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Straight answers
The questions people ask most about starting and running a masonry business in Ontario. Answered straight, with links to the official sources.
It's one of the more punishing trades — heavy, repetitive lifting, kneeling, and working in the cold. People do it for decades, but the smart ones treat it as a trade you advance out of: into restoration (lighter, higher-skill), foreman/estimating, or owning a company. Going in with an exit plan is how masons protect their backs and their income.
New construction is production work — veneer and block on homes and commercial buildings, steady in season, the straightforward business path. Restoration and heritage (repointing, stone matching, conservation) is higher-skill, higher-margin, more year-round, and far easier on the body. Many masons start in new construction and migrate to restoration as their skills — and knees — mature.
Yes — it's the premium niche. Heritage and conservation work (with credentials like the 244H Restoration Mason and conservation training) commands higher rates, draws institutional and government clients, and competes on expertise rather than the lowest bid. It's the rare lane in masonry where the work gets lighter as the pay gets better.
The IUBAC (bricklayers') union route generally pays the most and adds a pension and benefits, with structured progression — at the cost of dispatch and the hall system. Non-union is more flexible and common on residential and smaller commercial. As with most trades, union wins on total compensation; non-union wins on flexibility and is the easier base to start your own business from.
Quite — mortar and freezing temperatures don't mix, so the core season runs spring through fall, with winter work needing heated enclosures and additives (and a cost premium). Restoration and interior work extend the calendar somewhat. Plan the winter cash-flow gap, which is one reason many masons add restoration or move toward supervision and ownership.
No licence required — a business licence, WSIB, insurance, and a crew that can lay and tend. The real assets are skill (masonry failures are visible and permanent), scaffolding/mixing equipment, and relationships with builders or restoration clients. Many start residential or as a sub to GCs, then build toward commercial or specialize into the higher-margin restoration market.
No provincial trade licence — masonry is non-compulsory. You need a municipal business licence, building permits, WSIB, and insurance. The 401A Brick & Stone Mason certificate is voluntary but strengthens credibility, especially for commercial and heritage work.
Heritage and restoration masonry is a specialized, higher-margin niche. The Restoration Mason (244H) credential plus conservation training (lime mortars, stone matching, repointing) opens access to heritage buildings, institutional clients, and government conservation work.
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.