Start a mobile mechanic business in Ontario: the compulsory 310S trade certificate, the $60 business name registration, municipal licences, insurance, safety certificates, and HST.
Applies in: Ontario
A mobile mechanic business in Ontario is a certified trade business on wheels, and the certificate comes first. Automotive Service Technician (310S) is a compulsory trade in Ontario: the person turning the wrenches must hold the Certificate of Qualification or be a registered apprentice under a certified journeyperson. Once that is settled, register a business name through the Ontario Business Registry ($60, five years), check what your municipality requires, insure the van and the work, and start with driveway-safe jobs. Do not promise safety standards certificates — those come only from licensed inspection stations.
This is the Ontario version of our national mobile mechanic guide. The national guide covers the trade, the van, and the work itself; this guide adds the Ontario specifics: the 310S rules, Ontario registration, municipal licensing, and HST.
There is no separate provincial "mobile mechanic" licence. The licence that matters is the trade certificate. Skilled Trades Ontario lists Automotive Service Technician (310S) as a compulsory trade with a Red Seal exam, and its apprenticeship is 7,220 total hours: 6,500 hours on the job and 720 hours in school, across three levels.
If you are still apprenticing, the honest routes are to finish the certificate first, or to partner with a certified mechanic who takes responsibility for the trade work while you build the client list and handle the business side. Our guide to becoming an automotive service technician apprentice in Ontario covers the apprenticeship path in detail.
Most mobile mechanics start as sole proprietors. The Ontario paperwork is short, but get the order right:
Our guide to registering a sole proprietorship and getting a GST/HST number in Canada walks through the federal side step by step.
A provincial registration is not a municipal licence. Ontario cities license businesses differently, and the category a mobile repair business falls under depends on the city — and on whether you have a premises.
Talk to a broker who insures trades before you move a customer vehicle. Two policies do the heavy lifting:
If you hire anyone — even one helper, part-time or casual — register with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Most Ontario businesses with employees must register within 10 calendar days of hiring their first worker, and fleet and commercial customers may ask for a WSIB clearance certificate before they let you on site. Check your obligations on the WSIB's own site before you hire, not after.
A customer will ask for a safety standards certificate, usually when buying, selling, or re-registering a vehicle. In Ontario, those certificates come from licensed Motor Vehicle Inspection Stations under Ontario Regulation 601, and commercial vehicle inspections follow the provincial inspection standard. A mobile repair business and an inspection station are different licences.
Repair services are taxable supplies, and in Ontario you charge 13% HST once registered. Track revenue against the $30,000 small-supplier threshold from the first invoice: you must register for GST/HST once your taxable sales pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, or $30,000 in a single quarter. Below that, registration is optional — and many operators register early so they can claim input tax credits on the HST paid on tools, parts, and van costs.
Keep it mechanical: log every invoice with parts and labour shown separately, keep the HST you collect apart from your operating money, and file on the schedule the CRA assigns you. A mobile business with sloppy invoicing is a business that cannot prove its prices.
Ontario driveways in January are not the same as Ontario driveways in July. The van has to carry the shop, keep fluids contained, and stay safe to drive fully loaded in winter.
Secure everything. A loose toolbox in a hard stop is a hazard, and a tipped oil container in a customer driveway ends the job and the relationship. Used oil, coolant, and filters go in sealed containers to a municipal depot or licensed collector — never down a drain or onto the ground. Keep the drop-off receipts with your business records.
Good starter work fits a driveway: brakes, batteries, oil and filter changes, tire rotations, light suspension parts, belt and hose replacement, and diagnostics with a scan tool. Work to leave for a shop: engine and transmission removal, structural welding, air conditioning gas handling unless you hold the right credential, and anything needing a hoist.
No registry hands you work. Fleets and small businesses are the best early clients in Ontario because they have several vehicles, repeat needs, and a reason to want work done on site: delivery vans, contractor trucks, and sales fleets lose money sitting in a shop queue. Start with people and businesses you already know, price the first jobs plainly, and write down what each job took: parts cost, time on site, travel time, and any return visit. That log is your price list in a month.
Offer a written quote before the work, a parts and labour breakdown on the invoice, and photos of worn parts you replaced. Customers who cannot see the old brake pad will not remember why the bill was what it was. Once the log shows steady bookings, add one service at a time. A second van, a helper, or a shop bay all follow demand — none of them should come before it.
| Ontario business name registration | $60, valid five years |
|---|---|
| Ontario incorporation | $300, if you incorporate instead of operating as a sole proprietor |
| CRA business number | Free |
| Municipal business licence | Varies by city — Toronto's premises-based Public Garage licence is a separate category; confirm with your own city |
Business name registration and incorporation fees from ServiceOntario's fee chart as reported in Ontario registration guides. Municipal fees differ by city, so check your own city before you quote a start-up total.
Yes, in the trade sense. Automotive Service Technician (310S) is a compulsory trade in Ontario: the person doing the trade work must hold the Certificate of Qualification or be a registered apprentice working under a certified journeyperson. There is no separate provincial mobile mechanic licence — the trade certificate is the licence that matters, plus a business name registration and whatever your municipality requires.
Not on their own. An apprentice works under a certified journeyperson, so a solo mobile business run by an apprentice alone does not fit that rule. The workable routes are to finish the certificate first — 7,220 total apprenticeship hours, including 720 in-school hours — or to work under a certified mechanic who takes responsibility for the trade work while you build the client list.
Toronto's Public Garage licence covers premises-based businesses: body shops, car repair shops, car washes, gas stations, car dealerships, and public garages. A purely mobile operator with no fixed premises does not fit that category neatly, so ask Toronto's Municipal Licensing and Standards division whether it applies to your operation before your first paid job. Separately, check zoning and home-occupation rules if you store the van, tools, and stock at home — that is the part that catches mobile operators.
A business name registration through the Ontario Business Registry costs $60 and lasts five years, if you trade under a name other than your own legal name. Incorporating an Ontario business corporation costs $300 instead. A CRA business number is free. A municipal business licence, where your city requires one, is extra and varies by city — Toronto's premises-based garage licence fees do not apply to a mobile-only operation, so confirm your own city's category and fee before budgeting.
No, not from the van. Safety standards certificates in Ontario come from licensed Motor Vehicle Inspection Stations under Ontario Regulation 601, and commercial vehicle inspections follow the provincial inspection standard. A mobile repair business and an inspection station are different licences. If a customer needs a certificate, send them to a licensed station and offer to do the repairs it lists.
Repair services are taxable supplies, and Ontario charges 13% HST. You must register for GST/HST once your taxable sales pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, or $30,000 in a single quarter. Below that you are a small supplier and registration is optional. Many operators register early so they can claim back the HST paid on tools, parts, and van costs as input tax credits.