Home Inspector

Check a house from roof to basement before someone buys it. Short training, mostly self-employed, licensed only in BC and Alberta.

Typical pay: $80,000a year
Time to qualify: 1 to 3 yearsafter high school
Demand: Moderate
Licence needed: Noanyone can do it

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Money

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What home inspectors make

Established

$80,000

First years, part time

$51,000

Busy, multi-inspector firm

$114,000

Job Bank's national median is $38.46 an hour, about $80,000 a year full time, but Job Bank pools home inspectors with municipal building inspectors, who are salaried. Most home inspectors are self-employed and paid per inspection, so real income ranges from well below the low figure in a slow first year to above the top for a busy firm. Alberta's profile reports an average near $94,000.

Paid per inspection

A few hundred dollars each

Typical fee for a standard house, more for large or rural homes

Two inspections a day, five days a week in spring and summer adds up fast. One a week in a cold January does not. Your first year is mostly building referrals from real estate agents.

The busy season

Spring to fall

Income follows the housing market month by month

Alberta's provincial profile notes earnings peak from spring through fall. When home sales drop, inspection work drops with them, which is the biggest financial risk in this job.

What it costs to get there

Home inspection training course: A few thousand dollars at a college or private school
Provincial licence (BC and Alberta only): Application fees plus insurance, a few hundred dollars a year
Errors and omissions insurance: Required in licensed provinces; a few thousand dollars a year
Tools and vehicle: $2,000 to $5,000 for a moisture meter, thermal camera, ladders, software
Roughly, all in: $3,000 to $13,000

Cheap to enter compared with a trade or degree, which is why the field is crowded and reputation matters more than the certificate.

How inspectors get paid

Self-employed
Most inspectors. You set fees, find clients and carry your own insurance.
Multi-inspector company
Salary or a share of each fee, with the company handling marketing.
Add-on services
Radon testing, thermal imaging, sewer scopes and condo document reviews raise the average ticket.
No pension, no benefits
Unless you build them yourself.

Education

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path

Short formal training, then a long apprenticeship in reputation.

1
High school diploma
Grade 12
Grade 12. A construction background helps more than marks.
2
Learn buildings
1 to 5 years, optional but valuable
Most successful inspectors first spend years in a trade, in construction, or in a technology diploma. Buyers trust someone who has built or repaired houses.
3
Home inspection course
A few months
College certificate programs, for example at NAIT and SAIT (the Northern and Southern Alberta Institutes of Technology), or private schools. Covers structure, roofing, electrical, plumbing, heating and report writing.
4
Licence or designation
Months to 2 years
A provincial licence in BC or Alberta. Elsewhere, a voluntary designation such as RHI (Registered Home Inspector) through CAHPI (the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors), which needs a national exam, mentoring and a review of your reports.
5
Build the business
1 to 2 years to full time
Ride along with an experienced inspector, then market yourself to real estate agents and buyers.

High school courses that help

Construction technology or shop
How houses are put together.
Physics
Moisture, heat loss, electricity and structure.
English
Your written report is the product.
Business
You are running a company.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school: 1 to 3 to be working; longer to be trusted
Admission: Open; courses accept most applicants
Total training cost: $3,000 to $10,000
Paid while training?: No, unless you come from a trade

Licensed in two provinces, unregulated in the rest

BC licenses home inspectors through Consumer Protection BC, and Alberta licenses both inspection businesses and individual inspectors under its consumer protection rules. Both require training, an exam and insurance. Ontario passed a licensing law in 2017 but has not brought it into force, so in Ontario and most other provinces anyone can call themselves a home inspector. There, the voluntary RHI (Registered Home Inspector) designation from CAHPI (the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors) and the national CSA (Canadian Standards Association) A770 inspection standard are what separate professionals from the rest.

Optional

Things you don't need, but that help.

Services that raise your income

Thermal imaging
An infrared camera finds missing insulation and hidden moisture. Charged as an add-on.
Radon testing
Health Canada recommends testing every home. A certified radon measurement provider can add a recurring service.
Sewer scope and mould sampling
Extra equipment, extra fee.
Commercial and condo reserve fund work
Bigger jobs for inspectors with engineering or trade credentials.

Nice-to-haves

A trade ticket
Electricians and plumbers who become inspectors are rare and trusted.
Comfort on ladders and in crawlspaces
Every inspection has both.
Photography and report software
Clear photos and a same-day report are what agents remember.
Sales skills
Your clients come from agents and word of mouth. Introverts can do this job, but they have to work at marketing.

Extras

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

A typical day

A 9am inspection: walk the roof or check it from a ladder, then the exterior, attic, every room, the electrical panel, plumbing, furnace and the crawlspace or basement, taking photos the whole time. Two to three hours, with the buyer following you and asking questions. A quick lunch in the truck, then a 1pm condo inspection. Evening: write both reports and send them, answer a nervous buyer's phone call, and confirm tomorrow's bookings.

The honest trade-offs

The good

Fast, cheap entry compared with a trade or degree
Be your own boss and set your own schedule
Every house is a puzzle, and you help people make a huge decision
Add-on services can push income well past the median

The hard parts

Income rises and falls with the housing market
No pension, benefits or paid vacation when self-employed
Crowded field in unregulated provinces; reputation takes years
Legal exposure if you miss a serious defect

Work life

Typical hours: Long days in spring and summer, slow in winter
Remote work: Report writing at home; inspections on site
Physical demand: Moderate: roofs, attics, crawlspaces
Unionized: No

Similar paths

Factoids

Things people don't tell you.

BC licensed inspectors first

British Columbia began licensing home inspectors in 2009, ahead of every other province, after buyers complained about unqualified inspectors. Alberta followed with its own licence a few years later. Most of Canada still has no licence at all.

It is a visual inspection

A home inspection is non-invasive. Inspectors do not open walls, move furniture or dismantle equipment, and they cannot see inside a wall. A good report says clearly what was and was not inspected, which is also what protects the inspector in court.

Canada has a national standard

CSA (Canadian Standards Association) A770 is the Canadian standard for home inspections, and CAHPI (the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors) requires members to follow either it or the association's own standards of practice. Ask any inspector which one they use.

Where these numbers come from

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.