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Skilled trades · Building & Making

Sheet metal worker: what the job actually is

Cutting, shaping and installing thin metal: ducts, cladding, roofing and the parts that factories and buildings need.

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Sheet metal worker: quick facts

Sheet metal worker salary in Ontario: the median pay is $35.00 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is limited. The job usually needs a college diploma, or an apprenticeship of two or more years.

Median pay in Ontario
$35.00 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$22.94 to $48.17 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Limited
People working in it in Ontario
5,650
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 72102. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Designing, making, assembling, installing and repairing products from thin metal. Skilled Trades Ontario lists the trade as Sheet Metal Worker, code 308A, and as compulsory in Ontario.
  • A big share of the work is the metal that moves air through buildings: ducts, fittings and the pieces that join them. Another share is metal cladding over insulation and metal roofing.
  • It is layout work first. You read a technical drawing, work out how a flat sheet must be cut and folded to become a three-dimensional fitting, and then do it with shears, brakes, rollers and a welder.
  • Some of it is in a shop, building parts on a bench. Some of it is on a building site, hanging ductwork from a ceiling or fitting cladding on a wall.
  • Job Bank's outlook for the group is Limited for the next few years. It names construction companies such as heating and air-conditioning contractors and building exterior contractors, and fabricated metal manufacturers, as the main employers, and says weak conditions in manufacturing constrain prospects.

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. 6:30 — In at the shop. Check the job sheets, see which parts the site crew is waiting on.
  2. 6:45 — Read the drawing for a transition fitting that goes from a round duct to a rectangular one. Mark out the flat pattern on a sheet.
  3. 7:30 — Cut the shape out with snips and a shear, deburr the edges, because sheet metal cuts people.
  4. 8:30 — Fold and form the pieces on the brake and the rollers. Check each against the pattern.
  5. 10:00 — Break. Your hands are covered in a thin film of oil and metal dust.
  6. 10:15 — Assemble the fitting, seam it, check it is square and the flanges are true.
  7. 12:00 — Lunch.
  8. 12:30 — Load the truck and drive to a site. Today's job is hanging a run of ductwork from a ceiling above a corridor.
  9. 13:30 — Up on a lift, supporting a section while a partner connects it. You work slowly because a fitting that is a few millimetres out will not join the next one.
  10. 15:30 — Clean up, take measurements for tomorrow's run, and note anything the drawing got wrong.

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 geometry that turns into a physical object: flat in, three-dimensional out.
  • You like working to a drawing and checking your work against it.
  • You are happy in a shop for part of the week and on a site for the rest.
  • You want to be paid while you train for a long apprenticeship.
  • You like fabrication, and the satisfaction of a fitting that fits first time.
You may hate this if
  • Noise is a problem. Shears, brakes, grinders and hammered metal make a shop loud all day.
  • You do not like cuts. Sharp edges are part of the daily work, and gloves only help so much.
  • Heat and cold bother you. Sites can be unheated in winter and hot in summer, and ceiling-space work is often both dusty and hot.
  • You want a field with lots of openings. Job Bank rates Ontario's outlook for this group as Limited, so check the outlook box before you decide.
  • Heights, lifts and awkward overhead work would bother you. Ductwork goes in ceilings.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Know that it is compulsory

    Skilled Trades Ontario lists Sheet Metal Worker (308A) as a compulsory trade. To practise it legally in Ontario you must hold a Registered Training Agreement, a Provisional Certificate of Qualification or a Certificate of Qualification, so you need an employer to register you first.

  2. Find an employer

    The gate is a contractor or a shop willing to register you and sign off your hours. Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning contractors and metal fabricators are the employers Job Bank names for the group. Ask local ones what they look for in a first-year apprentice.

  3. Work the hours

    Skilled Trades Ontario lists the apprenticeship as 9,000 hours, described as approximately five years: 8,280 hours on the job and 720 hours in school. It is a Red Seal trade, so the qualification is recognised across Canada.

  4. Use school routes to start

    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 the board recruiter about sheet metal or HVAC contractors near you.

Where this comes from: Skilled Trades Ontario — Sheet Metal Worker (308A) · Ontario — Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program

The money

Sheet metal worker 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.

$22.94
Low (hourly)
$35.00
Median (hourly)
$48.17
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 72102. 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 — Sheet metal worker 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

Limited2 out of 5 stars

  • Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
  • A moderate number of 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

  • Job prospects will be constrained by weak business conditions in manufacturing as a whole due to economic uncertainty
  • Large infrastructure investments in transit, utilities, and health care, and steady demand for new housing will sustain some work for sheet metal workers

Who hires for it

  • Construction companies such as heating and air-conditioning contractors and building exterior contractors
  • Fabricated metal product manufacturers
5,650
people work in this job in Ontario
less than 5%
are women (48% across all jobs)
9%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Sheet metal workers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 72102). 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 technology, shop, drafting and maths courses. Geometry and measuring accurately are the daily language.
  • Ask about OYAP and co-op, and ask the board recruiter whether any sheet metal or HVAC contractors near you take students.
  • Ask whether your school offers an SHSM in manufacturing or construction.
  • Look up at the ceiling in a public building and follow a duct with your eyes. Work out where it enters, where it turns, and how it is held up.

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.

Make a box from a flat pattern you work out yourself

About 60 minutes
  1. Take a spare cereal box or a sheet of thin cardboard, a ruler, a pencil and scissors. Decide on a box size, say a fitting that goes from a square end to a round one, or just a plain open-topped box.
  2. Draw the flat pattern on the cardboard, with fold lines and tabs, and cut it out carefully. Fold it up and see whether the sides meet and the tabs line up.
  3. If it does not fit, work out exactly where the mistake is, change the pattern and try again.
  4. Watch a video of a sheet metal worker laying out and forming a duct fitting, and look at how they check their pattern before they cut.

What it tells you. If you enjoyed finding why the first pattern did not fit and fixing it, layout work is a good sign. If the fiddly measuring annoyed you, that is useful to know before you commit to five years of apprenticeship in a loud shop.

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. “How much of your week is shop and how much is site?”
  2. “What was the hardest fitting you ever laid out?”
  3. “How is work in your area, and what are contractors saying about the next few years?”
  4. “What do you do when a drawing is wrong?”
  5. “How do you protect your hands, ears and back over a career?”
  6. “What would you do differently if you started now?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes, eventually. Sheet metal is a compulsory trade in Ontario, so you must be registered or certified first. After that, a small sheet metal or HVAC fabrication business needs a shop, machines such as brakes and shears, insurance and a steady supply of contracts, so most people work for someone else for years first.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a sheet metal worker make in Ontario?

The median pay for a sheet metal worker in Ontario is $35.00 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $22.94 to $48.17 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a sheet metal worker in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as limited for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment growth will lead to a few new positions. A moderate number of 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 sheet metal worker 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 that it is compulsory; Find an employer; Work the hours.

Where does a sheet metal worker work in Ontario?

Construction companies such as heating and air-conditioning contractors and building exterior contractors. Fabricated metal product manufacturers. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as a sheet metal worker in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 5,650 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.

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 SHSM: the Specialist High Skills Major Women in the skilled trades 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

hvac technician welder roofer pipefitter carpenter

Read next

Apprenticeships in Ontario OYAP 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.