Hiring plumbers and apprentices in Canada: an owner's playbook

1. Know which role you are really hiring for

Before writing an ad, decide what the business needs. "We need a plumber" can mean several different jobs:

• A licensed service plumber who can diagnose, present options and close the sale alone.
• A new-construction or renovation plumber who works from plans with a crew.
• An apprentice who will learn under a journeyperson.
• A lead hand or service manager who coaches others.
• A customer service rep or office manager, which is sometimes the hire that frees the owner most.

Write a one-page scorecard for the role: the purpose, the three to five measurable results, and the skills and behaviours needed. For a service plumber, results might include revenue per billable hour, callback rate and review mentions. For an apprentice, they might be training milestones, attendance and safety.

A useful test: if the owner disappeared for two weeks, which missing role would hurt the most? That is often the first hire, and it isn't always a plumber.

2. Make your company worth applying to

Plumbers check employers the way homeowners check plumbers. They look at your reviews, your trucks, your website and what people say about you at the supply house. Before spending on job ads, fix what they will see:

• A careers page on your website with real photos of your team and vehicles, a plain description of a typical week, how on-call works, the tools and training you provide, and a simple way to respond by phone or text.
• Honest specifics. Hours, service area, on-call rotation and how advancement works. Vague promises about a "great culture" persuade nobody.
• Visible reputation. Your Google reviews matter to candidates too. If they mention the plumber by name, so much the better.

Our marketing strategy service and recruiting work overlap for exactly this reason: a company customers trust is easier to recruit into.

3. Recruit from more than one source

Relying on one job board makes hiring slow and expensive. Build several steady sources:

1. Referrals from your own team. Your plumbers know other plumbers. A clear referral bonus, paid after the new hire passes 90 days, keeps this source flowing.
2. Trade schools and pre-apprenticeship programs. Build relationships with instructors; they know which students show up on time.
3. Supply houses and suppliers. Counter staff hear who is unhappy where.
4. Targeted online campaigns. Short, phone-friendly ads in the areas you hire from, pointing to the careers page.
5. Former employees in good standing. People who left on good terms sometimes come back.

Track where every applicant comes from and which sources produce hires who stay. After a year you will know where to spend.

4. Screen and interview consistently

Inconsistent interviews lead to hiring whoever seemed most likeable on the day. Use the same steps and the same scorecard for every candidate:

• A short phone screen (15 minutes): availability, certification level, service area, pay expectations.
• A structured interview: the same questions for everyone, scored from 1 to 5 against the role scorecard. Ask about real situations: "Tell me about a time a customer refused the price. What did you do?"
• A practical step where it is appropriate and fair, such as a ride-along or a walk through a typical service call, so you see how the candidate talks to customers.
• References, with questions tied to the scorecard, not just "would you rehire?".

Keep notes for every candidate. Ask an HR professional about what you may and may not ask in your province, since human-rights rules apply to interviews.

Candidate information is personal information. Canada's privacy laws apply to how businesses collect and keep it, with PIPEDA covering most provinces and separate private-sector laws in Alberta, BC and Quebec. Collect only what you need and store it securely; ask a professional about your obligations.

5. Verify certification every time

Never skip this step, however good the interview was. Ask for the candidate's certificate and check it with the issuing body in that province or territory.

The Red Seal Program is the interprovincial standard of excellence for skilled trades, and the Red Seal trades list shows which trades it covers. A Red Seal endorsement tells you the person met the national standard, but provinces and territories administer certification themselves, and not every Red Seal trade is designated everywhere. Each of our province and territory pages links to the local apprenticeship and certification authority.

6. Plan the first 90 days

Many new hires decide whether to stay within their first few weeks. A written onboarding plan reduces early turnover:

• Day 1: truck, tools, uniform, phone, software logins and safety orientation ready before they arrive.
• Week 1: ride-alongs with a senior plumber, an introduction to the price book and the way your company presents options.
• Weeks 2–4: supervised calls, with a short daily debrief.
• Day 30, 60 and 90: a scheduled conversation against the role scorecard: what is going well, what needs work, what support they need.

For apprentices, add a training log and a named mentor. Apprentices who feel ignored tend to leave for a company that teaches.

7. Build a ladder people can climb

People stay where they can see a future. Write down the steps in your company, for example apprentice, journeyperson, senior service plumber, lead hand, service manager, and what someone needs to show to move up. Tie each step to skills and results, not just years served.

How pay rises with each step is your decision. Pay equity, overtime and employment standards questions belong with a qualified professional.

Common hiring mistakes

• Hiring in a panic. Desperation hires often cost more in callbacks and lost reviews than the vacancy did.
• Promoting your top plumber to manager with no training. You can lose a top producer and gain an unhappy supervisor.
• No onboarding plan. The first week sets the tone for everything after it.
• Ignoring the office. A strong customer service rep can add more booked work than another truck.
• Slow replies to applicants. A week of silence usually means a lost candidate.

Measuring whether your hiring system works

Put a few hiring numbers on your weekly or monthly scorecard: applicants per opening, cost per qualified applicant, days to hire and 90-day retention. Our owner scorecard guide shows where they fit.

If you want help building the system, our hiring and team structure service covers role scorecards, careers pages, campaigns and onboarding. To talk through your next hire, call, text or email.