How to start a carpentry and joinery business
Becoming a self-employed carpenter-joiner in Quebec takes more than talent: it's a regulated construction trade, with precise obligations before you can drive the first nail. Here are the steps to start a carpentry and joinery business, from the legal framework to finding your first clients.
Before marketing, you have to lay the legal foundations: carpentry and joinery is a regulated construction trade in Quebec. We'll first look at the framework and the steps, then how to land clients once you're compliant.
The trade and its framework
Carpentry and joinery is a construction trade, therefore regulated in Quebec. Concretely, to operate a business that carries out construction work, you need a licence from the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ). And to work yourself as a carpenter-joiner on a covered site, you need a competency certificate from the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ).
Good news for some projects: outside the construction sector (for example in a workshop, for cabinetmaking or furniture not tied to a construction site), practising the trade isn't regulated in the same way. But as soon as you touch construction and renovation for clients, the RBQ and CCQ framework applies. You therefore have to master it before getting started.
Registering your business
The first concrete step is to give your business a legal existence: choosing a legal form (self-employed worker, corporation, etc.) and registering it with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec, which gives you a business number (NEQ). It's the administrative starting point, and a prerequisite for the RBQ licence application.
It's also the time to think about tax aspects (registering for sales taxes if required) and the structure that suits you. An accountant can help you choose the most advantageous legal form for your situation. A solid administrative base saves you complications later.
The RBQ licence
To carry out or have construction work carried out, your business must hold an RBQ contractor's licence. Obtaining it involves several steps: the business's eligibility (via its registration), choosing the licence subcategories matching your work, a background check, and the assessment of professional competencies (a designated officer must pass the RBQ exams, or have equivalent training or experience recognized).
The RBQ assesses areas such as administrative management, construction site safety management, project management and carrying out the work. Add to this a mandatory licence surety bond, a kind of guarantee required to obtain the licence. It's a serious step, but an essential one: without a valid licence, you can't legally operate as a construction contractor.
The CCQ competency card
Distinct from the RBQ licence (which concerns the business), the CCQ competency card or certificate concerns the worker. If you plan to carry out the carpenter-joiner trade yourself on a site covered by the act respecting the construction industry (Act R-20), you must hold the appropriate competency certificate (apprentice or journeyman), issued by the CCQ.
This certificate attests that you have the training (often a DVS in carpentry-joinery) or the required experience. Note: the carpenter trade is covered by the Red Seal program, which facilitates labour mobility across Canada after passing an interprovincial exam. RBQ licence for the business, CCQ certificate for site work: these are two distinct requirements not to be confused.
Insurance and obligations
Beyond licences, a construction business has other obligations: suitable insurance (liability, notably), registration with the CNESST for coverage in case of a workplace accident, and compliance with construction site safety standards. These elements protect your business, your workers and your clients.
Also don't neglect the surety bonds sometimes required by clients, especially in the public sector. Surrounding yourself well (accountant, insurer, advisors) helps you start on solid, compliant foundations. A compliant business inspires trust and avoids costly problems later.
The RBQ licence concerns the business (to carry out construction work); the CCQ competency certificate concerns the worker (to practise the trade on a covered site). The two are distinct. Outside the construction sector, the trade isn't regulated in the same way.
Finding clients
Once you're compliant, the challenge becomes commercial: landing contracts. Your clients (individuals, general contractors, managers) increasingly search for you online: “carpenter-joiner + city,” “renovation + area.” Appearing at the top of these searches, with a clear site and a complete Google Business Profile (services, area, project photos, reviews), puts you in front of clients at the right moment.
Since the trade is very visual, show your work (before-and-after, carpentry and joinery projects) and collect reviews after every successful job: that's what inspires trust and generates quote requests. That's exactly what we do at Ton Consultant: we make you visible to searching clients, and we showcase your work to turn that visibility into contracts. Once your legal foundations are in place, your know-how deserves to be seen.
The legal steps launch your business; it's visibility that keeps it alive. When your future clients search for your service on Google, that's where everything is decided. We're an agency 100 % focused on SEO: we help you show up at the right moment, in front of the right people, in your region.