Entry-level bodyshop technician positions in Canada are now paying up to C$40 an hour due to severe skilled labour shortages, with particularly high wages in the Greater Toronto Area and Vancouver region. This wage surge reflects a broader industry trend where collision repair shops are struggling to retain and recruit qualified technicians.
- Entry-level bodyshop technician wages in Canada now reach C$40 per hour (approximately C$83,200 annually) in high-demand markets like Toronto and Vancouver.
- The national median wage for auto body repairers is C$27 per hour (C$56,200 annually), with a high of C$40, according to Federal Job Bank data updated in November 2025.
- 65% of mechanical and collision repair shops experienced increased technician turnover in 2022, with 46% of departing technicians moving to higher-paying jobs.
- 70% of shops surveyed by the Automotive Trades Association of Manitoba would hire more staff if available, with 75% prioritizing journeyman body technicians.
- Global labour shortages are similar, with U.S. median pay at US$54,890 and U.K. body repair technician postings rising 83% year-over-year.
Entry-level wages for collision industry professionals are crossing a major threshold in some Canadian markets.
In some regions, bodyshops are advertising technician jobs at up to C$40 an hour (about C$83,200 a year) as skilled-worker shortages put pressure on collision repair labour markets. This is especially true in and around the Greater Toronto Area and near Vancouver.
Federal Job Bank listings include C$32 to C$40 an hour (about C$66,600 to C$83,200 a year) at Port Moody Collision in B.C., C$38.50 an hour (about C$80,100 a year) at Premiere Collision in Surrey, B.C., and C$21 to C$40 an hour (about C$43,700 to C$83,200 a year) at YST Auto Body in Mississauga, Ont.
Federal Job Bank wage data, updated in November 2025 using Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey figures for 2023 and 2024, put the national median for auto body repairers at C$27 an hour (about C$56,200 a year) and the high at C$40.
The figures are broadly reflective of a trend the industry has been watching closely over the past few years. In the AIA Canada's 2023 Labour Market Research Report, Phase 2 found 65% of mechanical and collision repair shops experienced increased technician turnover in 2022. Last month, the association reported that 46% of technicians who left had gone to higher-paying jobs.
The Automotive Trades Association of Manitoba's 2025 Industry Survey found 70% of responding shops would hire more staff if they could find them. Among shops identifying positions they would fill immediately, 75% selected journeyman body technicians.
Similar pressures are affecting other collision markets. In fact, in most of Canada's peer nations, wages are higher.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for May 2025 put median annual pay for automotive body and related repairers at US$54,890 (about C$75,000). The highest-paid 10% earned more than US$87,940 (about C$120,000). BLS projects about 13,900 openings a year for automotive body and glass repairers from 2025 to 2035, largely to replace workers who change occupations or leave the workforce.
The U.K.'s Institute of the Motor Industry reported in its July 2026 Vacancy Tracker that body repair technician postings had risen 83% in a year and more than doubled since July 2024. Postings seeking electric vehicle experience rose 131%.
An earlier IMI labour-market report, published in March 2026, put U.K. automotive vacancies at about 16,000 and found advertised salaries for vehicle paint technicians had risen 28% in two years.
Jobs and Skills Australia's occupation data put median panelbeater earnings at A$49 an hour (about C$44 an hour), equivalent to about A$101,900 a year (C$91,000), compared with A$47 an hour (about C$42) across all Australian occupations. The agency counts about 11,400 panelbeaters in Australia.
New Zealand has turned to immigration policy. According to Immigration New Zealand, panel beaters and vehicle painters joined the country's Green List Work to Residence pathway in August 2025. From March 9, 2026, qualifying work in those occupations must pay at least NZ$40.25 an hour (about C$32.50), equivalent to about NZ$83,700 a year (C$67,600). The threshold is 15% above New Zealand's NZ$35 median hourly wage.
