Run the whole build: hire the trades, keep the schedule, carry the risk. Usually a trade first, then your own company.
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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.
Established
$101,000
Site super or new firm
$65,000
Owner of a busy company
$174,000
Job Bank's national median is $48.72 an hour, about $101,000 a year full time. Job Bank files general contractors under construction managers, which includes salaried site superintendents and project managers. Self-employed contractors sit anywhere from a loss in a bad year to well above the top figure when the company is busy and the margins hold.
$65,000 to $90,000
Site superintendent or project coordinator for a builder
Most contractors spend years as a journeyperson, lead hand and then site super on someone else's payroll. That is where you learn scheduling, subcontractors and how jobs lose money.
$120,000 to $175,000 and up
Profit from a small firm doing custom homes, renovations or commercial fit-outs
Revenue can be millions, but profit margins in construction are thin, often single digits. One bad job, an unpaid client or a spike in lumber prices can wipe out a year.
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.
Fixed price
You quote a number and keep the difference. Highest risk, highest reward.
Cost plus
Client pays actual costs plus a percentage, often 10 to 20%. 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.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
There is no contractor apprenticeship. You learn a trade or construction management, then learn to run a job, then run your own.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Grade 12 with math, English and a construction class. Business courses help more than most people expect.
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.
Lead hand, foreperson, site superintendent
3 to 6 years
Run crews, then whole sites for someone else. Learn scheduling, subcontractors, inspections and clients.
Licences and paperwork
Weeks to months
To build new homes you need a builder licence: HCRA (the Home Construction Regulatory Authority) in Ontario, BC Housing in BC, 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.
Your own company
Years 8 to 10 and beyond
Start with renovations or a single custom build, then grow.
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.
Building and selling new homes is licensed in the big provinces: Ontario through HCRA (the Home Construction Regulatory Authority), BC through BC 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 contractors of all kinds. 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, which is why anyone with a truck can call themselves a contractor. Reputation and references do the rest.
Things you don't need, but that help.
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.
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 earn more per job.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
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 good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell 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'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.
A contractor might run a million dollars of work through the company in a year and keep a small fraction as profit. Most of the money passes straight through to trades, suppliers and permits. Managing that flow is the real job.
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.