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Getting in

How to become a general contractor in Ontario

There is no general-contractor apprenticeship or licence in Ontario — GCs are made on job sites. The common path: master a trade or run sites for someone else, build a network of subs you trust, then take on your own projects.

General Contracting at a glance

Licence to do the work
No provincial GC licence — municipal business licence + building permits
Path in
No set path — most GCs come up through a trade or site supervision
Regulated by
Your municipality (HCRA if you build new homes)
Insurance baseline
$2M–$5M CGL; bonding for public work

The path, step by step

  1. 1

    Build site experience

    Most credible GCs spent years as a tradesperson, site supervisor, or project manager first. Clients are hiring your judgment about sequencing, subs, and problems — that only comes from time on site.

  2. 2

    Learn the paper side

    Permits, the Ontario Building Code, contracts, holdback, and the Construction Act's prompt-payment rules. The GCs who fail usually fail on paperwork and cash flow, not workmanship.

    Full guide: Operational Setup
  3. 3

    Build your sub network

    A GC is only as good as their subcontractors. Collect licensed, insured trades you trust — and verify every one carries WSIB clearance and their own CGL before they touch your site.

  4. 4

    Start with manageable scope

    Renovations and small builds let you prove delivery before you carry the risk of larger contracts. From there, bonding and prequalification open commercial doors.

    Full guide: Bid Readiness

The real picture

Nobody warns new GCs that the building is the easy part. The threads that blow up on r/Contractor aren't about framing — they're about a customer who won't pay the final draw, a sub who didn't show, and a "quick" reno that grew 40%. General contracting is a business that happens to involve construction, and it's won or lost on clients, cash flow, and getting paid.

What you'll actually make

From day one to the top of the trade. Ontario figures, approximate and worth verifying against current rates.

  1. Trade / labourer background

    Trade wages

    Almost every GC came up through the tools or the site first.

  2. Site supervisor / PM (employed)

    $70k–110k

    Running other people's projects — the apprenticeship for ownership.

  3. Small GC owner (you + subs)

    $80k–150k

    Volatile: a busy year and a bad year look nothing alike, and you eat the risk.

  4. Established GC (crews, multiple jobs)

    $150k–400k+

    Now you run a company. The income is profit, not salary.

Which lane is right for you

What kind of GC do you actually want to be

These are different businesses with different clients, paperwork, and cash cycles.

Residential renovation

Homeowner clients, smaller jobs, fast cash cycle — and the most client management of any path. You live or die on referrals and reviews.

Best for: People who are good with homeowners and want the lowest-barrier entry.

Custom homes / new build

HCRA licensing and Tarion warranty, bigger projects, landowner/developer clients, longer timelines and bigger risk.

Best for: Experienced builders ready for the licensing and capital.

Small commercial / fit-outs

Tenant improvements and small commercial — prequalification, bigger tickets, but slower-paying clients and more paperwork.

Best for: People who want bigger jobs and can carry the cash-flow gap.

How you actually make money (and lose it)

Fixed-price

You quote a number. Great margins if you estimate well; you eat every overrun and scope gap. Scope creep is the silent killer.

Cost-plus

Costs plus a fee/markup. Protects you on overruns, but clients want transparency and can balk at the open book. Common on custom and high-trust work.

The cash-flow trap

Holdback (10% under the Construction Act), draw schedules, and slow payers mean you can be "profitable" and still broke. Prompt-payment rules help — if you invoice properly.

Getting in

There's no GC apprenticeship or licence in Ontario — you come up through a trade, site supervision, or project management, then take on your own projects. The ones who fail almost never fail on workmanship; they fail on estimating, contracts, and cash flow. Learn the paper side before you learn the hard way.

Where it leads (and the way out)

The endgame is one of three: scale (build a company that runs without you swinging a hammer), develop (stop building for others and become the developer/landowner), or sell. A GC with systems, a backlog, a brand, and a team is a sellable asset; a GC who IS the business has a job, not an asset — the difference is whether it runs when you're not there.

Where the real conversations are

The communities, official bodies, and wage data tradespeople actually use.

Go to the source

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

Thinking bigger? Start a general contracting business

The step-by-step from qualified tradesperson to business owner.

General Contracting questions, answered

Licences, costs, timelines. Answered straight.