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Straight answers
The questions people ask most about starting and running a excavation business in Ontario. Answered straight, with links to the official sources.
The excavator (636B) — it's the most versatile and the most in demand, and the skills transfer to almost everything else on a site. A backhoe/TLB (636A) is the better first machine if your goal is to go owner-operator on residential and utility work. Dozers and graders are specialist machines where GPS machine control pays a premium.
Both have a place. A reputable program (like OETIO) gives you the tickets and the mandatory safety training, which gets you on site. But the industry buys seat hours, not certificates — many of the best operators came up as labourers/groundmen who earned time in the seat. Avoid "ticket mills" that imply a two-week course equals a journeyperson wage; it doesn't.
For most operators, yes — going from non-union (~$32/hr) to union journeyperson (~$52/hr plus pension and benefits) is effectively a 40–50% raise and the single biggest income jump available. The trade-off is the hall dispatching where you work. If you plan to go owner-operator, the calculus changes; if you want the highest wage and a pension, the union is hard to beat.
It can pay very well, but it's a business decision, not a pay raise: a $150k–250k excavator only makes money when it's working. The owner-operators who thrive have a steady pipeline (a GC or two who keep them busy) before they sign for the iron. The ones who struggle bought the machine and then went looking for work.
Hire onto a crew as a labourer/groundman and make yourself useful — operators notice who's reliable, and seat time gets handed to the people who earned trust on the ground. Bring your safety tickets, show up early, and treat the machine like it's yours when you finally get in it.
Very — it's the highest-leverage skill in modern earthmoving. Operators who can grade from a 3D model (Trimble, Topcon) are more productive, more valuable, and the last to be laid off. If you want to future-proof your seat, get on machine-control work.
No provincial trade licence, but you must request utility locates through Ontario One Call before every dig (legally required), comply with trenching and shoring rules under O. Reg. 213/91, and obtain municipal excavation permits. Heavy-equipment operator certification (636B/636A) is valuable though not mandatory.
Ontario One Call is the province's utility-locate service. By law you must request locates before excavating so buried gas, electrical, water, and telecom lines can be marked. Digging without locates is both illegal and a leading cause of serious incidents.
Equipment is the dominant cost — an excavator or backhoe (purchased or leased), a truck and trailer, and locating/safety gear. The trade-licensing barrier is low, but insurance and WSIB are higher than finishing trades because of the underground-strike and trench-collapse exposure.
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.