How to Start in Canada

How to Start a Roofing Business in Canada

Start a roofing business in Canada: licensing (Quebec RBQ exception), registration, insurance, WSIB, startup costs, seasonality, and first contracts.

Written October 18, 2026 · Edited November 11, 2026 · 13 min read

Applies in: across Canada

Why roofing works as a first trade business

Every roof has an expiry date. Asphalt shingles last roughly 20 to 25 years, so a predictable share of every neighbourhood needs replacing each year, and storm damage creates demand spikes nobody can schedule. The buyer is motivated — a leaking roof is not a discretionary purchase — and the ticket is large enough that a small crew can do real revenue.

The trade-offs are real too. It is seasonal work in most of the country, it is genuinely dangerous, insurers price you like it, and the barrier to entry is low enough that every market has cheap competition. The operators who last sell on warranty, documentation, and showing up — not on being the lowest quote.

This guide walks through a lean start as a sole proprietor, which is how most roofing companies begin. If you are unsure whether to incorporate, our sole proprietorship vs incorporation walkthrough covers the choice.

Step 1: Pick one roofing lane to sell first

Do not launch as "we do all roofs." Each lane has a different buyer, crew, and equipment profile.

  • Residential shingle replacement is the volume lane: homeowners, one decision-maker, jobs measured in days. Start here.
  • Residential repairs are the margin lane: leak calls, flashing fixes, storm damage. Lower tickets, faster cash, and the best source of replacement leads.
  • Metal roofing is the premium lane: higher material cost, higher ticket, buyers who researched. Needs specific installation skill.
  • Commercial flat roofing is the scale lane: TPO, EPDM, and modified bitumen on low-slope buildings. Bigger contracts, longer sales cycles, bonding and bigger insurance limits required.

Start with residential replacement plus repairs: one crew, one material family, and every job teaches you the market.

Step 2: Clear the licensing question for your province

This is the step that varies most across the country, so get your province right:

  • Quebec — licence required. The RBQ licence is mandatory for anyone doing construction work for a client, and roofers specifically need subclass 7.0 (insulating, waterproofing, roofing and siding) or a general building contractor licence (1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.2, or 1.3). The 10-digit licence number must appear on estimates, contracts, and invoices. Licensing involves competency exams for your guarantors and a financial guarantee, and RBQ processing currently runs several weeks — start before you need it.
  • Most other provinces — no roofer trade licence. Roofing is not a compulsory certified trade, so there is no ticket to earn. But check the consumer-protection layer: Alberta requires prepaid contractors (anyone who takes money before the work is done and signs the contract away from their shop — which describes most roofers) to be licensed by Service Alberta and post security. Saskatchewan requires home renovation vendors, including roofers, to hold a direct-seller licence and post a $25,000 bond. Manitoba licenses direct sellers with a 10-day buyer cancellation right.
  • Everywhere — municipal business licence. Most cities require one. Check the city where you will actually work.

The pattern: the licence question is never "do roofers need a licence in Canada" — it is "what does my province require of a contractor who takes deposits and climbs on houses."

Step 3: Register the business

Standard sole-proprietor paperwork. If you trade under a business name rather than your personal name, register it with your province: about $60 through the Ontario Business Registry (five years) or $30 for a name request plus $40 to register in BC. A CRA business number is free, and you will need one for GST/HST and payroll. Track revenue against the $30,000 GST/HST threshold from day one — a busy roofing crew crosses it fast, and charging it late means eating it.

Step 4: Sort WSIB and workers' compensation before the first job

In Ontario, WSIB coverage is mandatory for construction even if you have no employees. Since January 2013, independent operators, sole proprietors, partners, and executive officers in construction have all been deemed workers who must be covered. Roofing sits in WSIB class G3, rated at $3.55 per $100 of insurable earnings in 2026 — one of the higher construction rates, because roofers get hurt. The only narrow exemption is for independent operators doing exclusively home renovation work hired directly by the occupying homeowner; a roofing company doing replacements for hire does not fit it. Register before your first job: general contractors and property managers will ask for your clearance certificate, and hiring a subcontractor without a valid clearance can leave you holding their unpaid premiums.

In other provinces, register with the provincial board — WorkSafeBC, WCB Alberta, and the equivalents — under their standard rules, which generally trigger on hiring. Wherever you are, commercial clients treat the clearance certificate as a condition of doing business, so keep it current.

Step 5: Buy the insurance roofers actually need

Roofing is one of the most expensive trades to insure, and going without is not a real option once you have commercial clients.

  • Commercial general liability, $2 million minimum. The certificate property managers and general contractors ask for: third-party injury and property damage.
  • Commercial vehicle insurance for the work truck and trailer.
  • Tools and equipment coverage for nail guns, compressors, and generators.
  • A surety/bonding line once you bid commercial work.

Get quotes from a broker who insures roofing contractors specifically — a trade specialist will also tell you which documented safety practices actually move your premium.

Step 6: Budget the real startup cost

The truck is the biggest line item, and most operators start with what they have. A lean solo launch — ladders, nail guns, compressor, tear-off tools, tarps, dump trailer or bin service, fall protection kit, and first-year insurance, on top of a vehicle you may already own — lands in the $6,000 to $15,000+ range; once you count a work truck or van, the commonly cited range is $15,000 to $50,000+. Those are Jobber's 2026 figures, in US dollars. That figure assumes you are the crew at first.

What scales the number up: a second truck, a leased yard, a hired crew (payroll plus WSIB at that $3.55 rate), and working capital to float material purchases between deposit and final payment. Full-operation business plans put that at $200,000 to $750,000+. The standard path is to start lean, do the first season's roofs yourself, and let revenue buy the second truck and the first employee.

Step 7: Plan for winter before summer ends

Seasonality is the cash-flow risk that kills roofing companies, so plan it in the first business plan, not the first January. Asphalt shingles need warmth to seal, compressing most residential re-roofing into roughly April through November.

  • Bank the surplus. Price summer work knowing January exists.
  • Sell winter services. Emergency leak repairs, ice dam remediation, roof snow removal, and off-season inspections all sell in winter.
  • Use the downtime. Equipment maintenance, crew training, manufacturer certification courses, and quoting the spring backlog — homeowners plan re-roofs in winter and book in spring.

In milder markets (parts of BC), the season stretches; in the Prairies and the North, it compresses. Know your local window.

Step 8: Win the first twenty roofs

The first jobs are the hardest because you have no proof. Manufacture proof:

  • Google Business Profile with real photos of every finished roof, live before you need it. Free, and it is where "roofer near me" searches land.
  • Realtors and home inspectors. They flag aging roofs on every listing. One realtor who trusts your inspection reports feeds you replacement quotes for years.
  • Property managers. Portfolios of roofs with known ages; they demand insurance and WSIB clearance — which you now have — and they pay reliably.
  • Storm response. After hail or wind events, be the company that answers the phone, tarps fast, and writes a clear insurance-ready quote.
  • Your own street. Roofing is a visible trade: every completed job markets the next three on the block.

Price the first jobs to win references, not to maximize margin. A portfolio of ten photographed, review-backed roofs is worth more than the extra $500 you left on job three.

Working at heights: the training Ontario requires before anyone goes on the roof

Roofing is working at heights, and in Ontario that comes with a training rule the rest of this guide only hints at with the fall-protection kit. Any worker on a construction project who is required to use fall protection — a travel restraint system, a fall restricting system, a fall arrest system, a safety net, or a work belt or safety belt — must have successfully completed a working at heights training program approved by the Chief Prevention Officer, delivered by a CPO-approved training provider, and the employer must ensure it. The training is valid for three years from completion, and a refresher is required to stay current (O. Reg. 297/13, Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training, ss. 6–8). The construction regulation's own fall-protection training requirements apply in addition to it.

Budget the course for yourself as well as for any crew you hire, and keep the records where an inspector can see them — general contractors treat the CPO-approved certificate as the ticket to the roof, and it expires, so diarise the three-year refresher from the day each person completes it. This section states the Ontario rule only: every province has its own fall-protection rules for construction work, so check your own province's construction regulation before you hire or climb.

Startup checklist

Related guides

Questions people ask

Do I need a licence to start a roofing business in Canada?

In most provinces, no trade licence is required to call yourself a roofer — there is no national roofing ticket the way there is for plumbers or electricians. Quebec is the big exception: anyone doing construction work for a client there must hold a licence from the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ), and roofers specifically need subclass 7.0 (insulating, waterproofing, roofing and siding) or a general building contractor licence. Everywhere else, you still need a municipal business licence in most cities, and several provinces license prepaid or door-to-door contractors who take deposits — Alberta licenses prepaid contractors through Service Alberta, and Saskatchewan treats home renovation vendors as licensed direct sellers who must post a $25,000 bond.

How much does it cost to start a roofing business in Canada?

A lean solo start — you already own a truck, and you buy tools, ladders, safety gear, and insurance — can launch for roughly $6,000 to $15,000; once you count a work truck, the commonly cited range is roughly $15,000 to $50,000 (US figures). A full operation with a crew, leased yard, and multiple trucks runs far higher, with business-plan templates putting the range at $200,000 to $750,000 or more. Most owner-operators start lean and reinvest revenue into the second truck and the crew.

What insurance does a roofing business need?

Commercial general liability of at least $2 million is the industry standard — property managers and general contractors will ask for the certificate before you touch their buildings. Roofers are a high-risk trade for insurers, so expect premiums well above what a painter or landscaper pays; roofing business insurance commonly runs a few hundred dollars a month for a solo operator and climbs with crew size. You also need commercial vehicle insurance, and in Ontario, WSIB construction coverage is mandatory even if you work alone.

Do roofers need WSIB or workers' compensation in Canada?

In Ontario, yes — and it applies even without employees. Since January 2013, WSIB coverage has been mandatory for virtually everyone carrying on business in construction, including independent operators, sole proprietors, partners, and executive officers. Roofing falls in WSIB class G3 (foundation, structure and building exterior), rated at $3.55 per $100 of insurable earnings in 2026. There is a narrow exemption for independent operators doing only home renovation work hired directly by the occupying homeowner. Other provinces run their own boards — WorkSafeBC, WCB Alberta, and the rest — where registration is generally triggered by hiring workers.

Is roofing a seasonal business in Canada?

Largely, yes. Asphalt shingle installation needs temperatures warm enough for the shingles to seal, so most residential re-roofing runs from spring through fall, with winter work limited to emergency repairs, leak calls, and commercial jobs. Smart operators plan for it: bank cash in the busy season, sell winter services like roof snow removal, ice dam remediation, and inspections, and schedule equipment maintenance and training for the slow months. The seasonality is the main cash-flow risk of the trade — price your summer work knowing January exists.

How do roofing businesses get their first customers?

The same way every local trade gets work: be findable and be referred. A Google Business Profile with real photos of finished roofs is the cheapest lead channel there is. Then work the referral triangle — realtors who flag roof issues on listings, property managers with portfolios of aging roofs, and general contractors who sub out roofing. Storm and hail events create demand spikes; showing up fast with a written quote after a storm is how new companies build a name. Paid leads from home-service marketplaces can fill gaps but cost per job, so treat them as a supplement, not the plan.

Should I specialize in residential or commercial roofing?

Start residential. The equipment is simpler (shingles, ladders, nail guns), the sales cycle is short (one homeowner, one decision), and a two-person crew can finish a house in a day or two. Commercial flat roofing — TPO, EPDM, built-up membranes — pays more per job but needs bigger crews, hot-air welders or kettles, bonding capacity, and the ability to read commercial specs. Many successful operators start in residential replacements, then add commercial once the crew and the insurance limits can carry it.

When does a roofing business have to charge GST/HST?

Roofing is a taxable supply. 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 — which a working roofing crew can hit in a month or two. Below that you are a small supplier and registration is optional, but most operators register early so they can claim back the GST/HST on materials, fuel, insurance, and the truck.

Can I start a roofing company with no experience?

You can start the company, but you should not be the one on the roof. Roofing done badly leaks, voids manufacturer warranties, and creates liability you cannot afford. The workable version of 'no experience' is: partner with or hire an experienced roofer, spend your first seasons as the estimator, salesperson, and project manager while learning the trade on the tools, and take manufacturer certification courses (shingle makers run them) to learn proper installation. Customers are buying your warranty — make sure someone on the crew can honour it.

What equipment do I need to start roofing?

The core kit: a reliable work truck or van, extension ladders and roof brackets, roofing nail guns and an air compressor (or battery nailers), tear-off tools, magnetic sweepers, tarps, and a dump trailer or bin arrangement for old shingles. The non-negotiable part is fall protection — harnesses, ropes, anchors, and roof jacks — because falls are the trade's biggest killer and the fines for working unprotected are severe. Budget a few thousand for the hand-tool kit alone before the truck.

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