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Construction & project management · Building & Making

Construction labourer: what the job actually is

The person who carries, digs, cleans, sets up and helps every trade on a site, and learns the site while doing it.

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Construction labourer: quick facts

Construction labourer salary in Ontario: the median pay is $27.00 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate. The job usually needs a short demonstration, no formal education.

Median pay in Ontario
$27.00 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$18.50 to $42.00 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
54,900
Usually needs
A short demonstration, no formal education

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 75110. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Helping the skilled trades on a construction site: moving materials, digging, cleaning, setting up scaffolding and tools, holding things, and doing whatever the crew needs next.
  • Job Bank groups construction trades helpers and labourers together, and the group includes helpers to roofers and other trades. This is a general job, not one trade, and Job Bank reports one set of figures for all of it.
  • Job Bank says the majority work in construction, with a significant share in residential building, and a smaller number work in manufacturing, such as in cement and concrete product operations.
  • It is the entry door to the industry. Job Bank says on-the-job training may be provided, and some experience as a general construction labourer may be required for construction trade helper jobs.
  • There is a trade with a related name. Skilled Trades Ontario has a Construction Craft Worker trade, which is a recognised, apprenticed version of this kind of work.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 6:00 — Up and out in the dark. Site starts at seven and the foreman notices who is early.
  2. 6:50 — Boots, hard hat, vest, gloves. Check the day's plan with whoever is leading the crew.
  3. 7:00 — Unload the delivery truck and carry material to where the trades need it. It is heavy and it is not optional.
  4. 9:00 — Break. Everybody is already dirty.
  5. 9:15 — Dig, backfill or clean up the area around the concrete crew. The work is physical and varies a lot day to day.
  6. 11:00 — Help set up scaffolding or a ladder run for the next trade. Done wrong, it is dangerous, so the foreman or a trained person checks it.
  7. 12:00 — Lunch on a plank. You are listening to the tradespeople and learning what each of them does.
  8. 12:30 — Hold, hand, fetch and cut to a line for whoever needs a second pair of hands.
  9. 15:00 — Sweep, clear the debris and put tools away so the site is safe for tomorrow.
  10. 15:30 — Foreman tells you where you are tomorrow. It might be the same place and it might not.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You want paid work now and a view into several trades, so you can pick which one you want to learn.
  • You are comfortable with physical work, weather, noise and being told what to do by someone who has done it longer.
  • You like being outside and moving, not sitting.
  • You are willing to be at the bottom of the site and work your way up by being reliable.
  • You want to eventually take a trade apprenticeship and want to show a contractor you are a good bet.
You may hate this if
  • You do not like heavy lifting or physically demanding days. Labouring is mostly that.
  • You hate being told to do the unglamorous task. The cleaning and carrying are what you are there for.
  • Cold, rain, heat and mud wear you down quickly.
  • You want to be the skilled person right away. A labourer is not yet, and the trades can be blunt about it.
  • You are uncomfortable on a site with heights, equipment and hazards. Safety awareness is part of the job.
  • You want a stable schedule. Sites change, finish, and move, and the work follows.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Get on a crew as a labourer or helper

    Job Bank says on-the-job training may be provided. Contractors hire for reliability, so showing up on time and being clearly willing to work counts for more than a credential. Job Bank also says flagpeople may need a traffic control certificate and riggers may need a rigging certificate, which are specific jobs inside the group.

  2. Take the safety training your site requires

    Ontario's Working at Heights training is required for workers on construction projects who use fall protection systems. It must come from an approved training provider, and the training remains valid for 3 years, after which a refresher is needed.

  3. Move toward a trade

    The Construction Craft Worker trade (code 450A) is non-compulsory and has 2,880 hours: 2,400 on the job and 480 in school, with a certifying exam. Its school training covers safety, blueprints, tools, rigging, hoisting and scaffolding. Many labourers use the job to decide on a trade like carpentry, bricklaying or electrical work and then ask a crew to sponsor them.

  4. Use OYAP if you are still in high school

    Ontario's Youth Apprenticeship Program lets Grade 11 and 12 students earn co-op credits through work placements in a skilled trade, so you can arrive on a site with school credit in your pocket.

Where this comes from: Job Bank: Construction trades helpers and labourers, requirements in Ontario · Skilled Trades Ontario: Construction Craft Worker (450A) · Ontario: Training for working at heights · Ontario: Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program

The money

Construction labourer salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$18.50
Low (hourly)
$27.00
Median (hourly)
$42.00
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 75110. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.

Source: Job Bank — Construction labourer wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Moderate3 out of 5 stars

  • Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
  • Not many positions will become available due to retirements.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

What is changing in this work

  • Construction activity is expected to be favourable across Ontario:
  • Large infrastructure investments
  • Steady demand and investments in new housing

Who hires for it

  • The majority work in the construction industry, with a significant share in residential building construction
  • A smaller number work in manufacturing, such as in cement and concrete product operations
54,900
people work in this job in Ontario
5%
are women (48% across all jobs)
16%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Construction trades helpers and labourers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 75110). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Use OYAP. It is the clearest school-to-site path in Ontario, with co-op credit for a placement in a skilled trade.
  • Take construction, shop or manufacturing technology if your school has it. Even basic tool handling gives you a head start.
  • Ask about SHSM in construction if your school or board offers it. Check the guide on this site first to see what it involves.
  • Do a physical job on purpose for a day, like helping on a family move, shovelling gravel or hauling lumber, and see how you feel the next morning.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Spend a day finding out how your body handles site work

About 90 minutes
  1. Pick a physical, outdoor chore you can do for free this week, like moving a pile of firewood, shovelling snow or gravel, or hauling and stacking yard material for a neighbour or family member. Do it for at least 60 minutes with a short break.
  2. Notice what you enjoyed and what you hated: the weight, the weather, the repetition, the dirt. Write down one of each.
  3. Look up a Skilled Trades Ontario page for a trade you find interesting, like carpenter or Construction Craft Worker, and read what the apprenticeship covers.
  4. Phone or visit a local construction supplier or contractor and ask one question: what makes a new labourer get kept on? You are asking, not applying.

What it tells you. If you enjoyed more than you hated and your curiosity about the trades went up, a labouring job or OYAP placement is a reasonable next step and a good way to choose a trade. If the physical work wore you out in a bad way and you disliked the weather and repetition, labouring may not be a starting point you would stay at, and it is better to know that before a job tells you.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “What did you start doing on your first day, and what do you do now?”
  2. “Which trade did you learn the most from, and which would you never do?”
  3. “What makes a labourer the one who gets asked back and promoted?”
  4. “How did you decide whether to do an apprenticeship?”
  5. “What do you wish you had been told about the first six months?”
  6. “How is it on your body, and how do you look after it?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Not as a labourer, exactly, because the job is helping someone else's crew. But the people who do it often move into a trade and then run their own business. Own businesses tend to appear after a trade qualification and some years on crews, not before.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a construction labourer make in Ontario?

The median pay for a construction labourer in Ontario is $27.00 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $18.50 to $42.00 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a construction labourer in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as moderate for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions. Not many positions will become available due to retirements. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become a construction labourer in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a short demonstration, no formal education. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Get on a crew as a labourer or helper; Take the safety training your site requires; Move toward a trade.

Where does a construction labourer work in Ontario?

The majority work in the construction industry, with a significant share in residential building construction. A smaller number work in manufacturing, such as in cement and concrete product operations. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as a construction labourer in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 54,900 people working in this job in Ontario. 5% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Where people come from

Which programs lead here?

In the 2021 Census, this job is one of the 12 most common for graduates of these programs. Each page shows what else they do, and which of those jobs have openings.

Skilled trades hub: kids, teens and adults The highest-paying skilled trades OYAP: start in high school What can you do with your degree?

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

Start from yourself, not from the job.

Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.

Try Future Finder — freeAll jobs

Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

If this appeals, look at these too

carpenter roofer bricklayer painter drywall installer construction manager heavy equipment operator

Read next

OYAP in Ontario Apprenticeships in Ontario Jobs for teens in Ontario SHSM in Ontario All careers guides

Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.