Fix diesel trucks and buses for fleets and transit agencies. Better pay than cars, with pension jobs.
Click through it
Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Licensed technician
$68,000
1st-year apprentice
$45,000
Transit or fleet senior tech
$95,000
Job Bank puts most truck and transport mechanics between $19 and $43 an hour. Transit agencies like the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission), municipal fleets and dealerships in Alberta pay at the top, with pensions.
$20 to $25 an hour
First-year apprentice
Truck dealerships and large fleets pay more than small trucking companies. Transit agencies hire apprentices too, at union rates.
$40 to $45 an hour
Licensed technician at a transit agency or big fleet
The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission), TransLink in Vancouver, Calgary Transit and other agencies pay hourly, not flat rate, with a defined-benefit pension, shift premiums and overtime. These are among the most secure jobs in the trades.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The apprenticeship is paid, so the money goes on tools and fees rather than tuition. The low end assumes the employer covers the three school blocks and you buy a starter tool set of about 3,000 plus the roughly 150 certificate exam. The high end is paying for the blocks yourself at 800 each, a 5,000 starter set, and the exam at the top fee. Tools keep accumulating for years after you qualify, often 10,000 to 25,000 over a career, and fleets and transit agencies tend to supply more of them than car dealerships do. The Canada Apprentice Loan gives up to 4,000 interest free per block and EI (Employment Insurance) covers the class weeks.
Fleets and transit agencies often supply more tools than car dealerships do. The federal Apprenticeship Incentive Grant closed in March 2025.
Defined-benefit pension
Transit agencies and municipalities.
Union wages and shift premiums
Nights and weekends pay extra at transit.
Health, dental and boot allowances
Steady hours
Fleets pay by the hour, not flat rate.
Overtime
Trucks run all night, so do the shops that fix them.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A 4-year apprenticeship, compulsory in Ontario. Diesel, air brakes, hydraulics and electronics.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Grade 12 with math, physics and shop. OYAP (Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program) or Alberta's RAP (Registered Apprenticeship Program) lets you start early.
Find a sponsor
Weeks to months
Truck dealerships (Kenworth, Peterbilt, Freightliner, Volvo), trucking fleets, bus companies, school bus operators and transit agencies. Transit agencies post apprentice openings publicly.
Register the apprenticeship
Days
With Skilled Trades Ontario (trade code 310T), Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training, SkilledTradesBC or your province's authority.
Work and study
4 years
Ontario requires 6,720 hours: 6,000 on the job plus 720 in school over three college blocks.
Certificate of Qualification and Red Seal
After your hours
Pass the exam. The Red Seal title is Truck and Transport Mechanic, valid across Canada.
Math
Pressures, ratios, electrical values.
Physics
Air brakes are pressure and physics.
Shop or auto technology
Time with engines and tools.
Computer literacy
Every truck has a diagnostic port and software.
English
Inspection reports are legal documents.
In Ontario you must be a registered apprentice or hold a Certificate of Qualification to work on trucks and buses. In Alberta the work falls under the heavy equipment technician trade, which is also compulsory. The Red Seal endorsement, Truck and Transport Mechanic, lets you work in any province.
Ontario
Centennial, Fanshawe, Conestoga, Mohawk.
Alberta
SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology), NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology).
British Columbia
BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology), Vancouver Community College.
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Air brake endorsement and a truck licence
A DZ (medium truck) or AZ (tractor-trailer) licence in Ontario lets you road-test what you fix.
Electric and hydrogen bus training
Transit agencies are converting fleets. High-voltage tickets are in demand.
Emissions and aftertreatment specialist
Modern diesel exhaust systems are the most common breakdowns and the hardest to diagnose.
Truck-trailer service technician (a second trade)
Trailers, reefers and hydraulics.
Automotive service technician (a second trade)
Adds cars and light trucks.
Driver's licence with a clean record
Basic welding
Pre-apprenticeship program
Fleets and transit recruit from these.
WHMIS (workplace hazardous materials) certificate
A cheap one-day course.
Comfort with nights
Fleet shops run around the clock.
Transit garages at the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission), Calgary Transit, TransLink and others hire hundreds of technicians. Pay is hourly, unionized, with a pension most private mechanics never see. Competition for these postings is real, and new hires usually start on nights.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Fleet shops run in shifts. A day shift starts around 7am with preventive maintenance: greasing, brake inspections, oil changes on tractors due back on the road by evening. Then diagnosis: a check-engine light, an air leak, a failed emissions system. Transit shops pull buses off the road at night and have them ready for the 5am pull-out. Everything is big and heavy, and lifts and cranes do the lifting.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Most of the goods Canada trades with the US cross the border on a truck. Every one of those trucks has a maintenance schedule.
The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) runs about 2,100 buses and is building one of the largest electric bus fleets in North America. Its garages run 24 hours a day.
Trucks and buses stop with compressed air, not fluid. Lose the air and springs lock the brakes on. Technicians test these systems at every inspection.
Diesel exhaust fluid, particulate filters and the sensors added over the past two decades are now among the most common reasons a truck ends up in the shop.
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.