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Trade Playbook
Commercial roofing is a different business from residential shingles wearing the same word — and the questions reflect the leap: torch/heat-weld skills and the fire risk that comes with them, the manufacturer-certification gate that controls warrantied work, the recurring service-contract money, and why the higher barrier means a higher ceiling and less competition.
Where it starts
$20–28/hr
Labourer / helper
Where it tops out
$120k–200k+
Commercial roofing business owner
Union route
Roofers locals on ICI work
Ontario figures for flat & commercial roofing, from the first day on site to the top of the trade. Approximate, and worth checking against current collective agreement rates and job postings in your region.
| Stage | Pay | What is going on at this stage |
|---|---|---|
| Labourer / helper | $20–28/hr | Tear-off, loading, and learning membrane systems. |
| Membrane roofer | $28–40/hr | Torch, heat-weld, and detail work — the skilled core. |
| Foreman / certified installer | More | The certified hands a manufacturer warranty depends on. |
| Commercial roofing business owner | $120k–200k+ | Higher barrier, higher ceiling, recurring service revenue. |
Two commercial roofers with the same ticket can be twenty dollars an hour apart because they picked different work.
Inspection, repair, and roof-maintenance contracts — the recurring revenue, and the relationship that wins the replacement.
Best for: Operators building stable revenue.
Every figure above is what commercial roofers get paid. It is not what you charge once you run a commercial roofing business. Your rate has to carry the hours you are not on the tools, the truck, the tools themselves, WSIB, insurance, the quote you wrote and lost, and the holdback sitting in someone else's account for 60 days. Contractors who set their rate off their old hourly wage are the ones who work every weekend and still cannot say whether the year was profitable.
The step from paid by the hour to paid by the jobOwn a commercial roofing business (built on manufacturer certification and a service-contract book), move into estimating, project management, or manufacturer rep work, or into roofing consulting/inspection. The recurring maintenance contracts make commercial roofing more stable than residential, and a company with certifications, a service book, and a safety record is a valuable, sellable asset.
Wage data, union rate sheets, and the places commercial roofers talk about money openly.
The rates above are the market. The live feed is the market this week: which builders and contractors just pulled a permit or won a contract in Ontario, what they are about to need, and who to call.
Roofer Jobs in Ontario: Who Is Hiring Right NowAEC Stack handles incorporation, WSIB, insurance certificates, quoting, invoicing, and chasing the money, so a commercial roofing business runs like one with an office behind it.
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