Mowers, chainsaws, generators and snowblowers. A short apprenticeship and a busy spring.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
An apprenticeship: you are hired by a sponsor, paid while you learn on the job, and go to class for a few weeks at a time. Every fact here is from Skilled Trades Ontario (STO) and the Ontario government. See every Ontario trade side by side
You are paid from your first day. Over the 4,520 hours on the job, even at the minimum wage you would earn at least $81,134 before tax while you train, and most sponsors pay more as your skills grow.
The trade on Skilled Trades Ontario's site(opens in a new tab)
Still in high school? In Grade 11 or 12, with at least 14 credits and age 15 or older, you can start an apprenticeship through co-op placements and earn credits at the same time. Ask your school's OYAP recruiter, guidance counsellor or co-op teacher. Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP)(opens in a new tab)
Not ready to find a sponsor? Free pre-apprenticeship programs (up to a year at a college or community agency, tools and books covered, with a work placement) get you ready and in front of employers. Employment Ontario helps you apply. Pre-apprenticeship training(opens in a new tab)
Ontario sets no percentage of full pay for apprentices. Your sponsor agrees your wage with you, and it can never be below the minimum wage: $17.95 an hour from 1 October 2026. Source (opens in a new tab)
Programs in the fields this career usually comes through. Each has its own page: what it takes to get in, the courses you need and what it costs.
The median pay is about $50,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $32,000 at the lower end to about $67,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
2 to 3 years, on the usual route, and you are paid while you train from the first day.
$1,000 to $7,500 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
No. There is no licence to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$50,000
Lower end
$32,000
Upper end
$67,000
Job Bank's national median is $24 an hour, about $50,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The lower end ($15.30) and upper end ($32) are the bottom and top of the wage range for everyone in the group.
Set by the shop
Job Bank does not publish an apprentice rate
As a guide, the lowest paid tenth of the trade in Ontario earn $17.95 an hour or less. Small shops often start you sharpening blades and doing tune-ups.
$27.38 an hour
The median in Saskatchewan, about $57,000 a year, the highest in Canada
Ontario and British Columbia are next at $26. New Brunswick is the lowest, at $21.02. Many technicians add marine, powersports or turf equipment to widen their work.
Roughly, all in
$1,000 to $7,500
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
You are paid from your first day as an apprentice, so there is no tuition to save up for before you start. The low end is somebody whose employer covers the classroom fees and who builds a tool kit slowly. The high end is paying every fee and book yourself and buying a full tool set quickly. In Ontario the certificate exam is free on your first try. EI (Employment Insurance) can replace part of your income during school blocks.
Roughly $1,000 to $7,500 in all, mostly tools. You are paid while you learn, so debt is rare. EI (Employment Insurance) can cover school blocks. The interest-free Canada Apprentice Loan is only for Red Seal trades, and this is not one.
Staff pricing on equipment and parts
Manufacturer training
Brands such as Stihl, Husqvarna, Honda and John Deere train the technicians at their dealers on their own machines.
Health and dental
At larger dealers and municipal fleets, rarely at small shops.
Winter hours
Snowblowers and generators keep some shops busy year-round.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A short apprenticeship: about 2.5 years in Ontario, 3 in Alberta. Quebec has its own route: tap Quebec route to add it.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Shop and math. OYAP (Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program) or a co-op at a dealer can start you early.
Find a sponsor
Weeks to months
Equipment dealers, rental shops, golf courses and hardware stores with a repair counter. Spring is when they hire.
Register the apprenticeship
Days
Skilled Trades Ontario calls it Small Engine Technician (435A). Alberta calls it Outdoor Power Equipment Technician, Power Equipment.
Work and study
2 to 3 years
Ontario: 5,000 hours, 4,520 on the job plus 480 in school, in 2 levels. Alberta: 3 periods of 1,000 hours, about a year each.
Certificate of Qualification
After your hours
Pass the provincial exam. It is not a Red Seal trade, so the ticket is provincial.
Shop or transportation technology
Small engines are usually part of the course.
Math
Fuel mixes, clearances and electrical values.
Physics
Two-stroke and four-stroke engines are applied physics.
Co-op at a dealer
The fastest way to a sponsor.
Nobody needs a licence to fix a lawn mower. Ontario and Alberta both offer a certificate at the end of the apprenticeship, but it is voluntary, and plenty of technicians learn entirely on the job. The certificate still matters: dealers want it for warranty work, and it is what separates a technician from a helper on the pay scale.
In Quebec the standard training is a full-time vocational diploma that covers small engines together with motorcycles, ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) and snowmobiles.
Secondary IV courses
From age 16
The DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies) takes a high school diploma, or age 16 with Secondary IV language, second language and math. From 18, the general development test is another way in.
DEP in Powersport Vehicle and Outdoor Power Equipment Mechanics (5367)
About 19 months
1,800 hours on 2 and 4 stroke engines, electrical systems, brakes and transmissions, from mowers and chainsaws to ATVs. Offered in French in 10 regions.
In English
Check each year
An English version (5867) exists, but no English group was listed for 2026 to 2027. Check Inforoute FPT (the Quebec vocational training site) before you plan on it.
Get hired
Weeks
Dealers, rental shops and repair shops. Employers sometimes ask for a WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) card and often a Class 5 driver's licence.
Quebec counted about 500 jobs for small equipment repairers in 2024. The yearly wage in 2020 was $35,600. Of graduates of the DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies) in Powersport Vehicle and Outdoor Power Equipment Mechanics, 90.1% found work.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Marine engine technician
Outboards and sterndrives. Turns a lawn-care job into a summer boat job.
Powersports
Snowmobiles and ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) fill the winter.
Turf equipment
Golf courses run fleets of mowers and pay their in-house tech well.
Battery and electric equipment
Cordless mowers and saws need techs who understand lithium packs and chargers.
Driver's licence
Pickup and delivery of equipment.
Own basic tools
Shops notice.
Customer skills
Small shops put the tech at the counter.
Welding basics
Decks, frames and handles break.
A small engine shop needs little space and modest tools, so many technicians open their own after a few years. Spring is a flood of mowers and summer is chainsaws and trimmers. The catch is winter, unless you also sell and service snowblowers.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Spring: a lineup of mowers that will not start after winter. Carburetor cleaning, spark plugs, blades, belts, then a couple of new units to assemble out of the crate. Summer: chainsaws, trimmers and a golf course mower with a hydraulic leak. Fall: snowblower tune-ups. Winter: slow, or generators after an ice storm.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Ontario's Small Engine Technician apprenticeship is 5,000 hours, about 2.5 years. An automotive service technician apprenticeship in the same province is 7,220 hours, about 4 years.
Alberta certifies Outdoor Power Equipment Technicians separately for Power Equipment (mowers, generators, chainsaws, golf carts), Recreational Equipment (snowmobiles, boat motors, personal watercraft), Marine Equipment and Turf Equipment.
Alberta has suspended classroom training for this trade because too few apprentices signed up. Apprentices there move up by challenging each period exam, or by taking the classes in another province.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Industrial and mechanical first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.
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.
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