Install and maintain elevators and escalators. One of the best paid trades, and one of the hardest to get into.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Licensed mechanic
$94,000
Apprentice
$46,000
Adjuster or heavy overtime
$141,000
Job Bank puts the trade at $22 to $68 an hour, median $45. The rate is set by the union contract, so almost everyone with a licence earns near the top. First-year apprentices start at about half the mechanic rate and reach it by licence. Adjusters, who fine-tune new installations, and mechanics on call for breakdowns earn the most.
$22 to $30 an hour
First-year apprentice, a percentage of the mechanic rate
Rises in steps as you log hours. By the later years an apprentice earns more than many fully licensed workers in other trades.
$45 to $68 an hour
About $94,000 to $141,000 a year at regular hours
Job Bank's median for the trade is $45 an hour and its high end is $68. Add overtime, on-call and shift premiums on top of that. The pension contribution is one of the largest in the trades.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
Union apprenticeship classes are covered through the employer and union training fund, so there is almost no tuition to find. The low end is a basic tool kit plus the registration and exam fees. The high end is a fuller tool kit from the list your employer gives you, the same fees, and the accredited training the licence needs each renewal cycle. In Ontario the licence renews every two years and needs at least 12 hours of training, and the real cost of this career is time: getting accepted can take years of applying while you work another job.
The main cost is time: getting accepted can take years of applying while you work another job.
Defined-benefit pension
IUEC (International Union of Elevator Constructors) locals run a strong pension plus a savings plan.
Full health, dental and vision
Company vehicle and phone
Service mechanics drive a company van between buildings.
Job security
Elevators must be maintained by law, in every economy.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A 4-year union apprenticeship plus a provincial licence. The hard part is getting in.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Grade 12 with math and physics. Many successful applicants also have an electrical or mechanical college program or trade experience.
Apply to the union
Months to years
IUEC (International Union of Elevator Constructors) Local 50 serves the Greater Toronto Area; other locals cover the rest of Canada. Intakes open rarely, draw far more applicants than spots, and include an aptitude test and interview.
Register as a mechanic in training
Days
In Ontario you take a safety workshop from an accredited trainer, then register with TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority) as an EDM-T (elevating devices mechanic in training), and with Skilled Trades Ontario as an apprentice.
Work and study
4 years
8,000 hours in Ontario: 7,280 on the job with an elevator company plus 720 hours of classroom training, delivered through the union's own course modules in the evenings or in blocks. Installation, hydraulics, motors, controls, wiring and safety codes.
Licence
After your hours
Pass the TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority) provincial knowledge exam to hold the EDM-A (elevating devices mechanic, class A) licence in Ontario. Skilled Trades Ontario has no certifying exam for this trade; the TSSA exam is the gate. Other provinces license through their own safety authorities.
Math
Electrical and load calculations.
Physics
Motors, counterweights, hydraulics and electricity.
Electrical or shop technology
Elevators are mostly electrical work today.
Computer technology
Modern controllers are computers you diagnose with a laptop.
In Ontario only a TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority) licensed elevating devices mechanic, or a registered mechanic in training under one, may install, alter or repair elevators, escalators and lifts. Skilled Trades Ontario lists the trade as non-compulsory; the legal gate is the TSSA licence under the Technical Standards and Safety Act. That rule is a big reason the pay is so high. Elevator mechanic is not a Red Seal trade, so moving provinces means applying to that province's safety authority, for example Technical Safety BC, or Alberta, where elevator constructor is a compulsory certification trade. They usually credit your licence and hours but may require an exam.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Adjuster
The mechanic who makes a newly installed elevator ride perfectly and pass inspection. The top of the trade in pay and respect.
Modernization
Replacing 30-year-old controls and machines in existing buildings. Steady work in older cities.
Escalators and moving walks
Malls, transit stations and airports. A specialty within the trade.
Supervisor or inspector
Elevator companies and TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority) both hire experienced mechanics off the tools.
An electrical or electronics background
Electrician apprentices and electronics graduates have an edge at intake.
Comfort with heights and tight spaces
You work on top of the car in the hoistway and down in the pit.
A clean driving record
Service mechanics drive all day.
Patience with the waiting
Most people apply more than once. Working another trade in the meantime is the usual plan.
Construction mechanics install new elevators in towers as they go up: heavy rigging, hoistway work, a new site every few months. Service mechanics have a route of buildings, do monthly maintenance, and answer breakdown and entrapment calls, sometimes at night. Many start in construction, then move to a service route when they want steadier hours and a home base.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Service route: a van, a phone and 20 to 40 buildings. Monthly maintenance on each: ride the car, check the door operators, brakes and ropes, oil the guides, test the safeties, note anything wearing. Between visits, calls: a car stuck between floors with someone inside, a door that will not close, an escalator that stopped. Construction site: setting rails in an empty hoistway from a scaffold or the top of the car, hanging the machine, wiring the controller, then adjusting the ride. Cramped, high and electrical.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Toronto has had one of the highest construction crane counts of any city in North America for years. Every tower needs elevators installed and then serviced for decades, which is why the Toronto local is one of the biggest elevator locals in Canada.
Elevators are among the safest ways to travel anywhere. Strict inspection and licensed maintenance are the reason, and that is exactly the work this trade does.
Ontario law says only a TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority) licensed mechanic may work on an elevator. That rule, plus a shortage of licensed people, is why the pay stays high.
When the Toronto local opens an intake it draws far more applications than it has apprenticeships. Many mechanics got in on their second or third try.
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.