Trade Playbook

Concrete Flatwork

No provincial trade licence required

Flatwork crews pour and finish driveways, garage pads, sidewalks, and slabs — production concrete for builders and homeowners. It is volume work where scheduling around weather and the ready-mix truck is the skill.

Where are you right now?

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

Getting inBecome a concrete flatwork contractorHow people actually enter this trade: sponsors, registration, hours, and school.Open Getting certifiedFinish your ticketAlready an apprentice? The Last Mile guide: closing out hours, booking the exam, exam day.Open Comparing optionsWhat concrete flatwork contractors 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 concrete flatwork 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

Concrete Flatwork at a glance

Licence to do the work
Not required — 244G/ACI voluntary
Path in
On a finishing crew — chasing pours teaches the trade
Regulated by
Municipality; ACI certification for commercial
Insurance baseline
$2M CGL with completed-operations
Union route
OPCMIA on ICI work

The licensing layer, explained

No trade licence — the 244G Cement Finisher certificate is voluntary. You need a municipal business licence, WSIB, insurance, and (for some municipal sidewalk/curb work) prequalification. ACI Flatwork Finisher certification is the recognized competence mark for commercial work.

Certifications in this trade

Insurance to expect

Completed-operations is the long tail — cracking and settlement claims arrive a winter later. Carry $2M CGL and document subgrade prep and weather conditions on every pour.

Go to the source

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

Keep reading

244G Concrete FinisherIncorporationCRA RegistrationWSIB & ProvincialTrade LicensingInsuranceSafety ComplianceOperational SetupBid Readiness

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