Mowers, chainsaws, generators and snowblowers. A short apprenticeship and a busy spring.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Certified technician
$50,000
1st-year apprentice
$32,000
Senior tech or shop owner
$67,000
Job Bank's national median is $24 an hour, about $50,000 a year full time. The low end is close to minimum wage because many shops start helpers there. Golf course and commercial landscaping fleet work pays the most.
$15 to $18 an hour
First-year apprentice or helper, about $32,000 a year
Small shops often start you near minimum wage sharpening blades and doing tune-ups. Dealers for John Deere, Stihl or Kubota pay better from the start.
$30 to $32 an hour
About $67,000 a year for a senior technician
The ceiling is lower than car or heavy equipment work. Many technicians add marine, powersports or turf equipment to earn more.
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 in school blocks and who builds a tool kit slowly over three years, plus the certificate exam fee. The high end is paying for every block yourself, buying a full tool set quickly, and the exam at the end. EI (Employment Insurance) can replace part of your income during school blocks, and the Canada Apprentice Loan is interest free.
You are paid while you learn, so debt is rare. EI (Employment Insurance) can cover school blocks.
Staff pricing on equipment and parts
Manufacturer training
Stihl, Husqvarna, Honda and John Deere train dealer techs at their own cost.
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.
One of the shortest apprenticeships in the trades. About 2.5 years in Ontario.
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 branch.
Work and study
2 to 3 years
Ontario: 5,000 hours, 4,520 on the job plus 480 in school. Alberta: 3 periods of 1,000 hours, each with 6 to 8 weeks of class.
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.
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. Same kind of work, much shorter road.
Alberta's Outdoor Power Equipment Technician trade has two branches: Power Equipment (mowers, generators, chainsaws, golf carts) and Recreational Equipment (snowmobiles, boats, personal watercraft). Each is 3 periods of 1,000 hours.
Cordless electric mowers and saws have no carburetor and no spark plug. Technicians who understand battery packs, chargers and motor controllers are the ones dealers want next.
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.