How much do electricians and HVAC techs make in Ontario?

Those figures are wages paid to employees, gathered by Statistics Canada and published on Job Bank, and they were last updated in November 2025. They do not show what a self-employed tradesperson brings home, which depends on the rate they charge, how many hours they bill and what their business costs. Both are covered below.

What do electricians, HVAC techs and other trades earn per hour in Ontario?

Job Bank shows a low, median and high hourly wage for each occupation. The low figure is roughly where newer workers sit and the high figure where the most experienced or specialised workers sit; the median is the middle.

For a yearly figure, multiply by the hours worked. At 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, an hourly wage of $34.00 comes to about $70,700 a year and $37.00 to about $77,000, gross. Overtime, on-call premiums and benefits add to that; Job Bank reports that most workers in both occupations in Ontario receive at least one non-wage benefit, such as a pension plan or insurance.

Do HVAC techs make more than electricians in Ontario?

On Job Bank's figures, slightly: the Ontario median is $37.00 an hour for heating, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics against $34.00 for electricians, and the top of the HVAC range is higher. The difference is small next to the spread inside each trade, which comes from experience, certificates held and the kind of work, so pick the trade you want to do for twenty years rather than the one with the higher median.

What makes a tradesperson's pay go up?

Certificates, specialisation and responsibility move pay more than years alone. The biggest steps in these trades are:

• Finishing the apprenticeship: a journeyperson with a Certificate of Qualification (309A for electricians, 313A or 313D for refrigeration and AC) is paid well above an apprentice.
• Holding more than one ticket: in HVAC, a Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) gas technician certificate (G2, then G1) on top of the refrigeration C of Q lets one person handle furnaces, boilers and air conditioning.
• Service and troubleshooting work: diagnosing faults on a service call is usually paid more than repetitive installation.
• Industrial or commercial work: the industrial electrician median is higher than the construction and maintenance median.
• Running jobs: foremen, estimators and a master electrician designated by a Licensed Electrical Contractor carry more responsibility and pay.

How much do apprentices make in Ontario?

Apprentices are paid by their employer, usually a rising share of a journeyperson's rate that increases as they complete each level of in-school training and each block of hours. Union agreements set the percentages for their members; non-union employers set their own. The low end of the Job Bank range, around $20 to $21 an hour for electricians and HVAC mechanics, is a reasonable guide to where many people start.

What do self-employed electricians and HVAC techs earn?

There is no reliable public average, because what a self-employed tradesperson keeps is their rate minus their costs, times the hours they actually bill. They charge customers more per hour than an employee earns, because the rate has to pay for the van, tools, insurance, licences, both halves of Canada Pension Plan contributions, unpaid travel and quoting time, and weeks without work.

Electrical work for hire has an extra step: in Ontario, only a Licensed Electrical Contractor can be hired to do electrical work in a home, so an electrician going out on their own needs the contractor licence and a designated master electrician, not just a 309A. Gas work needs a TSSA-registered contractor as well as the technician's certificate.

Which regions of Ontario pay tradespeople the most?

Pay differs less between regions than between people, but it does differ. For electricians, Job Bank's highest regional median in Ontario is in the Northwest region at $36.82 an hour and the lowest in the London region at $29.75. For heating and air conditioning mechanics, the Ottawa region median is highest at $40.00 and Kingston–Pembroke lowest at $30.00. The Toronto region, which on Job Bank includes York Region, sits close to the provincial median for both.

Living costs matter as much as the wage. A slightly higher hourly rate in the GTA can be worth less after rent and commuting than a median wage in a smaller city, so compare offers on what is left over, not on the headline number.

How does pay work for licensed pros on Doyo?

Doyo pros are independent contractors who set their own rate, and Doyo's fee is added on the customer's side, so the pro's rate is not reduced by it. Each job offer shows the work, the area and what the pro will earn before they accept, and declining is free. Doyo checks the ECRA/ESA Licensed Electrical Contractor licence for electrical work and a TSSA gas technician certificate, G2 or higher, for heating work before a pro is offered those jobs.

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