How Much Do Electricians Charge Per Hour in Ontario (2026)
Electrician Hourly Rates in Ontario: The Quick Answer
If you are an electrician in Ontario, here is what the market looks like in 2026. Billing rates to customers run from $75 to $200 per hour, with service calls between $75 and $200. Toronto and Ottawa sit at the top of the range. London and the smaller regions sit at the bottom.
This post breaks down what Ontario electricians actually charge per hour, how employment wages compare to customer billing rates, and where your pricing should land if you want to stay profitable under an ECRA/ESA licence.
Billing rate to the customer
| Electrician Type | Ontario Hourly Rate | Toronto and GTA Range |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice (supervised) | $50 to $80 | $60 to $90 |
| Journeyman (Certificate of Qualification) | $80 to $130 | $100 to $150 |
| Master Electrician, owner-operator | $110 to $180 | $150 to $200 |
| Emergency, after-hours | 1.25x to 2x regular | 1.5x to 2x regular |
These are billing rates, not take-home pay. The Canada Job Bank reports the median employment wage for Ontario electricians at $34.00 per hour as of November 2025, with a range of $20.00 to $50.50. The gap between $34/hr wage and $130/hr billing rate is what pays for truck, insurance, WSIB, licensing, overhead, and owner margin.
What goes into an electrician hourly rate
Your billing rate covers every cost of running a licenced electrical contracting business in Ontario. Ignore these and you are working for free.
- Labour burden: wages, CPP, EI, vacation pay, and WSIB premiums. Electrical contractors usually fall into WSIB rate groups in the 2 to 4 percent range. Check the WSIB premium rates page for your exact classification.
- Mandatory insurance: ECRA/ESA requires at least $2,000,000 in public liability and property damage insurance to hold your contractor licence. Annual premiums typically run $1,500 to $3,500. Full requirements are on the ESA Licensing page.
- Master Electrician requirement: you must either be a Master Electrician or employ one at all times. The Master Electrician exam and ongoing responsibility is a real cost.
- Truck and tools: van lease or depreciation, fuel, insurance, inventory. Easily $1,500 to $2,800 per month per vehicle.
- Licence display and compliance: ECRA/ESA licence number must be displayed on business vehicles within 90 days, and all installations require permits with ESA.
- Office overhead: dispatch, accounting, marketing, software, phone.
A licenced Ontario electrical contractor needs to bill around $110 to $140 per hour just to net $35 to $50 per hour take-home after all of the above. If you are charging $75 per hour and paying yourself $34 per hour on the books, you are very likely losing money and do not know it yet.
Service call fees and minimum charges
Almost every Ontario electrical shop charges a service call fee on top of the hourly rate. This covers dispatch, fuel, and the first assessment.
- Typical service call: $75 to $200 in Ontario
- Toronto service call: $100 to $200
- Minimum bill: 1 hour of labour, commonly 2 hours for evening or weekend visits
Some shops roll the service call into a flat diagnostic fee of $120 to $195 that is credited against the repair if the customer approves the work.
Toronto and GTA versus the rest of Ontario
Employment wages from Job Bank give a clean snapshot of regional differences. Billing rates track these wages but at 3x to 4x multiples once overhead and margin are added.
| Region | Median Employment Wage | Typical Journeyman Billing Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | $34.86/hr | $100 to $150/hr |
| Ottawa | $38.45/hr | $110 to $160/hr |
| Hamilton-Niagara | $32.00/hr | $90 to $130/hr |
| Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie | $36.00/hr | $95 to $140/hr |
| London | $29.75/hr | $80 to $120/hr |
| Windsor-Sarnia | $35.00/hr | $90 to $130/hr |
| Northern Ontario | $31.00 to $36.82/hr | $80 to $140/hr |
Wage data: Canada Job Bank, reference period 2023-2024, updated November 2025.
Toronto and Ottawa lead on both wages and billing rates. Dense traffic, higher insurance, and large commercial shops pull the ceiling up. London and Hamilton-Niagara stay lower because operating costs are lower and competition is fierce.
Emergency, after-hours, and weekend rates
After-hours electrical work is where rate structure gets real. Most pricing guides put after-hours and emergency rates between 25 and 50 percent above regular, with some shops going to 2x for overnight emergencies.
- Evening after 5pm: 1.25x to 1.5x regular rate
- Weekend: 1.5x regular, 2-hour minimum common
- Stat holidays: 2x regular, 2 to 4 hour minimum
- No-power emergency at 2am: $200 to $400 per hour is not unusual in the GTA
If you are a contractor, set your after-hours rates clearly on your voicemail and intake form. Homeowners should confirm the rate before the truck leaves the shop. A $350 after-hours rate for restoring power to a bedroom circuit is legal, common, and worth paying at 2am.
Flat-rate versus hourly pricing
The residential electrical industry is shifting toward flat-rate pricing for most visible work (receptacles, switches, light fixtures, panel swaps). The reasons are simple.
- Homeowners hate the meter running. Flat rate removes anxiety.
- Electricians get paid for efficiency. Finish in 40 minutes on a flat rate job and you keep the difference.
- Estimates are clearer. Homeowners can compare quotes apples to apples.
Hourly still dominates for rough-in work, new construction, service upgrades where scope is unclear, and ongoing commercial maintenance contracts.
If you are moving from hourly to flat rate, price each task to cover your all-in hourly plus materials markup plus a 15 to 25 percent margin for the unknowns. An outlet install that takes you 30 minutes should still be priced as a 1-hour job, because sometimes the breaker is full or the wall is stubborn.
What to charge if you are the contractor
The quick framework.
- Calculate your all-in hourly cost. Wages plus burden plus truck plus insurance plus Master Electrician oversight plus overhead, divided by billable hours. Assume 1,200 to 1,400 billable hours per year, not 2,080.
- Add your margin. 20 to 30 percent for an owner-operator, 30 to 40 percent if you want to grow and hire.
- Compare to market. If your number comes out at $90 per hour and the Toronto market pays $130, raise your price. Do not undercharge because you feel cheap.
Most Ontario electrical contractors underprice themselves. Check your effective hourly rate (total revenue divided by total billable hours) against your target. If you are below $115 per hour net, your licensed business is running on fumes.
Plumbers face the same math. The companion post on plumber charges per hour in Ontario breaks down the same framework for trades with overlapping cost structure. Once your rates are set, back them up with a proper invoice using the contractor invoice template for Ontario.
See where your pricing and profit stand against Ontario benchmarks. Take the 2-minute Contractor Profit Score: grizzli.app/score