Run excavators, dozers and graders that move earth for roads, pipelines and buildings. A short training path and good pay, but seasonal.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Experienced operator
$65,000
Trainee or apprentice
$45,000
Mining, northern or union
$95,000
Union operators in IUOE (the operating engineers' union) on highway and pipeline jobs, and operators at mines and northern camp sites, sit at the top. Small landscaping and excavation outfits sit near the bottom.
$22 to $28 an hour
First year, often on a smaller machine or as a labourer who gets seat time
Many operators start as a construction labourer and earn their way into the seat. Apprentices in a registered program get raises at each level.
$38 to $45 an hour
Experienced operator on a mine, pipeline or remote project
Camp jobs in northern Ontario, Alberta and BC run rotations like 14 days on and 14 days off, with long shifts, overtime and free room and board. Annual pay can pass $100,000, at the cost of being away half the year.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a registered apprenticeship or a union or employer program, where the in school blocks at $400 to $800 each are often paid out of a union training fund, leaving you the certificate exam at about $150 and a pair of boots. The high end is a private heavy equipment school, a four to twelve week course costing $8,000 to $15,000 that you pay for yourself. Be careful with private schools: some are excellent, but a short course certificate does not guarantee anyone will hire you, while a union or employer program is cheaper and puts you on a crew. Apprentices can use the Canada Apprentice Loan and EI (Employment Insurance) during school blocks. The federal Apprenticeship Incentive Grant closed in March 2025, so check the Government of Canada apprenticeship page for what is open now.
Be careful with private schools. Some are excellent, but a certificate from a short course does not guarantee a job. A union or employer program is cheaper and comes with a crew. The federal Apprenticeship Incentive Grant closed in March 2025, so check the Government of Canada apprenticeship page for what is open now.
Union pension and health plan
IUOE (the operating engineers' union) locals such as 793 in Ontario, 955 in Alberta and 115 in BC cover most highway and heavy civil work.
Overtime at premium rates
Road building runs long days while the weather holds.
Camp, travel and living-out allowances
On mines and remote projects.
EI (Employment Insurance) in the off season
Most operators are laid off for part of the winter and collect it.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Shorter than most trades. Two routes: a registered apprenticeship, or a short course plus seat time.
High school diploma and a driver's licence
Grade 12
Grade 12. A clean driving record matters. A DZ (truck and air brake) licence helps because operators often float their own machine to site.
Get on a crew
Months
Start as a labourer with a road builder, excavation company or municipality, or apply to the union hall. Seat time is earned by showing up and being trusted.
Train
1 to 2 years
Either register an apprenticeship with your provincial trades authority (Ontario's dozer, excavator and tractor-loader-backhoe apprenticeships are each about 2,560 hours, roughly a year and a half), or take a private course of 4 to 12 weeks and learn the rest on the job.
Certify
After your hours
Heavy Equipment Operator (Dozer), (Excavator) and (Tractor-Loader-Backhoe) are each Red Seal trades. Certification is optional but it opens union and government jobs.
Math
Grades, slopes, volumes of material and reading survey stakes.
Shop, auto or technology classes
You will do daily inspections and basic maintenance on your machine.
Geography or earth science
Soil types, drainage and frost matter every day.
Heavy equipment operator is a voluntary trade in Ontario and in most provinces. No licence is legally required to run an excavator or dozer on a private site, though employers must train you and you need a driver's licence to move machines on the road. Red Seal certification proves your skill and is asked for on government, union and mining jobs. Machines like cranes and forklifts have their own separate rules.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Grader operator
The hardest machine to run well. A good finish grader on a highway job is worth more than anyone else on the crew.
GPS machine control
Modern excavators and dozers follow a 3D design model. Operators who understand the screens and the survey data get the newest machines.
Mining haul truck and shovel
Enormous machines at open-pit mines. Long rotations, top pay.
Pipeline sideboom and rock truck
Specialty machines on pipeline and northern projects.
Mechanical sense
Operators who spot a problem before it breaks the machine keep their jobs.
Comfort working alone for hours
It is you, the machine and a radio.
Willingness to travel
The best-paid work is rarely near a city.
A used mini excavator or skid steer costs about the price of a pickup truck. Some operators buy one and rent themselves out with it to builders and landscapers for $100 to $150 an hour. It is a real business with real risks: payments on the machine continue through the winter whether it is working or not.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
On site at 6:30 for a walk-around inspection: fluids, tracks, hoses. Then into the seat. On a subdivision you dig basements and trenches to the stakes the surveyor set, watching for gas and water lines. On a highway job you push and shape fill for kilometres, checking the grade with the screen or a laser. Dust, noise and a lot of coffee. Ten-hour days in summer, because winter is coming.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Red Seal treats dozer, excavator and tractor-loader-backhoe as separate trades. Many operators hold one and learn the others on the job.
GPS (satellite positioning) and 3D design models now guide the blade or bucket to within a few centimetres. Operators who used to read stakes now read screens, and companies fight over the ones who can do both.
A single bucket through a gas main can evacuate a neighbourhood. Utility locates are marked on the ground before any trench is dug, and operators are trained to hand-dig near them.
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.