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Straight answers
The questions people ask most about starting and running a structural steel business in Ontario. Answered straight, with links to the official sources.
It's genuinely one of the most hazardous trades — falls are the headline risk, and the work is high, heavy, and weather-exposed. Modern fall-protection and safety culture have made it far safer than its reputation, but it demands respect, focus, and a real comfort with heights. People who aren't honest with themselves about that don't last.
Structural (420A) is the high-steel, high-pay, high-danger end — erecting the skeleton. Reinforcing/rodwork (452A) is ground-level rebar and post-tensioning: more accessible, steady, but hard on the back. Ornamental is the architectural-metal, fabrication-leaning end. Structural has the mythology and the money; reinforcing is the more approachable entry.
Practically, yes — ironwork in Ontario runs overwhelmingly through the Ironworkers locals, and the apprenticeship, the best wages, the pension, and the dispatch all flow through the union. Non-union miscellaneous and ornamental steel exists, but the structural-erection world is union territory, and that's the route in for most.
Absolutely — CWB/CSA welding certification is the single biggest pay multiplier in ironwork. Certified structural welders earn well above non-welding rates, are first hired and last laid off, and have a clear path into welding inspection later. If you want the top of the trade, get certified and keep your tickets current.
The money is strong — journeyperson rates plus a pension, and more with welding tickets and overtime. The trade-offs are real: danger, weather, travel to where the steel is, and the boom-bust of being laid off between projects (the union hall dispatches you to the next one). It rewards people who can handle the intensity and the intermittency.
Apply to your local Ironworkers union's apprenticeship/training program — there's typically aptitude testing, interviews, and a screening for fitness and comfort with heights, then placement with an erector. Showing up fit, fearless about heights, and reliable matters more than any prior experience; the union trains you from there.
Ironworker is a voluntary trade, but structural welding requires Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) certification — CSA W47.1 for the fabricator/erector company and W178.2 for individual welders. Engineered connections and fall protection are strictly enforced.
Incorporate, obtain CWB company certification, qualify your welders, register WSIB, and carry high-limit liability insurance. Most commercial owners require strong safety credentials and bonding for structural packages.
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.