Most new handymen underprice because they compare their rate with an employee's wage. An employee is paid for every hour at work, including travel and waiting, and the employer pays for the van, the insurance and half of the pension contributions. When you work for yourself, all of that comes out of the rate you charge, and a good share of your week is spent driving, quoting and buying parts that no one pays for directly.
What costs should a handyman rate cover?
Your rate has to pay for everything the business spends in a year, before it pays you. List these with your own numbers:
- Insurance: commercial general liability (many customers and platforms ask for $2 million per occurrence), plus a tools and equipment floater if you carry expensive gear.
- Vehicle: payments or depreciation, fuel, maintenance, parking, and commercial or business-use auto insurance, since a personal policy may not cover work use.
- Tools and consumables: replacement tools, blades, bits, anchors, caulk, fasteners and the small parts you never itemise.
- Phone, software and admin: phone plan, invoicing or accounting software, a business name registration and an accountant at tax time.
- Marketing: listings, flyers, a website, or the fee a platform adds.
- Pension and tax: as a self-employed person you pay both the employee and the employer halves of Canada Pension Plan contributions on your net self-employment income, and you get no paid vacation or sick days.
How many hours can a handyman actually bill?
Far fewer than you work. Between driving across York Region, picking up parts, quoting, answering messages and small jobs that end early, many independent tradespeople find only half to two thirds of their working hours end up on an invoice. Track your own week for a month before you set a price: write down hours worked and hours billed each day.
The build-up then looks like this. The figures below are an example to show the arithmetic, not typical Ontario numbers; replace every one with your own.
| Line | Example figure | Your figure |
|---|---|---|
| Yearly business costs (insurance, vehicle, tools, phone, admin, marketing) | $18,000 | … |
| Pay you want for yourself (gross), including your own CPP | $60,000 | … |
| Total the business must bring in | $78,000 | … |
| Weeks worked (after holidays, sick days, slow weeks) | 46 | … |
| Billable hours per week | 25 | … |
| Billable hours per year | 1,150 | … |
| Break-even hourly rate (total divided by billable hours) | about $68 | … |
If that number looks high next to what you charge now, the gap is usually unpaid time or costs you have been absorbing. Fix one of three things: bill more of your hours (minimums, grouping jobs by area), cut costs, or raise the rate.
Should a handyman charge hourly or by the job?
Use both: hourly for unknown repairs, flat rates for jobs you have done many times. Each protects you from a different risk.
| Model | Works best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly with a minimum | Repairs where the problem is not known until you open it up; lists of small jobs | Customers watching the clock; quote a realistic estimate of hours up front |
| Flat rate per job | Repeatable tasks: TV mounting, furniture assembly, door adjustment, caulking a tub | Jobs that turn out bigger than described; list what the price includes |
| Half-day or day rate | A long list of small tasks at one address | Define what happens if the list runs over |
| Written quote | Anything with materials or several days of work | Ontario's 10% estimate rule applies to what you finally charge |
Flat rates reward speed: as you get faster at mounting a TV, you earn more per hour while the customer's price stays the same. They only work if you define the job tightly, for example a TV up to a certain size on drywall with a customer-supplied mount, no in-wall wiring.
What minimum should a handyman charge?
Set a minimum that covers the round trip and setup, commonly one or two hours of your rate. A 15-minute fix still costs you the drive, the parking and the gap in your day. Posters on trade forums report minimums from one hour to a flat charge for the first hour and a half; pick the one that matches your real travel time.
A minimum is easier to accept when it buys something. Offer a to-do list approach: the minimum covers the first hour or two, and the customer can add small tasks to fill it.
Do I charge HST on handyman work in Ontario?
Only once you are registered. You must register for GST/HST when your taxable sales pass $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters; below that you are a small supplier and registration is optional. In Ontario the HST rate is 13%, so a registered handyman's rate needs to be quoted with the tax shown clearly on top. Ask an accountant whether voluntary registration makes sense for you.
How does pricing work for handyman jobs on Doyo?
On Doyo, the price the customer sees is the full price, with Doyo's fee included, and the pro's earnings are shown on the offer before they accept. Doyo's current listed prices for handyman work are $106.20 for furniture assembly, $200.60 for TV mounting and $59 an hour for general repairs. Declining a job is free, so you can compare every offer with the break-even rate you worked out above and take only the jobs that make sense.