Equipment hire: say what exactly you’re looking for

Equipment hire in Canada: prices, insurance and how to book

Updated 4 November 2026

Equipment hire in Canada runs from about CA$90 a day for an aerial lift and CA$320 a day for a backhoe, up to about CA$14,500 a month for a 30-ton excavator. These are approximate figures from published rental rates, November 2026. For a current quote on the machine you need, describe the job in a request on BlaBlaPrice.

Licences, training and insurance

The rental supplier will not ask for a government licence to operate rented heavy equipment, but it may ask for proof of training and will require insurance, so check the cover before the machine leaves. On some government event equipment rentals there is also a CA$250 administration fee for each rental agreement, on top of the rental cost.

Winter and the season for hire

Winter runs from December to February in Canada. From November, heaters, dehumidifiers and generators become useful for sites and events in the cold, while outdoor digging and concrete work are harder to schedule. Book early for the cold months, and confirm the power output you need before you pay.

Day, week and month rates

Hire is quoted by the day, week or month. Published rates put weekly prices at about three to four times the daily rate and monthly prices at about three to four times the weekly rate, so a longer hire works out cheaper per day. Specifications on these rate sheets are often in pounds and yards, so ask for kilograms and cubic metres when you compare machines.

What to put in your request

Name the machine or job, for example a generator, scaffolding, formwork, a concrete mixer or a site cabin, and say how many hours, days or weeks you need it for. Add the city where the site is (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary or Ottawa), whether you need delivery and collection, the size or power you need in metric units, and the start date.

BlaBlaPrice is free for buyers. Describe the hire in your own words in a chat, and add a photo if it helps. BlaBlaPrice's AI looks through rental companies' websites and price lists in Canada and shows the prices and businesses it finds. Sellers registered on BlaBlaPrice reply with their own offer, price and terms. For related hire, see generator hire or vehicle and heavy equipment hire.