The pay box above shows what electrician roles with posted pay on our board offer right now. This page adds the Ontario context: the 309A ladder, the new transparency law, and what employers are actually asking for.
Where these numbers come from
Two places, and we own both. The pay box at the top of this page reads live job ads on our board right now. The Tradesppl Hiring Index is our monthly count of every job posted on the board.
We never guess a wage. If a number is on this page, an employer put it in a job ad. Here is how we work the numbers out.
Ontario's pay-posting law, eight months on
Ontario's Working for Workers rules started on January 1, 2026. Shops with 25 or more staff must put a wage or a range in the ad, and the range can be no wider than $50,000.
So how is that going? In our August 2026 index, just 10.1% of Ontario trades ads named a wage. That beats Alberta at 7.6%, but it is a long way behind US states like Arizona at 47%.
Smaller shops are exempt and the rules are still new. We check this every month in the pay transparency report, so you can see for yourself whether the law is working.
Why Canadian pay is harder to pin down
Here is something most salary pages won't tell you. In our August 2026 Hiring Index, only 8.6% of Canadian trades job ads named a wage. In the US it was 42.1%.
Most provinces don't make employers put pay in the ad. Ontario's rule only started in January 2026, and only for shops with 25 or more staff. We track it in our pay transparency report.
That is why the pay box above sometimes pulls from listings right across Canada instead of one province. We would rather show you a small real number than a big made-up one. As more employers post wages, these figures sharpen on their own.
How the ticket works
Electrical work (the 309A Construction and Maintenance ticket) is a compulsory trade in Ontario:
- Apprentice, about 5 terms. You earn a share of the journeyperson rate, rising as you go, with school blocks along the way.
- 309A journeyperson: full rate — the live box above reflects this level.
- Red Seal: takes the Ontario ticket interprovincial; it's the most-named credential in electrician postings on our board.
Industrial and ICI work — that is industrial, commercial and institutional — usually pays more than residential service. Union ICI work adds negotiated rates and benefits that an advertised wage never shows.
What employers ask for
In August the tickets electrical employers named most were the Red Seal and a journeyman licence. The Red Seal was the most-asked-for ticket on the whole board: 88 job ads across all trades named it, and 40 of those were for electricians. Of the electrical ads that named a level, about 1 in 7 was open to an apprentice. Most electrical hiring wants a ticketed journeyperson. Details by trade are in the tickets employers ask for and the who is hiring apprentices.
Work out your own number
- Pay calculator — put in your hourly rate and see your take-home, overtime included
- Electrician jobs — what's open right now
- Hiring Index — this month's jobs, pay and hiring hot spots across every trade