What do PLC programmers and controls engineers earn in Ontario?
Wage data is the floor of what you'll pay. These are employee pay figures, not what an integrator bills:
| Role and place | Typical pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PLC programmer, Canada average | $41.40/hour (range about $30 to $57) | Indeed, Oct 2026 |
| PLC programmer, London ON | $44.59/hour | Indeed, Oct 2026 |
| PLC programmer, Cambridge ON | $42.26/hour | Indeed, Oct 2026 |
| Controls engineer, Canada average | $89,773/year | Indeed, Aug 2026 |
| Controls engineer, London ON | $91,731/year | Indeed, Aug 2026 |
| Controls engineer, Windsor ON | $85,939/year | Indeed, Aug 2026 |
| Control systems designer, London region (median) | $32.05/hour | Job Bank, Nov 2023 |
Self-reported salary data. Job Bank's figure is from 2023 and is lower than current postings.
Why is an integrator's hourly rate higher than the wage?
Because the rate carries everything the wage doesn't: the programming software licences, the test hardware, liability insurance, travel and vehicle time, the engineering review that catches mistakes before your floor does, and the hours between projects that nobody bills for.
The more useful question is what you get per hour. A cheaper hour that produces undocumented code costs more the first time someone else has to change it. We see that bill regularly, because a large share of our work is taking over systems somebody else left behind.
What drives the size of a PLC programming quote?
The hourly rate matters less than the hours, and the hours come from the system:
- I/O count and the number of devices on the network
- How many sequences, modes and recipes the machine runs (auto, manual, recovery, changeover)
- Safety: safety PLC logic, light curtains, zones and the validation that goes with them
- HMI scope: how many screens, alarms and diagnostics operators need
- Integration with what's already there: line PLCs, robots, vision, MES, SCADA
- The state of existing code, if you're modifying rather than starting fresh
- Access: whether testing happens on our floor or only in your shutdown windows
- Commissioning shifts on site, and how much support you want after start of production
Hourly or fixed price?
Fixed price suits a well-defined scope: a new machine with a clear spec and a test plan. Time and materials suits work where nobody can know the scope until the system is opened up, which describes most troubleshooting and almost all recovery of another integrator's code.
A sensible middle path for unknown systems is a small, fixed-price assessment first. It ends with a written answer on what's wrong and a firm number for fixing it. That's how we run recovery work.
How do you keep programming costs down?
Most overruns are decided before anyone writes code. The things that keep the number honest:
- A written functional description before programming starts, agreed by production and maintenance
- Your plant standard for hardware, tag naming and drawings, handed over at the start
- Testing on the integrator's floor, at rate, before the machine ships, so your shutdown is verification and not development
- Ownership of the source code, commented, in the contract, so the next change doesn't depend on one vendor
Common questions
What is the average hourly pay for a PLC programmer in Ontario?
Indeed reports a Canadian average of $41.40 an hour (October 2026), with London, Ontario at $44.59 and Cambridge at $42.26. That's employee pay; an integrator's billed rate is higher because it covers software, insurance, travel and engineering review.
Is it cheaper to hire a controls engineer than to use an integrator?
For steady, ongoing work on a plant's own equipment, often yes: a controls engineer in Ontario earns roughly $86,000 to $92,000 a year by Indeed's figures. For a new line, a robot cell or a recovery job, an integrator brings the team, the test floor and the platform breadth a single hire can't, only for as long as you need it.
Do you publish your rates?
We quote per project, and recovery work starts with a small fixed-price assessment so the number is known up front. Send us the scope and we'll tell you which way we'd price it.
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