Commercial trade rates in Ottawa.
Estimated commercial rates for all 8 trades tracked in Ottawa, built from Job Bank Canada (ESDC), Small Area Estimation wage model wage data, for facility and property teams benchmarking vendor invoices.
Rates by trade
Plumbing (estimated)$95/hr median · $63–$140 range
Source: Job Bank Canada (ESDC), Small Area Estimation wage model, using a documented service multiplier.
Electrical (estimated)$106/hr median · $61–$151 range
Source: Job Bank Canada (ESDC), Small Area Estimation wage model, using a documented service multiplier.
HVAC and Refrigeration (estimated)$110/hr median · $49–$174 range
Source: Job Bank Canada (ESDC), Small Area Estimation wage model, using a documented service multiplier.
General Maintenance (estimated)$69/hr median · $46–$104 range
Source: Job Bank Canada (ESDC), Small Area Estimation wage model, using a documented service multiplier.
Janitorial and Cleaning (estimated)$55/hr median · $44–$75 range
Source: Job Bank Canada (ESDC), Small Area Estimation wage model, using a documented service multiplier.
Landscaping and Grounds (estimated)$58/hr median · $44–$78 range
Source: Job Bank Canada (ESDC), Small Area Estimation wage model, using a documented service multiplier.
Roofing (estimated)$83/hr median · $56–$120 range
Source: Job Bank Canada (ESDC), Small Area Estimation wage model, using a documented service multiplier.
Carpentry (estimated)$77/hr median · $54–$132 range
Source: Job Bank Canada (ESDC), Small Area Estimation wage model, using a documented service multiplier.
What's different in Ottawa
- Labour market: As Canada's capital, Ottawa's commercial trades market carries a large federal-government facilities segment on top of the private commercial market, with union density broadly comparable to Toronto.
- Climate and seasonality: Cold winters with significant freeze-thaw cycling drive plumbing, roofing, and HVAC emergency work.
- Code and licensing: Ontario licenses plumbers, electricians, and HVAC technicians provincially (ESA, TSSA); federal buildings in Ottawa carry additional Treasury Board / PSPC facilities requirements on top of municipal permitting.
Frequently asked questions
- What do commercial trade rates cost in Ottawa?
- Across the 8 trades tracked here, the median commercial hourly rate in Ottawa runs around $82/hr, though it varies significantly by trade: see the table above for each one.
- Is this a real measured rate, or an estimate?
- Every rate on this page is currently an estimate: each trade's Ottawa wage, multiplied by a documented service multiplier that converts an employee wage into a billed commercial rate. It is not drawn from actual invoices or job records. The full model is on the methodology page.
- Why a range instead of a single number?
- A single average hides the real spread: in the underlying wage data for estimated trades, and between emergency/scheduled and contract/ad-hoc work for measured ones. We show low, median, and high so the range reflects that honestly.
- Is this a residential or commercial rate?
- Commercial. These figures track facility-side trade work for businesses, property managers, and multi-site operators in Ottawa. Commercial rates typically run above residential rates for the same trade, reflecting insurance, code compliance, and scheduling requirements that residential work doesn't carry.
- What's driving trade rates in Ottawa specifically?
- As Canada's capital, Ottawa's commercial trades market carries a large federal-government facilities segment on top of the private commercial market, with union density broadly comparable to Toronto.
Methodology
These figures are built from regional wage data multiplied by a documented service multiplier, or, where enough real job records exist, measured directly from vendor work logged in Evalystar. See the full model, sources, and what upgrades an estimate to a measured rate on the methodology page.
Nearby cities
Cite this data
These Ottawa benchmarks are published under CC BY 4.0: reuse them anywhere, including commercially, as long as you attribute Evalystar. The machine-readable version is at /api/rates/ca/ottawa.json.
Evalystar (2024). Commercial facility trade rate benchmarks, Ottawa. Retrieved from https://evalystar.com/rates/ca/ottawa. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.