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Trade Playbook
Ironwork carries the most mythology and the most real danger of the trades, and the questions are honest about both: is it as dangerous as they say, structural vs rebar vs ornamental, is the union the only real way in (mostly yes), and how the welding ticket multiplies your pay. It's high, it's hard, and it pays accordingly — and almost everyone respects the people who do it.
Where it starts
A % of journeyperson rate
Apprentice
Where it tops out
Business income
Steel erector / misc-steel contractor
Union route
Ironworkers locals — the dominant route
Ontario figures for structural steel, from the first day on site to the top of the trade. Approximate, and worth checking against current collective agreement rates and job postings in your region.
| Stage | Pay | What is going on at this stage |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | A % of journeyperson rate | Rising each level through the Ironworkers apprenticeship. |
| Journeyperson ironworker (420A) | $40–52/hr + pension | Ironwork is overwhelmingly union (Ironworkers locals) with strong benefits. |
| CWB-certified welder ironworker | Premium | Certified welders are the best-paid hands on the steel. |
| Foreman / general foreman | More | Running raising gangs and the job. |
| Steel erector / misc-steel contractor | Business income | Owning an erection or fabrication shop. |
Two ironworkers with the same ticket can be twenty dollars an hour apart because they picked different work.
Erecting the steel skeleton — high steel, connecting, raising gangs. The dangerous, iconic, well-paid end; connectors are the elite.
Best for: People with a head for heights and nerve.
Rebar and post-tensioning — ground-level, bent-over, hard on the back, but steady and a more accessible entry.
Best for: People who want ironwork without the high steel.
Railings, stairs, curtain-wall steel, and architectural metal — finish-end and fabrication-adjacent.
Best for: People who like detail and fabrication.
Every figure above is what ironworkers get paid. It is not what you charge once you run a structural steel business. Your rate has to carry the hours you are not on the tools, the truck, the tools themselves, WSIB, insurance, the quote you wrote and lost, and the holdback sitting in someone else's account for 60 days. Contractors who set their rate off their old hourly wage are the ones who work every weekend and still cannot say whether the year was profitable.
The step from paid by the hour to paid by the jobThe danger and the body make the exit ramps important: foreman and superintendent, steel detailing and estimating, welding inspection (CWB), safety, or owning an erection/miscellaneous-steel shop. Many ironworkers move into supervision, the fabrication shop, or inspection as the years (and the heights) add up. Welding inspection in particular is a respected, well-paid landing off the steel.
Wage data, union rate sheets, and the places ironworkers talk about money openly.
The rates above are the market. The live feed is the market this week: which builders and contractors just pulled a permit or won a contract in Ontario, what they are about to need, and who to call.
Ironworker and Structural Steel Jobs in Ontario: Who Is HiringAEC Stack handles incorporation, WSIB, insurance certificates, quoting, invoicing, and chasing the money, so a structural steel business runs like one with an office behind it.
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