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Straight answers
The questions people ask most about starting and running a road and infrastructure business in Ontario. Answered straight, with links to the official sources.
Through the industry, not around it: start as an operator, labourer, estimator, or super with an established heavy-civil contractor and learn how public works actually gets bid and built. Ownership comes much later, usually by rising within a company or starting as a specialty subcontractor (grading, concrete, line painting) before going general. The bonding and equipment requirements make a from-scratch start nearly impossible — relationships and a track record are everything.
Surety bonds guarantee you'll complete the contract and pay your subs and suppliers, and public owners require them on essentially all heavy-civil work. Your bonding capacity — set by a surety based on your financial strength and track record — caps how much work you can carry at once. New contractors have little capacity, which is why you build it slowly through smaller jobs and strong financials. No bonding, no public work; limited bonding, limited growth.
Through prequalification: you submit financials, safety records (COR), bonding capacity, equipment, key personnel, and completed-project references, and the agency qualifies you to bid within certain categories and dollar limits. MTO and large municipalities have formal prequalification systems. It's a paperwork-and-track-record exercise, and you typically start qualified for smaller categories and work up.
It's a high-volume, thin-margin, capital-intensive business — very different from building construction. You can build real wealth (the equipment and bonding become assets, and infrastructure demand is steady and public), but it demands serious capital, estimating discipline (a small error on a huge bid is catastrophic), and the patience to build bonding capacity. It rewards operators who understand both the dirt and the financials.
Largely union — operators (IUOE), labourers (LIUNA), and other trades on heavy-civil and public works are predominantly unionized, with negotiated rates, pensions, and dispatch. Public projects often carry union or fair-wage requirements. There's non-union heavy civil, especially smaller and rural, but the major roadbuilding and infrastructure world is union territory.
There is no trade licence, but the work is almost entirely public tender. You incorporate, build surety bonding capacity, prequalify with MTO and municipalities, comply with Ontario Traffic Manual Book 7 for traffic control, and operate certified heavy equipment. Bonding and prequalification are the real barriers to entry.
Yes — public road and infrastructure contracts almost always require bid, performance, and labour & material payment bonds. Bonding capacity is built by demonstrating financial strength and a track record to a surety, and it effectively caps how much public work you can carry at once.
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.