General Contractor

Run the whole build: hire the trades, keep the schedule, carry the risk. Usually a trade first, then your own company.

Typical pay: $101,000a year
Time to qualify: 4 to 10 yearsafter high school
Demand: Moderate
Licence needed: Dependsneeded in 4 provinces

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Quick answers

How much does a general contractor make in Canada?

The median pay is about $101,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $65,000 at the lower end to about $174,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.

How long does it take to become a general contractor in Canada?

4 to 10 years after high school, on the usual route.

What does it cost to become a general contractor?

$6,100 to $48,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.

Do you need a licence to work as a general contractor in Canada?

It depends where you work. You need a licence, certificate or registration in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. Elsewhere there is none to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.

What is the job outlook for a general contractor in Canada?

Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.

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General Contractor salary in Canada

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What general contractors make

Median

$101,000

Lower end

$65,000

Upper end

$174,000

Job Bank's national median is $48.72 an hour, about $101,000 a year at 40 hours a week. Job Bank files general contractors under construction managers, which includes salaried site superintendents and project managers. The lower and upper ends ($31.25 and $83.76 an hour) are the bottom and top of the range for everyone in the group. These are wages: what a self-employed contractor keeps is the company's profit, which can be a loss in a bad year.

Where pay is highest

$64.17 an hour

The median in Nunavut, about $133,000 a year, the highest in Canada

The Northwest Territories are close behind at $63.46. Among the provinces British Columbia is highest at $51.28 and Ontario is $50.61. Nova Scotia's is the lowest, at $41.35.

Owning the company

Whatever the company makes

Profit from a small firm doing custom homes, renovations or commercial fit-outs

Revenue can be millions, but profit margins in construction are often thin. One bad job, an unpaid client or a spike in lumber prices can wipe out a year.

What it costs to get there

Trade apprenticeship (usually carpentry): Paid; usually under $5,000 out of pocket
Or a construction management diploma or degree: $6,000 to $40,000 total
Starting the business: Incorporation, insurance, workers' compensation registration, bonding: several thousand dollars up front
Builder licence to build new homes: For example $600 for a new Alberta licence, plus warranty enrolment per home; similar licences in Ontario and British Columbia

Roughly, all in

$6,100 to $48,000

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

The low end is coming up through a paid carpentry apprenticeship, where out of pocket costs stay under $5,000, then registering a business and buying the required insurance and workers' compensation coverage. The high end is a construction management diploma or degree paid for up front, a fuller business setup with incorporation and bonding, and a new home builder licence, which runs about $600 in Alberta with similar licences in Ontario and British Columbia. What neither number captures is cash flow. Contractors pay trades and suppliers weeks before clients pay them, so a new company needs money in the bank or a line of credit well beyond these figures.

The real cost is cash flow. Contractors pay trades and suppliers before clients pay them, so a new company needs money in the bank or a line of credit.

How contractors get paid

Fixed price
You quote a number and keep the difference. If costs run over, the loss is yours, so it carries the most risk.
Cost plus
Client pays actual costs plus an agreed percentage. Safer, and common in custom homes.
Construction management fee
A fee to run the project while the owner holds the trade contracts.
Salary
Site superintendents and project managers at larger builders are salaried with benefits and a truck.

How to become a general contractor in Canada

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path to becoming a general contractor, step by step

There is no contractor apprenticeship. You learn a trade or construction management, then learn to run a job, then run your own.

1
High school diploma
Grade 12
Grade 12 with math, English and a construction class. Business courses help more than most people expect.
2
Trade or diploma
2 to 5 years
A carpentry apprenticeship is the classic route. A 2-year Construction Engineering Technology diploma or a 4-year construction management degree is the office route.
3
Lead hand, foreperson, site superintendent
3 to 6 years
Run crews, then whole sites for someone else. Learn scheduling, subcontractors, inspections and clients.
4
Licences and paperwork
Weeks to months
To build new homes you need a builder licence: HCRA (the Home Construction Regulatory Authority) in Ontario, BC (British Columbia) Housing in British Columbia, the provincial builder licence in Alberta, and the RBQ (the Quebec building board) in Quebec. Plus insurance, workers' compensation and often a municipal contractor licence.
5
Your own company
Years 8 to 10 and beyond
Start with renovations or a single custom build, then grow.

High school courses that help you become a general contractor

Math
Estimates, margins and schedules.
Business and accounting
Most contractors fail on money, not on building.
Construction technology or shop
You have to know how the work is done to manage it.
English
Contracts, change orders and client emails decide who gets paid.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school: 4 to 10 to run your own jobs
Admission: Open; the filter is years of experience
Education cost: $5,000 to $40,000
Paid while training?: Yes, if you come through a trade

Licensed to build homes, less so to renovate

Building and selling new homes is licensed in the big provinces: Ontario through HCRA (the Home Construction Regulatory Authority), British Columbia through BC (British Columbia) Housing's licensed residential builder program, Alberta through a provincial builder licence with competency standards taking effect in 2027, and Quebec through the RBQ (the Quebec building board), which licenses most construction contractors (plumbing and electrical contractors go through their own corporations). New homes must also be enrolled in a warranty program. Renovation contractors in most provinces outside Quebec need only municipal business licences, insurance and workers' compensation coverage.

Quebec routeIn Quebec? The route is different. 1 more card.

The path in Quebec

In Quebec construction contractors are licensed by the RBQ (Régie du bâtiment du Québec, the Quebec building board), which tests the owner or a guarantor before issuing the licence.

1
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
Then learn the work, through a trade or a college diploma.
2
A trade or a DEC (Diploma of College Studies)
2 to 5 years
The carpentry DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies, 5319, in English as 5819) is 1,350 hours, then 6,000 apprentice hours. Or a 3 year DEC like Civil Engineering Technology (221.B0) at Dawson.
3
Register your company
Weeks
Choose a legal form and register with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec (the Quebec business registry) unless you work under your own name.
4
Pass the RBQ exams
Months
Administration, site safety management, project and site management, and one exam per subclass of work. A recognized training program or a professional file can replace them.
5
Post the security
Before applying
$40,000 for a general contractor. To build new homes you also need accreditation from the GCR (Garantie de construction résidentielle, the residential construction warranty).
6
Apply for the licence
About 5 weeks
Send the form, documents and fees. At the end of October 2026 the RBQ was working on regular applications sent about 5 weeks earlier.

What helps you get ahead as a general contractor

Things you don't need, but that help.

Credentials that raise your value

Gold Seal Certified Superintendent or Project Manager
Canadian Construction Association certification based on experience, education credits and an exam. Valued on commercial and institutional work.
A journeyperson ticket
Carpentry, electrical or plumbing. Clients and trades trust a contractor who has done the work.
Construction safety certification
A safety program certificate is required to bid many industrial and public jobs.
Estimating skills
Contractors who can price their own jobs accurately keep their margins.

Nice-to-haves

Bookkeeping or a good accountant
Cash flow is what kills contractors.
Driver's licence and a truck
Non-negotiable.
People skills
Half the job is keeping trades, inspectors and clients moving in the same direction.
Design or drafting
Design-build firms that draw and build can charge for the design as well as the build.

What being a general contractor is really like

Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.

What a general contractor does day to day

On site at 7am to open up, walk the job and set the day's plan with the framers. Phone calls: the window supplier is late, the electrician needs a rough-in inspection booked, a client wants to move a wall. Drive to a second site to meet the building inspector. Afternoon: price a new job from drawings, chase an unpaid invoice, order materials for next week. Evening: quotes and emails at the kitchen table. Owners of small firms rarely stop at 5pm.

The honest pros and cons of being a general contractor

The good

As an owner, your income is not capped by a wage
You own something: a company, a reputation, the buildings you made
Every job is different and you make the decisions
Strong demand as Canada tries to build more housing

The hard parts

You carry all the risk: thin margins, unpaid clients, price spikes
Long hours and constant phone calls, including weekends
Years of trade work before you are ready to run jobs
Housing downturns hit contractors first and hardest

Work life

Typical hours: 50 to 60 a week for owners; 40 to 50 salaried
Remote work: Paperwork only
Physical demand: Moderate; less hands-on as the company grows
Unionized: Rarely for owners; site supers at large builders sometimes

Similar paths

Things nobody tells you about being a general contractor

Things people don't tell you.

Ontario checks the licence for you

Every new home builder and seller in Ontario must be licensed by HCRA (the Home Construction Regulatory Authority), and the Ontario Builder Directory lets any buyer look up a builder's licence and record online.

Alberta is raising the bar in 2027

Alberta's residential builder licence costs $600 for a new licence and $500 to renew, and from January 1, 2027 builders must confirm they meet new competency standards. The province wants fewer untrained builders behind new homes.

Quebec asks for $40,000 up front

A general contractor in Quebec must post a $40,000 security before the RBQ (Régie du bâtiment du Québec, the Quebec building board) issues a licence. Specialized contractors post $20,000.

How a general contractor compares

Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.

More skilled trades careers in Canada

Construction first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.

Where these numbers come from

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.