Ontario charges 13 percent HST, pays a minimum wage of $17.60 an hour (rising to $17.95 on 1 October 2026), and gives you 60 days to register a builders lien, with a 10 percent holdback at every tier. Prompt payment is in force, your workers comp board is the WSIB, and the small claims limit is $50,000. Ontario has no general contractor licence for ordinary renovation, but it has the largest compulsory-trades list in Canada and a separate new-home builder regime. This guide is the one-page summary; each topic links to a fuller guide.
Sales tax
Ontario uses the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) at 13 percent, which folds the 5 percent federal GST and an 8 percent provincial portion into one tax administered by the CRA. You register once for GST/HST and charge 13 percent. Because it is a value-added tax, you claim input tax credits on the HST you pay on materials, tools and fuel, so the net cost to your registered business is only the tax on your own value added, not on your inputs.
Minimum wage
The general minimum wage is $17.60 an hour and steps up to $17.95 on 1 October 2026, the date Ontario reviews the rate each year. This is the floor for any employee you put on the books. It does not bind you as a sole proprietor pricing your own labour, but the moment you hire, even casually, it applies.
Builders lien and holdback
Ontario's Construction Act gives a lien claimant 60 days from the relevant trigger (such as the date of last supply or substantial performance) to preserve a lien by registering it on title, then a further 90 days to perfect it by starting a court action, a 150-day total runway. The statutory holdback is 10 percent, held back at every level of the payment chain. As of 1 January 2026, Ontario also requires annual release of accumulated holdback on longer projects, which most other provinces do not.
Prompt payment
Prompt payment is in force in Ontario and is the model the rest of the country copied. The owner must pay a proper invoice within 28 days, a contractor must pay subcontractors within 7 days of being paid, and disputes go to statutory adjudication, an interim-binding decision delivered fast, with the amount payable within 10 days.
Workers comp
Your board is the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). The 2026 average premium is about $1.23 per $100 of insurable earnings, with insurable earnings capped at $121,700. That $1.23 is the all-industry average: your actual construction class rate will be higher or lower, so check your specific rate group with the WSIB rather than relying on the average.
Licensing
There is no provincial licence for ordinary renovation, but three things bite. New-home builders must be licensed by the Home Construction Regulatory Authority and enrol projects with Tarion. The City of Toronto requires a Building Renovator licence to pull renovation permits in Toronto, a municipal rule that does not apply elsewhere in the province. And Ontario has 23 compulsory trades, the most in the country, so the electrician or plumber on your job needs a Certificate of Qualification (see Working in Alberta for how other provinces compare).
Small claims and quirks
The Small Claims Court limit rose to $50,000 on 1 October 2025, up from $35,000. Two Ontario quirks worth knowing: the new annual holdback release rules on long projects change cash-flow planning, and the Toronto renovator licence is a genuine trap for tradespeople who assume provincial certification is enough to work in the city.
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