2026 CCQ hourly rates: wages by trade and the real cost of an hour of labour
2026 CCQ wages by trade in the institutional-commercial sector, the April 26, 2026 increase, and the employer's real hourly cost, including truck and tools.
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- Allokit
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Since April 26, 2026, construction wage rates have risen 5% in the institutional-commercial, industrial, civil engineering and roadwork, and heavy residential sectors, and 5.5% in light residential. A journeyman carpenter-joiner in the institutional-commercial sector now earns $50.16 an hour. For the employer, that hour costs $84.64, and more than $100 with the truck and tools.
This guide lists the rates by trade, then what an hour of work really costs. That second number is the one that matters when you prepare a bid, or when you wonder what an hour spent looking for a tool costs.
The 2026 increase at a glance
The 2025-2029 construction industry collective agreements provide for annual increases. The 2026 increase took effect on April 26, 2026:
| Sector | Increase on April 26, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Institutional-commercial | 5% |
| Industrial | 5% |
| Civil engineering and roadwork | 5% |
| Heavy residential | 5% |
| Light residential | 5.5% |
The new trade and occupation codes and their rates apply from the May 2026 monthly report. Source: CCQ, collective agreements. For a specific trade and sector, the CCQ's wages and rates tool remains the reference.
Wage rates and hourly cost by trade in 2026
The table below uses the suggested hourly rate grid from the Association de la construction du Québec for the institutional-commercial sector, journeyman rates, as of April 26, 2026.
- Wage rate: what the collective agreement provides per hour.
- Labour cost: the rate, plus the 13% vacation and holiday pay, employer contributions (EI, QPIP, QPP, HSF, CCQ, CNESST) and benefits.
- With truck and tools: the labour cost, plus $14.55 an hour for the truck and $1.68 an hour for tools, per the grid.
| Trade (journeyman) | Wage rate | Labour cost | With truck and tools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bricklayer-mason | $49.57 | $84.60 | $100.83 |
| Tile setter | $50.12 | $84.58 | $100.81 |
| Carpenter-joiner | $50.16 | $84.64 | $100.87 |
| Cement finisher | $48.55 | $82.91 | $99.14 |
| Roofer | $51.20 | $87.82 | $104.05 |
| Electrician | $50.79 | $86.02 | $102.25 |
| Tinsmith | $50.79 | $85.12 | $101.35 |
| Refrigeration mechanic | $50.79 | $83.97 | $100.20 |
| Crane operator, class A | $50.79 | $83.77 | $100.00 |
| Labourer (general) | $40.19 | $70.05 | $86.28 |
| Millwright | $50.79 | $84.03 | $100.26 |
| Heavy equipment operator, class A | $46.69 | $78.66 | $94.89 |
| Painter | $47.39 | $80.26 | $96.49 |
| Plasterer | $48.26 | $81.80 | $98.03 |
| Interior systems installer | $50.16 | $85.14 | $101.37 |
| Welder | $47.40 | $79.05 | $95.28 |
| Pipefitter | $50.79 | $84.40 | $100.63 |
According to the ACQ, these costs are based on a normal 40-hour week. They exclude premiums, room and board, travel time, travel expenses provided for in the agreements, overhead and profit. Rates in the industrial, civil engineering and residential sectors differ: use the grid for your sector.
What about 2027?
The 2025-2029 collective agreements provide for a new increase every spring. For 2027, the agreement provides a 3% increase plus a 2% inflation adjustment. The CCQ will publish the exact rates when they take effect, and we will update this guide then.
To plan the year, also note the 2027 construction holiday dates: July 25 to August 7, 2027.
What a lost hour on a jobsite is worth
The employer's hourly cost is used to build bids. It is also a way to measure what unproductive hours cost.
Take a hypothetical example. A carpenter-joiner spends 10 minutes a day looking for a tool, waiting for someone to bring it, or walking back to the truck. At $84.64 an hour, 10 minutes cost about $14.11. Over 232 working days, the 1,856 hours the ACQ uses for the truck, that comes to about $3,273 a year, for one person. With a crew of eight, it passes $26,000.
This calculation is an illustration, not a measurement of your company. It still shows one thing: at more than $80 an hour, a few minutes lost every day weigh more than the price of many tools.
The causes are usually the same: nobody knows which truck has the saw, the tool stayed on the other site, or it is out for repair and nobody wrote it down. Our article on costly equipment management mistakes covers them in detail, and the one on reducing equipment costs offers methods.
Measure before you fix
Before buying anything, measure. For two weeks, ask a foreman to note every tool search that takes more than five minutes: which tool, how long, where it was. Then multiply by the hourly cost in the table.
If the total justifies action, an inventory where each tool has an owner and a location is often the first step. Allokit tracks tools, machinery and vehicles with QR codes, Bluetooth trackers or GPS, depending on the asset. Let's talk about your jobsites.
