In most of Canada, roofing companies that hire well in spring did the work in the autumn and winter before. Every company posts in the same few weeks when the weather opens up, the strongest roofers are committed early, and late hiring means paying more for fewer, weaker applicants. This calendar shows which recruiting tasks belong in which months, and how the timing shifts by region.
It covers marketing tasks only. It isn't legal, HR or safety guidance; confirm employment and safety requirements with your provincial authorities.
Autumn: next season starts now
Answer first: autumn is the most important recruiting season of the year, because it is when you keep the people you already have.
As the season winds down:
- Rate your crew. Before people scatter, note who you want back and in what role.
- Ask the exit question. "Do you want a call when we start up again?" Write down the answer and a phone number.
- Send a thank-you message with a rough timeline for next season, without promising dates you can't keep.
- Capture this season's stories. Photos and short clips of jobs your crews were proud of, for next year's hiring content. See crew video.
- Open a bench page on your website where anyone can sign up for spring. Our apprentice bench service covers the set-up.
The cost of all of this is a few hours. The payoff is that some of next spring's hires are already decided.
Winter: build and test
Answer first: winter is for fixing the machinery while nothing is urgent.
- Rewrite your job ads using the job ad guide, one per role.
- Build or update hiring pages on your site.
- Set up the reply flow so every applicant gets an answer within minutes.
- Run small test ads to learn which channels bring screened applicants in your area, at low cost.
- Visit training programs. Pre-apprenticeship courses and high-school trades classes are in session; bring a handout and a short video.
- Warm up the bench with a few short, useful messages, only to people who opted in. Canada's anti-spam rules, explained in the CRTC's guidance, still apply.
By the end of winter you should know your cost per screened applicant by channel, and have a list of warm names.
Late winter to spring: hire
Answer first: open hiring a few weeks before your first busy week, not on the day it arrives.
- Call the bench first. Returning crew members, then warm apprentices and labourers.
- Launch the proven ads at full budget, cutting the channels that failed in testing.
- Hold interviews at hours working people can manage: early morning, late afternoon or Saturday.
- Plan day one. Gear ready, a named person to meet each new hire, a clear first-week plan.
- Track every step with the five numbers from the cost-per-hire guide.
The two-week mark is the real finish line. Check in with every new hire at the end of their first and second weeks.
Summer: backfill and retain
Answer first: expect some quits and plan for them, instead of reacting with an emergency post.
- keep one small ad running per role
- keep a short list of screened applicants you didn't hire in spring
- ask your crews for referrals while they are busy and happy
- keep capturing footage of real jobs for next year's content
A quit in July is cheaper to fix with a call to a bench name than with a new campaign.
How the calendar shifts by region
Answer first: the order of tasks is the same everywhere, but weather moves the dates.
| Region | How the season tends to run | Recruiting adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| West Coast (BC) | The southwest coast has mild, wet winters; the Interior and North are much colder | On the coast, hire more evenly year-round and plan around rain; in the Interior, follow a shorter-season pattern |
| Prairies (AB, SK, MB) | Long, cold winters compress the outdoor season | Do most bench-building and testing in winter; hire hard just before the thaw |
| Central (ON, QC) | Cold winters, moderated near the Great Lakes in southern Ontario; longer winters to the north and outside Quebec's St. Lawrence lowlands | Southern markets open earlier than northern ones; stagger campaigns by location |
| Atlantic (NB, NS, PE, NL) | Maritime winters: cold, damp and changeable, with snow | Plan for a late, uneven start; keep the bench warm into spring |
| North (YT, NT, NU) | Very long, very cold winters and a short outdoor season | Start recruiting very early, and plan for travel and accommodation in the message |
These climate notes are qualitative. For each province and territory, our region pages add the official workers' compensation and apprenticeship bodies to know.
A month-by-month checklist
Use this as a starting point and slide it earlier or later for your region.
- September–October: rate the crew, ask the exit question, capture footage
- November: bench page live, thank-you messages, plan next year's roles
- December–January: rewrite ads, build hiring pages, set up replies
- February: test ads, visit training programs, warm-up messages
- March–April: call the bench, launch proven ads, interview
- May: two-week check-ins, fill remaining gaps
- June–August: small always-on ads, referrals, backfill from the bench
Adapting the calendar to commercial roofing
Answer first: commercial and flat-roof work often has a different rhythm, so adjust the dates rather than the order.
Some commercial roofing continues into colder months, and projects are often scheduled well in advance. If your company does mostly commercial work, use the project schedule as your calendar: recruit for each crew a few weeks before the projects that need it are due to start, keep the bench warm between projects, and plan backfill around the busiest stretch on the schedule.
Mistakes that wreck the calendar
- Saying nothing between October and April. Your best seasonal workers commit elsewhere.
- Testing ads during the rush. You'll pay rush prices to learn lessons you could have learned in February.
- Hiring everyone at once with no plan for day one. Chaotic first weeks drive early quits.
- Promising start dates the weather can't keep. Say "we expect to start around" and keep people updated.
If you'd like help building your own calendar, see our services or contact us.
Frequently asked questions
When should a roofing company start recruiting for next season?
In autumn, as the current season winds down. That is when you keep your good seasonal people, collect contact details and set up next year's bench.
Is it worth recruiting in winter?
Yes. Winter is when ads are cheaper to test, applicants have time to talk, and you can fix your job ad and hiring page without the pressure of a full schedule.
How does the calendar change on the BC coast?
The coast has milder, wetter winters, so roofing work and hiring are spread more evenly across the year, with rain rather than snow setting the pace.
What about mid-season quits?
Plan for them. Keep a small always-on ad running and a short list of bench names, so one quit doesn't stall a crew for weeks.
Sources
- CRTC: Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation FAQ (2026-10-22)