Trade Playbook

Cabinetry & Millwork

No provincial trade licence required

Cabinet and millwork shops manufacture and install kitchens, vanities, closets, and commercial casework. Unlike site trades, this is a shop business — premises, machinery, and manufacturing workflow — with showroom-grade margins.

Where are you right now?

Learn it. Earn it. Own it. Pick the door that matches where you are.

Getting inBecome a cabinetmakerHow people actually enter this trade: sponsors, registration, hours, and school.Open Comparing optionsWhat cabinetmakers makePay by stage, the lanes that change the number, and the difference between a wage and a business rate.Open Going out on your ownStart a cabinetry and millwork businessThe step-by-step from qualified tradesperson to incorporated, insured, bid-ready owner.Open Just lookingCommon questionsLicences, costs, timelines: the questions everyone asks, answered straight.Open

Cabinetry & Millwork at a glance

Licence to do the work
Not required — cabinetmaker (438A) voluntary
Path in
Shop floor or college woodworking program → bench → your own shop
Regulated by
Municipality (shop zoning, spray/fire code); AWMAC standards for commercial
Insurance baseline
Shop (fire/machinery) + CGL + installation floater

The licensing layer, explained

No provincial trade licence — cabinetmaker is a voluntary trade. The business needs a municipal licence (and zoning for a shop), WSIB, insurance, and dust/finishing compliance (spray-booth and fire-code requirements if you finish in-house). AWMAC standards govern commercial architectural millwork.

Certifications in this trade

  • 438ACabinetmaker (voluntary)

Insurance to expect

Shop coverage (fire, machinery, stock) matters as much as CGL — a spray booth and dust collection are real fire exposures. Add installation floaters for product in transit and on site.

Go to the source

The official pages that govern this trade. Bookmark these, they are the final word on requirements and fees.

Keep reading

IncorporationCRA RegistrationWSIB & ProvincialTrade LicensingInsuranceSafety ComplianceOperational SetupBid Readiness

Ready to build a cabinetry and millwork business?

AEC Stack handles incorporation, licensing, insurance, compliance, and operations, so you can focus on the work.

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