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Straight answers
The questions people ask most about starting and running a concrete business in Ontario. Answered straight, with links to the official sources.
Flatwork is the fastest entry and the highest volume (driveways, slabs for builders), but the most price-competitive. Forming is more carpentry-like and leans commercial/ICI with steadier, higher pay. If craft and margin appeal to you, decorative/polished is the premium lane. Most start in flatwork for cash flow and specialize from there.
Residential flatwork is the easy entry and the natural own-a-business path. Commercial and ICI work means forming, bigger pours, ACI certifications, often union membership, and higher pay — but a higher barrier. Your 244G works across both; the difference is the scale and the clients.
For margin, yes. Stamped, exposed, and polished concrete are bought from photos, not on price, so good decorative crews escape the race-to-the-bottom that defines basic flatwork. Polishing needs capital (planetary grinders, diamonds), but the commercial polished-floor market pays for it. Many crews start flatwork and add decorative as the premium line.
Early. Pours start at dawn to beat the heat and to give the day to finish, and you work to the concrete's clock, not yours — a hot, fast slab doesn't care that it's lunchtime. Weather rules everything: rain, frost, and heat all reschedule you. It's a trade that rewards people who don't mind 5am and can roll with a cancelled pour.
Yes — finishing is hours on your knees and bent over a slab, plus the lifting and the raking. Knees and backs feel it. The people who last invest in knee protection, use power tools where they can (ride-on trowels, laser screeds on bigger jobs), and plan a move to running crews before the body gives out.
Quickly on paper — no licence, and the tools (screeds, trowels, floats, a truck) are modest. The real requirements are a crew that can chase a pour, the judgment to not get caught by weather or a bad sub-base (most failures are base failures), and builder relationships that feed you driveways and slabs. Many start with residential flatwork and grow from there.
No provincial trade licence — concrete and forming is non-compulsory. You need a municipal business licence, building permits for the structures you work on, WSIB, and insurance. The Cement Finisher (244G) certificate is voluntary but builds credibility.
The trade-licensing barrier is low, but equipment is the cost: forms, power trowels, mixers or supply contracts, and a truck. Add incorporation (~$400–$600), $2M CGL, and WSIB. Many start with residential flatwork (driveways, slabs, foundations) and scale into structural forming.
The 244G Cement Finisher certificate and ACI certifications (Flatwork Finisher, Concrete Field Testing Technician) are voluntary but valued, especially for commercial and decorative/polished concrete work. Silica-dust training is effectively mandatory under Ontario's designated-substance rules.
A sole proprietorship is cheaper and simpler to start, but you are personally liable for the business's debts and claims. Incorporating creates a separate legal entity that limits personal liability, can reduce tax once you are profitable, and reads as more credible to larger clients. Most contractors incorporate once they have employees, real revenue, or work on others' property.
Yes — construction is a mandatory WSIB sector in Ontario. Even independent operators and partners with no employees generally must register, and clients and general contractors will require a valid WSIB clearance certificate before you can work on their site.
You must register for and charge HST once your revenue exceeds $30,000 over four consecutive quarters. Many contractors register before that threshold so they can claim input tax credits on tools, materials, and vehicles from day one.
Ontario's Construction Act sets the rules: a 10% holdback on most contracts, prompt-payment timelines (you must be paid within set periods after a proper invoice), and an adjudication process for disputes. Understanding holdback, lien rights, and prompt payment is essential to protecting your cash flow.