontario (where the trade is called Cement (Concrete) Finisher), Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training, or your province's trades body.
Work and study
2 to 3 years
About 5,000 hours in Ontario: 4,500 on the job plus 480 hours in class, usually two levels of about 8 weeks. Other provinces set their own hours.
Certificate of Qualification and Red Seal
After your hours
Pass the provincial exam. The Red Seal endorsement lets you work in any province.
Math
Volumes, slopes and ordering the right number of trucks.
Chemistry
Concrete is a chemical reaction. Temperature and water change how it sets.
Construction technology or shop
Any hands-on class.
Physical education
Pour days are long and heavy.
Concrete finisher is a compulsory trade only in Quebec, where you need a competency certificate from the CCQ (Commission de la construction du Québec) on construction sites. In the rest of Canada, including Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, many finishers work without a certificate. Certification opens union and public work, and proves you can read specifications and handle the timing. The Red Seal endorsement transfers between provinces.
In Quebec the trade is called cement finisher (cimentier-applicateur), you take a vocational diploma first, and the CCQ (Commission de la construction du Québec, the Quebec construction commission) decides who can work on a site.
Secondary III courses
From age 16
The DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies) does not need a high school diploma. At 16 you need Secondary III language, second language and math. From 18, the general development test is another way in.
DEP in Preparing and Finishing Concrete (5343, or 5843 in English)
About 7 months
900 hours. Offered in the Quebec City region, the Laurentides and Montreal. English groups run at Construc-Plus in the Laurentides, in Saint-Hubert and in Montreal.
Apprentice competency certificate
Weeks
Issued by the CCQ. You need the DEP, an employer registered with the CCQ who guarantees at least 150 hours of work within 3 months, the 30 hour site safety course and a $100 fee.
Work as an apprentice
About 2,650 hours
Two periods of 2,000 hours, 4,000 in all. The DEP counts for its hours plus a 50% bonus, about 1,350, which leaves about 2,650 hours of paid site work.
Qualification exam
Near the end
The provincial exam, set by the CCQ. You can sit it once 85% of your apprenticeship hours are done. Pass and you become a journeyperson (compagnon).
The CCQ (Commission de la construction du Québec, the Quebec construction commission) sometimes opens a labour pool when a region runs short of workers. Then you can get an apprentice certificate without the DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies), as long as an employer guarantees you 150 hours of work. If you already have work and training that add up to 35% of the apprenticeship, you can apply on that basis instead. In 2025 the CCQ counted 3,849 cement finishers active on Quebec sites and admitted 268 new apprentices.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Red Seal endorsement
One extra exam, recognised across Canada.
Polished and decorative concrete
Ground, polished, stained or stamped floors in stores, condos and homes. Cleaner work.
Large industrial floors
Warehouse slabs poured with laser screeds and ride-on trowels. Flatness specs are strict.
Curb and gutter machines
Road and municipal work, often on big infrastructure contracts.
Concrete repair and restoration
Parking garages and balconies in every Canadian city need constant repair.
Driver's licence
You will be at the site before the first truck arrives.
WHMIS (workplace hazardous materials training)
Wet concrete burns skin. Employers expect this one-day course.
Early-riser habits
Summer pours start at 5 or 6am to beat the heat.
Patience with weather
Rain, frost and heat all change the plan on the day.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
On site at 6am, sometimes earlier. Check the forms and rebar, then the first truck backs in. Rake and screed the concrete level, bull-float it, and wait while it starts to set. Then edge, cut control joints and trowel it smooth by hand or ride-on machine, racing the clock before it hardens. Cure and cover it. On a small pour you are done by early afternoon. On a big slab, well past dark.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world. Humanity pours billions of tonnes of it a year, and every tonne needs someone to finish it.
Concrete does not dry, it cures. It reaches its design strength at about 28 days and keeps hardening slowly for years. Engineers test it at 7 and 28 days.
Commercial pours keep going in January under heated enclosures and insulated blankets. If fresh concrete freezes before it sets, it is ruined.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Construction first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.
Last checked October 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. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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