Plumbers install, repair, and maintain the water, drainage, venting, and fixture systems in homes and commercial buildings. It is a compulsory, licensed trade, and pay reflects the licence, experience, and the work, service, construction, or industrial. This guide sets out what it pays.
The official wage band
Job Bank classifies this trade under NOC 72300, Plumbers. It is a dedicated, single-occupation code, so the figures cover the trade cleanly. These are the official hourly wages in Canada, low to high, updated November 19, 2025.
| Level | Hourly |
|---|---|
| Low | $21.00 |
| Median | $34.00 |
| High | $46.00 |
At the median that is roughly $70,000 a year full-time, and top-tier and industrial plumbers run past $50 an hour and into six figures, with Ontario and the territories showing the highest bands in the country.
Reading the band
The band is wide because it spans an apprentice near the floor and a licensed journeyperson running service, construction, or industrial work at the top. Read the upper end as the licensed, Red Seal, and industrial end, where code compliance, service diagnostics, and complex rough-in are part of the job.
What lifts your pay
- A compulsory trade licence and Red Seal endorsement
- Service diagnostics and callout work, and industrial and commercial experience
- Backflow prevention certification and specialized tickets
- A gasfitter ticket, a common add-on that widens the work you can take
Reading the ranges
These bands cover NOC 72300, the plumbing trade, which is distinct from steamfitters and pipefitters and from sprinkler-system installers. Apprentices sit near the floor. Licensed journeyperson plumbers with service and industrial experience sit toward the ceiling.
Sources: Job Bank Canada wage data (NOC 72300, updated November 19, 2025) and the Red Seal program.
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