Electricians, plumbers and gasfitters, HVAC techs, carpenters and labourers. TradeBrain runs the hiring for small trade shops in the Sea to Sky: the ad, the phone screens, ticket checks, interviews and the first week. You pick who to hire, and they work for you.
Hiring a tradesperson up here is a different job from hiring one in the city. Four things make the difference:
Every trade has its own screen. Here is what we look at before a candidate gets anywhere near your calendar.
Construction electrician is a compulsory trade in BC, so anyone doing the work needs a certificate of qualification or a registered apprenticeship with SkilledTradesBC. We check the certificate, the apprentice's level and hours, and whether you need someone who can hold your FSR, before you ever meet them.
Most Sea to Sky plumbing shops also do gas, and gas work needs a Class A or Class B gas certificate from Technical Safety BC. We sort applicants by what they can legally sign off on, so you aren't interviewing a plumber for a job that is half gas work.
Refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic is a compulsory trade in BC, and heat-pump installs have pushed demand well past supply. We look for the ticket first, then for experience on the equipment you actually install.
There is no compulsory ticket for carpentry, so the screen is the work: references from the last two builders they worked for, photos of their own finish work, and a paid trial day if you want one.
The easiest role to fill and the hardest to keep. We screen for the things that decide whether someone lasts: a driver's licence, a way to get to site at 7am, steel-toes, and where they are living this winter.
Seasonal crews that need to be hired before the season starts, not halfway through it. For window and exterior work we check fall-protection training and ladder experience, and for landscaping, equipment tickets and a clean driving record.
You spend about an hour on it, start to finish: the first call and the interviews. We do the rest.
What the job really is, the tickets it needs, the pay range and the start date, so the ad describes your shop and not a template.
We write the ad, post it where Sea to Sky trades actually look, and phone-screen every applicant, so you only see the ones worth meeting.
We book the interviews, give you a scorecard for each, check references, and set up the new hire's first week, so they still show up in month three.
TradeBrain runs the back office for service businesses in Whistler and across Canada, and hiring is the part owners hand us most. We built a hiring system for a cleaning company that took the owner out of screening entirely, and we run the hiring and payroll for an electrical contractor as part of their back office.
One number from our own research: in November 2026 we went through all 807 licensed employment agencies on BC's registry. About 50 focus on trades or labour, and almost none are based in the Sea to Sky. Most local shops are hiring on their own, around the work.
Want to run it yourself? The free People System Playbook is the same hiring and onboarding process we use, and six steps for recruiting in a small business covers the basics.
Tell us who you need and where. It takes two minutes, and Chad replies within one business day with what the search would look like.
Chad DeAbreuFounder, TradeBrain. Lives in Whistler and hires for his own businesses here every season.
Prefer email? chad@tradebrain.ca.