Skilled Trades & Labour

Canadian Resume Example for General Labourers

Foremen hire labourers who show up, work safe and do not need to be told twice. Your resume proves that with tickets, tools and a reliable work record.

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Updated 2026-09-27

What does a general labourer resume need in Canada?

A general labourer resume for a Canadian employer should fit on 1 page. Open with a short summary, then put WHMIS near the top, along with Working at Heights or your province's fall protection training. Follow with your work experience, newest first, with numbers wherever you have them. Use the job posting's own words for your skills, and list the ones it asks for first. Leave out your photo, date of birth, marital status and SIN.

• Length: 1 page
• Put first: Safety tickets
• Layout: Single column
• File type: PDF

A sample general labourer resume

A sample general labourer resume in Canadian format. The person and employers are made up.

Marcus Brown
Toronto, ON · (647) 555-0174 · marcus.brown@email.com
G licence, own boots and hand tools

Summary

General labourer with 5 years on residential and commercial construction sites in the Greater Toronto Area. Holds Working at Heights, WHMIS and First Aid, comfortable with power tools, concrete prep, demolition and site cleanup, and has missed 2 shifts in 3 years. Own boots, tools and a G licence.

Experience

General Labourer, Northfield Homes, Vaughan, ON, Apr 2022 to Present

• Supported a crew of 8 on 12 residential builds, handling material, cleanup and concrete prep with zero lost-time incidents
• Cleared and sorted demolition debris into recycling streams, cutting disposal bin costs on the job by about 15%
• Missed 2 shifts in 3 years and was the first labourer called back each season

Labourer, Landscaping and Road Crew, Greenline Landscaping, Toronto, ON, Apr 2021 to Mar 2022

• Ran a skid steer for grading and material moves, saving the crew about 2 hours a day on a landscaping contract
• Set up and held traffic control on 30+ road-side jobs, keeping crews and the public safe

Certifications

• Working at Heights, 2025
• WHMIS
• Standard First Aid and CPR

Education

Ontario Secondary School Diploma

How to write a general labourer resume in Canada

General labourer jobs cover a lot of ground in Canada: construction sites, landscaping crews, recycling plants, moving companies, lumber yards and warehouses. Whoever is hiring, the questions are the same. Can you do physical work all day, do you work safely, and will you be there at 6:30 tomorrow morning? A short, clear resume that answers those three questions beats a long one every time.

Safety tickets are the fastest way to stand out. WHMIS is expected everywhere. Ontario construction sites need Working at Heights, which has to be refreshed every three years. Alberta and BC sites often ask for CSTS 2020. Fall protection, confined space awareness, traffic control and First Aid all add to your value. List each ticket with the year you got it, and put them near the top.

Then show the work: the kind of sites or plants, the tools and equipment you have used, how much you can lift, and any results you can point to, such as crews you helped finish early or a clean safety record. If you have your own steel-toe boots, a valid driver's licence or your own vehicle, say so. For early starts and sites outside town, those details decide who gets the call.

The layout rules that apply to every job are in our Canadian resume format guide. If you would rather start from a blank page that already follows them, use a free Canadian resume template.

General Labourer professional summary examples

Your summary is the first thing a recruiter reads. Pick the one closest to your own background and change every detail so it describes you.

• General labourer with 5 years on residential and commercial construction sites in the Greater Toronto Area. Holds Working at Heights, WHMIS and First Aid, comfortable with power tools, concrete prep, demolition and site cleanup, and has missed 2 shifts in 3 years. Own boots, tools and a G licence.
• Hardworking labourer with 3 years at a lumber yard and a recycling plant in Kelowna, loading trucks, sorting material and running a skid steer. CSTS 2020 and WHMIS certified, used to lifting 23 kg all day in all weather. Looking for full-time work with overtime.
• Reliable entry-level labourer looking for a first job on a construction or landscaping crew. Fit, punctual and eager to learn, with WHMIS and Working at Heights completed and experience helping with renovations and yard work. Available for early starts and weekends in Hamilton.

Skills to put on a general labourer resume

List the hard skills first, because they are what screening software and hiring managers search for. Keep soft skills to the ones a bullet point further down can back up.

Hard skills

• Hand and power tools
• Site cleanup and material handling
• Demolition and debris removal
• Concrete prep and pouring support
• Loading and unloading trucks
• Skid steer or loader operation
• Reading basic measurements and plans
• Landscaping and grading
• Traffic control and flagging
• Lifting 23 kg (50 lb) regularly

Soft skills

• Reliability
• Physical stamina
• Safety awareness
• Following directions
• Teamwork
• Punctuality

Words to mirror from the job posting

Employers and their screening software look for the words they used in the ad. When one of these appears in a posting and it is true for you, use the same wording on your resume.

• general labourer
• construction labourer
• WHMIS
• Working at Heights
• material handling
• power tools
• site cleanup
• safety

Work experience bullet examples

Each one starts with what you did and ends with a result. Keep the shape and put your own numbers in.

1. Supported a crew of 8 on 12 residential builds, handling material, cleanup and concrete prep with zero lost-time incidents
2. Loaded and unloaded 20+ trucks a day at a lumber yard, checking each order against the packing slip
3. Ran a skid steer for grading and material moves, saving the crew about 2 hours a day on a landscaping contract
4. Cleared and sorted demolition debris into recycling streams, cutting disposal bin costs on the job by about 15%
5. Set up and held traffic control on 30+ road-side jobs, keeping crews and the public safe
6. Missed 2 shifts in 3 years and was the first labourer called back each season
7. Kept tools and equipment clean, counted and ready at the end of each day

Certifications and licences that help

Write each one out in full with the issuing body and the date. An employer should never have to guess what an acronym means or whether it has expired.

• WHMIS: Required on almost every site and plant in Canada. Give the year you completed it.
• Working at Heights (Ontario): Needed for Ontario construction sites where you could fall. It must be refreshed every three years.
• CSTS 2020: The Construction Safety Training System, common on Alberta and BC construction sites.
• Standard First Aid and CPR: Valued by small crews, and sometimes needed to be a site first aider.

What recruiters wish you knew

Lead with your tickets

A foreman sorting labourer resumes checks for WHMIS and Working at Heights or CSTS first. Put them in your summary or in a short Certifications section near the top, with years.

Prove you show up

Attendance is the hardest thing to judge from a resume and the thing foremen care about most. A line about shifts missed, seasons called back or early starts covered goes a long way.

Mention boots, licence and transport

Sites are often outside town and start early. Owning your own safety boots, having a driver's licence or a vehicle can decide who gets hired.

The section order for a general labourer resume

Top to bottom, in the order a hiring manager in this field wants to read it.

1. Contact details. City, phone and email, plus your driver's licence class if the job involves driving.
2. Professional summary. Your trade, years on the job and your most useful ticket.
3. Licences and tickets. Trade certificate, Red Seal, WHMIS, Working at Heights or forklift, each with a date.
4. Work experience. Employer, the type and size of the work, and your safety record.
5. Skills and equipment. Tools, machines and processes you can run without supervision.
6. Education and training. Apprenticeship level or hours, trade school and safety courses.

What recruiters check first

Your trade ticket or Red Seal, WHMIS and Working at Heights, and the equipment you can run. Where to put it: A licences and tickets section near the top.

Common mistakes on general labourer resumes

These come up again and again, and each one is quick to fix.

Writing "did whatever was needed"

It sounds willing but tells a foreman nothing. List the actual work, such as concrete prep, demolition, material handling and traffic control, and the machines you can run.

Burying your tickets

Working at Heights, WHMIS and First Aid are often the first things a supervisor checks. Put them near the top with dates, so nobody has to hunt for them.

Forgetting that reliability is the job

Showing up every day, on time, is what gets labourers called back. If your attendance is strong, or a company rehired you every season, put it in writing.

Before you send it

Six quick checks. Each takes less than a minute.

• The job title in your summary matches the one in the posting.
• Every certification is written out in full, with the issuing body and the expiry date.
• At least half of your bullets include a number.
• There is no photo, date of birth, marital status or SIN.
• It is saved as a PDF, unless the posting asks for a Word file.
• You ran it through the free resume check and fixed what it found.

General Labourer resume FAQ

What should I put on a general labourer resume?

Your safety tickets with dates, the types of sites or plants you have worked on, the tools and equipment you can use, how much you can lift, and your attendance record. Mention your own boots, licence and transport if you have them.

What skills should a general labourer put on a resume?

Hand and power tools, material handling, loading and unloading, demolition and cleanup, basic measurements and any equipment you can run, such as a skid steer. For soft skills, choose reliability, stamina, safety awareness and following directions.

How do I write a labourer resume with no experience?

Get WHMIS and, in Ontario, Working at Heights before you apply. They are short and affordable. Then list any physical work you have done, like helping with renovations, moving, yard work or farm work, and say you are available for early starts.

What certifications does a general labourer need in Canada?

WHMIS almost everywhere. Ontario construction needs Working at Heights. Alberta and BC sites often ask for CSTS 2020. First Aid, fall protection and traffic control certification make you more useful on many crews.

Should a general labourer resume be one page?

Yes. One page is right for labourers, even with several jobs. Keep each job to three or four strong bullets and put your tickets near the top.

What is a good objective for a general labourer resume?

One or two lines on your tickets, reliability and the work you want. For example: WHMIS and Working at Heights certified labourer with two years on residential sites, looking for full-time work with a framing or concrete crew.

Related resume examples

• Construction Worker resume example: Put safety tickets, trade skills, and site experience where foremen look first.
• Warehouse Worker resume example: Show picking speed, forklift tickets, and reliability for warehouse and logistics jobs.
• Forklift Operator resume example: List your certified lift types, picks per hour and safety record.
• Factory Worker resume example: Show production speed, safety, and reliability for manufacturing and assembly lines.

Further reading

• Writing an Entry-Level Resume With No Experience
• Getting a Job in Canada With No Canadian Experience
• How to Write a Cover Letter for a Canadian Resume
• Translating Foreign Job Titles and Credentials for Canada
• The Best Job Search Sites in Canada

Keep building your Canadian resume

• Canadian Resume Format Guide: What to include, what to leave out, and how to structure every section.
• Canadian Resume Template: A free, ATS-safe template with the right sections in the right order.
• ATS Resume Checker Canada: Score your resume against Canadian ATS screening and see exactly what to fix. Free.
• Resume Builder Canada: Build an ATS-ready Canadian resume with the right format and keywords.
• AI Resume Builder Canada: Draft and tailor resumes to each Canadian job posting you paste in.
• Free CV Builder Canada: Turn an international CV into the Canadian format employers expect.

Turn this example into your own resume.

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