A millwright gives notice two weeks before a shutdown, and the fastest option looks like calling a trades recruitment agency. On a permanent placement, that call can cost your company a five-figure fee. Before you sign a fee agreement, it helps to know what agencies charge, which hires they are actually good at, and which roles your team can fill directly for a fraction of the cost.
This guide sets the two models side by side using real fee structures, provincial licensing rules and program names, so you can decide role by role.
Key facts for trades employers
- Contingency placement fees for permanent hires are commonly quoted at 15 to 25 percent of first-year base salary. Always get the exact rate and guarantee terms in writing.
- Posting on the Government of Canada Job Bank is free. Trades-focused boards typically charge a flat fee per posting or package, whatever the salary.
- An agency's pre-screening does not replace your own credential check. Most trade certificates can be verified with the provincial authority that issued them.
- Hiring from abroad usually means a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). ESDC charges a $1,000 processing fee per position requested, and the approval timeline is outside your control.
- Set a written escalation trigger, for example 21 days open, before your team calls an agency.
What a Trades Recruitment Agency in Canada Charges and Delivers
Who you would be calling
The national generalists, including Randstad, Adecco and Hays, all run construction, industrial or skilled-trades practices. There are also trades and technical specialists such as Design Group Staffing, plus many regional firms that serve one province or one sector, like oil sands maintenance in Alberta or ICI construction in the Greater Toronto Area. The regional firms often have deeper benches in a single trade, as this skilled trades recruiters comparison explains. The nationals are stronger when you need to fill positions in several provinces at once.
The three fee models
- Contingency (permanent placement): You pay only when a candidate starts. The fee is a percentage of first-year base salary, commonly 15 to 25 percent. Senior or scarce roles sit at the top of that range.
- Retained search: Part of the fee is paid up front and the rest on milestones. This model is usually reserved for superintendents, project managers and other senior hires.
- Temporary or contract staffing: The agency is the employer of record and bills you an hourly rate above the worker's wage, as covered in skilled trades staffing agency hiring. The markup covers CPP and EI remittances, workers' compensation premiums (WSIB in Ontario, WCB in most other provinces, CNESST in Quebec), vacation pay and the agency margin. Ask whether there is a conversion fee to hire the worker permanently, and when it drops to zero.
The guarantee is part of the price
Most contingency agreements include a replacement guarantee, commonly 90 days, that covers a hire who quits or is let go. Read the fine print. Is it a refund or a free replacement? Is it void if you pay late? Does it apply if the person leaves because the project ended?
Posting In-House: What It Costs and What Your Team Takes On
Your channel options
- Job Bank (jobbank.gc.ca): Free to post. It is also the advertising venue ESDC expects to see if you ever apply for an LMIA.
- General boards such as Indeed: Free organic listings are available, but visibility generally depends on sponsored, pay-per-click spend. Expect a high volume of applicants who do not hold the ticket you asked for.
- Trades-focused boards: A flat fee per posting or package, aimed at an audience that is already in the trades.
- Your own careers page: Large general contractors such as PCL, EllisDon and Aecon run their own careers sites and in-house recruiting teams. Smaller contractors can get similar reach by syndicating postings to the boards above.
Write a posting tradespeople will answer
Use the exact trade name and, where it applies, the provincial trade code. In Ontario, for example, 309A is the construction and maintenance electrician and 313A is the refrigeration and air conditioning systems mechanic. Then list:
- Certification level: journeyperson, Red Seal, or apprentice with a stated period or hours.
- Tickets needed on day one: Working at Heights, WHMIS, H2S Alive, CSTS-2020, fall protection, first aid.
- Sector and site type: residential, ICI or industrial, and whether it is new build or service.
- Pay range, overtime rules, union or non-union status, and any living-out allowance or camp rotation.
- Tools and vehicle: company truck, tool allowance, fuel card.
The internal workload
The real cost of posting in-house is time. Someone has to screen applicants, check tickets, schedule interviews and reply within 24 to 48 hours. When your foreman is also the hiring manager, those hours come out of site supervision, so count them.
Running the Cost-Per-Hire Math
An illustrative example
The figures below are illustrative. Replace them with your own.
Say you are hiring an industrial electrician at $85,000 base salary (see Red Seal electrician salary data).
- Agency at 20 percent: $17,000, due on the start date.
- Direct posting: One trades board posting plus a free Job Bank listing, plus about 10 internal hours of screening and interviews at your supervisor's loaded hourly cost.
Unless the posting runs for months with no qualified applicants, the direct route comes out far cheaper. The agency fee also scales with salary. A 20 percent fee on a $120,000 superintendent is $24,000.
Where the math flips
Add the daily cost of the vacancy: overtime paid to cover the gap, liquidated damages on a late project, or a service contract you cannot staff. If an empty role is costing your company more per week than the agency fee divided by the weeks an agency would save, the agency is the better buy for that role.
Check wages before you set pay
Postings with pay below market stall, and then the agency looks like the fix. Before you post, look up the prevailing wage on Job Bank's wage pages by NOC code and region. Relevant codes include 72200 (electricians), 72300 (plumbers), 72106 (welders), 72310 (carpenters), 72402 (HVAC and refrigeration mechanics), 72400 (construction millwrights and industrial mechanics) and 73400 (heavy equipment operators). If you apply for an LMIA, your offer will be measured against these figures.
Candidate Quality Starts With Provincial Credentials
An agency shortlist is only as good as the credentials behind it, and the rules change at the provincial border.
Ontario
Skilled Trades Ontario, which replaced the Ontario College of Trades in 2022, issues certificates of qualification and keeps a public register. Electrician 309A and several other trades are compulsory, so only certified journeypersons or registered apprentices can do the work. Gas technicians hold G1, G2 or G3 certificates regulated by TSSA. Mobile crane operators need 339A or 339C.
Quebec
On construction sites covered by the R-20 Act, workers need a competency certificate from the Commission de la construction du Quebec (CCQ). Contractors need a licence from the Regie du batiment du Quebec (RBQ). A Red Seal from another province does not automatically let someone work a Quebec construction site, so check CCQ status before you make an offer.
Alberta and British Columbia
In Alberta, trade certification is issued under the province's apprenticeship and skilled trades system. Industrial and oil and gas sites often also require CSTS-2020 and H2S Alive. Pressure welders need an Alberta B pressure welder certificate along with procedure-specific tests. In BC, SkilledTradesBC administers skilled trades certification, and certification or registered apprenticeship is now required for electricians and several mechanical trades. Welders across Canada are also commonly tested to Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) standards.
Verify it yourself either way
Whether the candidate came from an agency or your own posting, confirm the certificate number with the issuing authority and ask for the ticket cards. Agencies differ widely in how deeply they screen. Your safety program and your insurer will hold your company responsible, not the recruiter.
International Hiring: Programs to Know Before You Call Anyone
This section is orientation, not immigration advice. Program rules and draw categories change often, so confirm details on canada.ca and with a licensed immigration professional (an RCIC or a lawyer).
Federal pathways
- Express Entry trade occupations category: Since 2023, IRCC has run category-based draws that have included trade occupations. When a category is active, it can speed up permanent residence for candidates with qualifying trade experience.
- Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP): Candidates generally need a qualifying job offer or a certificate of qualification from a provincial or territorial authority.
- Community-based pilots: IRCC has run regional pilots, including the Rural Community Immigration Pilot and the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot, and the Atlantic Immigration Program is permanent. Some of these let designated employers in participating communities support candidates in trades occupations. Check which communities and occupations currently qualify.
LMIA and provincial streams
Most employer-driven work permits need an LMIA from ESDC, which includes the $1,000-per-position fee, proof of recruitment efforts in Canada and a wage at or above the prevailing rate. Provincial nominee streams add more options, such as the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program's Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream. Whatever the pathway, the candidate still has to meet provincial trade certification rules to work.
When a specialist earns the fee
International hiring is where paying a specialist most clearly makes sense. You need a recruiter who can source abroad, an authorized immigration representative who can file correctly, and a realistic plan for the months before the worker arrives. Ask any agency that offers international trades hiring which licensed representative handles the immigration filings.
Where SkilledTradeJobs.ca Fits
SkilledTradeJobs.ca is the Canada-focused option for employers who want to reach electricians, plumbers, welders, carpenters, HVAC technicians, millwrights, heavy equipment operators and apprentices directly. Because the audience is trades-only, you get fewer off-target applicants than on a general board. Because you pay per posting rather than per hire, you owe no percentage of salary when the person starts. It will not cold-call passive candidates or run a retained search, so keep an agency for those jobs. Pricing and posting options are listed on the SkilledTradeJobs.ca employers page.
A Hybrid Playbook With Hard Triggers
Days 0 to 14: post direct
Publish the role on a trades board and on Job Bank at the same time, with pay, tickets, trade code and site details. Reply to every qualified applicant within 48 hours.
Day 14: check the numbers
Count the qualified applicants, meaning people who hold the required certificate and tickets. If you have three or more, keep interviewing. If you have fewer, rewrite the posting. Check pay against the Job Bank wage data for the NOC code, then add details such as overtime, the truck and the rotation.
Day 21: escalate one role, not the whole team
If the role is still open at 21 days and the vacancy cost is rising, engage an agency for that position only. Name the candidates who already applied directly so there is no fee dispute over the same person. For shutdown or project-critical roles, shorten the trigger to 7 to 10 days.
Every quarter: track by channel
For each hire, record the source, total cost, days to fill and whether the person was still on the payroll at 90 days and at one year. After two or three quarters, your own data will show which trades need agency help and which never did.
FAQ
What does a trades recruitment agency in Canada typically charge?
Permanent placements are usually priced on contingency at a percentage of first-year base salary, commonly quoted at 15 to 25 percent. Temporary staffing is billed as an hourly markup over the worker's wage. Get the rate, the guarantee period and any conversion fees in writing.
Is Job Bank enough on its own?
It is free and required evidence for an LMIA, but many employers pair it with a trades-focused board to reach more certified candidates. Use both from day one instead of adding channels after the role stalls.
Can an agency place a Red Seal electrician from another province on a Quebec site?
Not automatically. Construction work covered by the R-20 Act in Quebec requires a CCQ competency certificate, so confirm the worker's CCQ status before the start date.
Does an agency handle immigration paperwork?
Only authorized representatives, meaning licensed immigration consultants (RCICs) or lawyers, can represent applicants for a fee. Some agencies partner with one. Ask who files and confirm their licence.
How do I avoid paying an agency for a candidate who already applied to us?
Keep a dated record of direct applicants and send the agency that list when you engage it. Most fee agreements pay only for candidates the agency introduced first.
Put Agency Fees Where They Earn Their Keep
Agencies are worth their fee for shutdown-critical vacancies, senior roles and international hiring. For most journeyperson and apprentice roles, posting direct with clear tickets, a trade code and a market wage fills the position for much less. Looking to hire? Visit the SkilledTradeJobs.ca employers page to see pricing, post a role, and reach qualified candidates from our network.