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
Every figure on this page traces to one of two places: the live pay box at the top of this article, computed in real time from active listings with posted pay on our job board, and the Tradesppl Hiring Index — our monthly report built from every posting published on the board, with medians, percentile ranges, and sample sizes shown. We never estimate or impute pay: if a number is here, an employer advertised it. The full rules are in the index methodology.
Ontario's transparency law, eight months in
Ontario's Working for Workers rules took effect January 1, 2026: employers with 25 or more employees must put a wage or a range (no wider than $50,000) in the posting. The early reality? In our August 2026 index, just 10.1% of Ontario trades postings disclosed pay — better than Alberta's 7.6%, far behind US states like Arizona at 47%. Smaller shops are exempt, and enforcement is young. We track this monthly in the pay transparency report, so you can watch the law bite (or not) in close to real time.
Why Canadian pay data is harder to find
Here's something most salary pages won't tell you: in our August 2026 Hiring Index, only 8.6% of Canadian trades postings disclosed pay, against 42.1% in the US. Most provinces don't require a pay figure in the posting (Ontario's mandate only took effect January 2026, and only for employers with 25+ employees — see our pay transparency report). That's why the live pay box above sometimes draws on Canada-wide listings rather than one province: we'd rather show you a small, real sample than a big made-up one. As disclosure improves, these numbers deepen automatically.
How the ladder works
Electrician (309A Construction and Maintenance) is a compulsory trade in Ontario:
- Apprentice (~5 terms): paid on a rising percentage of the journeyperson rate, plus in-school training blocks.
- 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 (industrial-commercial-institutional) work in Ontario typically out-pays residential service, and unionized ICI carries negotiated rates plus benefits that advertised figures often understate.
What employers are asking for
Across electrician postings in our August index, the credentials employers named most were the Red Seal (the single most-requested credential on the whole board — 88 postings across trades, 40 of them for electricians) and a journeyman licence. Of electrician postings that named an experience level, roughly 1 in 7 was open at the apprentice level — most electrician hiring wants a ticketed journeyperson. Details by trade are in the certification demand report and the apprenticeship pipeline report.
Check your own number
- Pay calculator — turn an hourly rate into take-home pay with overtime
- Electrician jobs — current electrician openings on the board
- Hiring Index — this month's postings, pay, and hiring regions across every trade