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Skilled trades · Building & Making

Elevator mechanic: what the job actually is

Installing, servicing and repairing elevators, escalators and lifts, where the thing you fix carries people.

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Elevator mechanic: quick facts

Elevator mechanic salary in Ontario: the median pay is $43.50 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate. The job usually needs a college diploma, or an apprenticeship of two or more years.

Median pay in Ontario
$43.50 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$20.00 to $68.00 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
2,850
Usually needs
Usually a college diploma, or an apprenticeship of two or more years

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 72406. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Installing, maintaining, troubleshooting and repairing elevators, escalators, moving walkways and other lifting devices in buildings.
  • Skilled Trades Ontario lists Elevating Devices Mechanic as trade code 636E and as non-compulsory. Its page also says the Certificate of Qualification issued by Skilled Trades Ontario does not authorize its holder to practise the trade unless they also hold an EDM-A certificate from the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA).
  • The same page says there is no certifying exam for this trade, so Skilled Trades Ontario does not issue a Certificate of Qualification or take Trade Equivalency Assessment applications for it. The TSSA certificate is the one that matters for working.
  • The work is half mechanical and half electrical and electronic. You diagnose control systems, drives, doors and safety circuits, and then you fix them.
  • A lot of the job happens in places people never see: the machine room, the pit at the bottom of the shaft and the top of the car.

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. 7:00 — Pick up the van and read the call list. You have a route of buildings for planned servicing and a few trouble calls.
  2. 7:30 — First building. Check in with the building manager, and lock out the car before you go near the shaft.
  3. 8:00 — Planned maintenance in the machine room: check the drive, brakes, oil and wiring against the service list.
  4. 10:00 — Ride the top of the car, working at height in a moving space with the car under your control, checking rails and cables.
  5. 11:30 — A call comes in. A car has stopped between floors with no one in it. Drive across town.
  6. 12:30 — Lunch in the van between buildings.
  7. 13:00 — Find the fault: a door sensor, a relay, a limit switch. Test, replace, then test it again before it goes back in service.
  8. 14:30 — Write up the repair for the building manager and log it against the equipment's record.
  9. 15:30 — Another building, an escalator comb plate that needs replacing.
  10. 16:30 — Restock the van and look at the on-call list for tonight.

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 like both mechanical and electrical work and want a trade that uses both.
  • You are comfortable at heights and in shafts and machine rooms, and you do not mind small spaces.
  • You like a job where the safety rules are the work, and you follow them every single time.
  • You like a day that moves between buildings and has a different problem in each.
  • You are happy to be paid while you learn.
You may hate this if
  • Heights, shafts and pits make you uneasy. You will work above and below a moving car, and in tight spaces.
  • You do not want on-call work. Elevators stop at night and on holidays, and a trouble call may come when you were not planning to work.
  • You dislike strict lockout and testing routines with no shortcuts. People ride what you fix.
  • You are uneasy when people are stuck and waiting. Entrapments are part of the work, and people are not always calm.
  • Heavy components, awkward positions and repeated climbing in and out of shafts would wear on you.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Know the two layers

    Skilled Trades Ontario lists Elevating Devices Mechanic as trade code 636E and non-compulsory. Its page says the certificate it issues does not authorize practising the trade unless the person also holds an EDM-A certificate from the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA). We did not read how to get the EDM-A, so check TSSA directly.

  2. Work the hours

    The training period is 8,000 hours, which Skilled Trades Ontario describes as approximately four years: 7,280 hours on the job and 720 hours in school across 25 reportable subjects.

  3. Find an employer who will take you on

    Job Bank's Ontario outlook says employers are building equipment contractors in the construction industry. Entry depends on a company willing to train you, so start by asking elevator service and installation companies near you how they hire.

  4. Start through school

    Ontario says OYAP lets students in Grade 11 or 12 earn co-op credits through a placement in a skilled trade. Ask your co-op teacher or board OYAP recruiter whether any elevator employer takes students.

Where this comes from: Skilled Trades Ontario — Elevating Devices Mechanic (636E) · Ontario — Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program

The money

Elevator mechanic 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.

$20.00
Low (hourly)
$43.50
Median (hourly)
$68.00
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 72406. 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 — Elevator mechanic 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.
  • There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

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

  • Significant levels of construction of high-rise buildings particularly in urban centres to support population and business growth
  • Ongoing repair and maintenance of the high stock of existing elevators
  • Regulatory requirement for buildings to have barrier-free access

Who hires for it

  • Building equipment contractors in the construction industry
2,850
people work in this job in Ontario
less than 5%
are women (48% across all jobs)
5%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Elevator constructors and mechanics job prospects in Ontario (NOC 72406). 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

  • Take physics, technology and electronics courses. Motors, circuits and controls are what the job is made of.
  • Ask about OYAP and co-op, and ask your board recruiter directly about elevator employers.
  • Pay attention to the elevators and escalators you use. Notice how the doors, the floor display and the stopping all work, and write down what you would want to understand.
  • Look at the inspection certificate posted in an elevator the next time you ride one, and read what it says. Do not touch any panel.

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.

Work out how an elevator decides where to go

About 60 minutes
  1. Watch a free video that explains how a traction elevator works: the cables, the counterweight, the brake and the controller. Draw the parts from memory afterwards.
  2. Next time you ride an elevator, or on paper if you cannot, write down the sequence of events from pressing a button to the door opening. Which part decides each step?
  3. Look up what an entrapment is and what the procedure is for a person stuck in a car. Note how you feel reading it.
  4. Phone or email one elevator service company and ask how they hire first-year apprentices. Do not ask to visit a shaft.

What it tells you. If you wanted to understand why each part is there, the curiosity the job runs on may be yours. If the idea of heights, shafts or an on-call phone made you flinch, believe it now: they are the job, not an edge case.

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 part of the work do you find hardest, and which part do you like most?”
  2. “How often are you on call, and what is that like?”
  3. “How did you find your first employer?”
  4. “What was it like the first time you worked on top of a car?”
  5. “How much of the day is planned maintenance and how much is trouble calls?”
  6. “How did you get your EDM-A certificate from TSSA, and how long did it take?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Rarely to start with. The work is done through elevator companies and contractors with trained crews and parts, and building owners want a certified company. A mechanic with years of experience and the right TSSA certificate may eventually run a small service company, but it takes equipment, insurance and trust.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does an elevator mechanic make in Ontario?

The median pay for an elevator mechanic in Ontario is $43.50 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $20.00 to $68.00 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for an elevator mechanic 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. There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become an elevator mechanic in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a college diploma, or an apprenticeship of two or more years. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Know the two layers; Work the hours; Find an employer who will take you on.

Where does an elevator mechanic work in Ontario?

Building equipment contractors in the construction industry. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as an elevator mechanic in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 2,850 people working in this job in Ontario. Less than 5% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

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.

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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.