Also known as
- Apprentice Bricklayer
- Brickmason
- Refractory Bricklayer
- Stonecutter
- Stonemason
Your duties | Work conditions | Essential Skills | Apprenticeship | Certification | Where to study | Salary ranges | Building your career | Job prospects
Do you like working with your hands? Are you physically fit? Could you work with precision tools? Do you have an eye for line, colour and proportion? Do you enjoy travel? Are you creative? Then Bricklayer could be the career for you!
What the work is like
Bricklayers lay bricks, concrete blocks, stone and other similar materials to construct or repair walls, arches, chimneys, fireplaces and other structures in accordance with blueprints and specifications. You could be installing firebrick in commercial and industrial furnaces and incinerators. You could also be working with acid tile and acid brick in pulp mills.
Construction companies and bricklaying contractors employ bricklayers, or they may be self-employed.
Bricklayers work in the New Home Building and Renovation, Heavy Industrial, and Institutional and Commercial Construction sectors. To learn more about the construction sectors, check out Inside the industry.
Your duties
As a Bricklayer, your duties may include the following:
- laying bricks, stone or similar materials to build residential/commercial chimneys and fireplaces, patios, walls or walkways
- laying firebricks to line industrial chimneys and smokestacks
- cutting and trimming bricks using hand and power tools
- lining or relining furnaces and boilers using acid-resistant bricks
- restoring, cleaning or painting existing brick structures
- reading and interpreting sketches and blueprints
Work conditions
The standard work week for bricklayers is 40 hours (8 hours a day, 5 days a week). As with many careers in construction, there are peak periods that will require you to work overtime. The number of additional hours you work each week depends on the construction sector and region you work in, and will vary from one job to the next.
As a Bricklayer, you will usually work outdoors, often on scaffolding. Bricklayers sometimes use protective enclosures and portable heaters in adverse weather conditions. Your work will be physically demanding, and you may be required to travel to various work sites. On many jobs you will work closely with other construction professionals as part of a team.
As with all careers in the construction industry, safety is the top priority. Bricklayers are trained to work safely and wear special equipment to protect themselves from injury.
Essential Skills
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) has identified nine Essential Skills that are necessary to succeed in the workplace. These skills provide the foundation for learning all other skills and apply to most construction careers. Best of all, you can learn and improve on these skills in school, on the job and during your everyday life.
The most important Essential Skills for bricklayers are the following:
- Document Use – reading and interpreting documents to extract information
- Numeracy – working with numbers to perform calculations
- Problem Solving – coming up with solutions to challenges
- Job Task Planning and Organizing – working independently to plan and organize daily tasks
Click here to see how these skills are applied on the job. You can also click here to learn more about Essential Skills.
To work in homes or businesses you must also be neat, friendly and courteous.
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is one way of starting out in the construction industry. It involves both classroom studies and on-the-job training under the supervision of a certified Bricklayer, called a journeyperson.
As an apprentice, you earn while you learn and are paid by the hour while working on the job site. Wages start at about 50% of a journeyperson’s hourly rate and increase during your apprenticeship until you reach the full rate.
Entering an apprenticeship program
Requirements for bricklaying apprenticeship programs vary across Canada. Generally, you must be at least 16 years of age and have a Grade 10 education. You may find it beneficial to have courses in English and math.
Some provinces and territories offer secondary school apprenticeship programs that allow high school students to work towards a career as a Bricklayer.
For more information, check out the Apprenticeship section.
Program length
Apprenticeship training programs for bricklayers vary across Canada, but generally involve three 12-month periods, including at least 1,600 hours of on-the-job training, three eight-week blocks of technical training and a final certificate exam.
Related work experience or completion of a bricklaying program at a college or technical institute can reduce the time required to complete your apprenticeship.
Certification
Certification is required in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec, and is available but voluntary in all other provinces and the Yukon. Where certification is not available, it may be possible to study as an apprentice through your local labour organization. Check out Related links to find out who to contact. Even where certification is voluntary it is still recommended. Certification tells employers and other workers that you are a skilled professional. It also helps you get jobs.
To be certified as a Bricklayer, you usually need to complete a three- to four-year apprenticeship program. Once you successfully complete the required on-the-job training, technical training and exams, you are awarded a journeyperson certificate.
You may be eligible for certification in some provinces and territories if you have more than four years of on-the-job experience and some high school, college or industry courses in bricklaying.
As a certified Bricklayer, you may attempt the Interprovincial Exam to qualify for the Interprovincial Standards’ Red Seal. With a Red Seal, you can work as a Bricklayer anywhere in Canada.
To keep your skills current, you have to keep up with new technological developments by reading and talking with other bricklayers.
Where to study in Canada
In addition to the Canadian schools listed below, many employer and labour organizations offer training. For more information, check out Related links.
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Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick |
Newfoundland and Labrador Ontario Saskatchewan |
Speciality programs
In addition to the schools listed above, new Canadians and women can enrol in one of the following specialty programs:
For new Canadians with experience as bricklayers, NorQuest College offers a program called Transitions to Technical and Trades Careers.
Lambton College and Conestoga College offer an integrated program for women called Women in the Trades.
Salary ranges
Bricklayer hourly wages vary depending on the contract, the company, collective agreements, and local and national economic conditions. Typical hourly wage ranges for bricklayers (based on national or regional averages) are as follows:
Junior apprentices
| Region | Typical hourly rate |
|
National average |
$15-$22 |
Based on national averages, junior apprentices can earn annual salaries ranging from $31,000 to $48,000 per year, not including overtime.
Journeypersons
| Region | Typical hourly rate |
|
National average |
$19-$26 |
Based on national averages, journeypersons can earn annual salaries ranging from $40,000 to $54,000 per year, not including overtime.
Highly experienced journeypersons
| Region | Typical hourly rate |
|
National average |
$26-$35 |
Based on national averages, highly experienced journeypersons can earn annual salaries ranging from $54,000 to $73,000 per year, not including overtime.
Construction work can involve overtime, so your total annual salary will vary depending on the number of overtime hours you work.
In addition to the hourly rate, many construction workers receive statutory holiday and vacation pay. Depending on the contract, you may also receive benefits such as group insurance for health, dental, and vision care, as well as retirement packages and training benefits up to 30% of your hourly rate. If you are self-employed, it is up to you to arrange your own benefits.
Building your career
With experience and additional training you can progress to more senior positions such as foreman, bricklaying estimator or inspector. You can also become self-employed and start your own contracting business.
As with most careers in the construction industry, your skills are portable. If you want to move, you can take your skills with you.
Job prospects
Construction careers across Canada are booming! To learn about the forecast for bricklayers, check out Job prospects. There you’ll find information on their expected demand by province for the next nine years.
The Construction Sector Council accepts no responsibility or liability connected with the use or reproduction of the information contained on this website. It is provided “as is” and is intended for informational use only without warranty, express or implied.
