Four Years Ahead: The HVAC Journey of Lucas Brooks

"I just feel like in the trades, you're four years ahead of everybody else." That simple observation has become a defining theme in the career journey of Lucas Brooks; a journey that has already taken him from shop helper to Service Manager before the age of 30.  

As Lucas likes to say, some people find the HVAC industry by accident, but others are "born with a flashlight in their hands." He was clearly and naturally in group 2. 

Growing up in a family immersed in the business (Brooks Heating & Air), Lucas got an early introduction to the trade. Long before he had a job title, and shortly after he could walk, he was helping out wherever he could, holding real tools, cleaning up, shovelling snow, and learning the rhythms of the industry from the ground up. 

His first official role wasn't glamorous. 

"I was a shop boy, a gopher," he recalls. "My dad had even worse names for it." But Lucas never viewed those early years as paying dues. They were an education, even fun. 

Then, while many of his friends headed off to university, Lucas chose a different path. "I enjoyed working with my hands," he says. "I figured, you know what, might as well just stick with this. I'm already well into it." 

After high school, he attended Halton Niagara Skilled Trade Academy, earned his gas licence, and began building his technical career. Before long, he was working as a technician, solving problems in the field and developing the practical skills that would become the foundation of his success.  

The financial benefits happened fast. 

"When I got my licence and all my friends were going to university and now had $100,000 in debt, I was making 25 bucks an hour as a 17-year-old kid," Lucas says. "I was able to travel a bunch, have lots of hobbies, and it was way easier to have a good income." While most young people would take a year's break in Europe to escape their realities, Lucas used 12 months in Spain to study the business side of the Contracting business remotely  through the EGIA Contractor University, proving once and for all that his bond with HVACR was as strong as a welded joint. 

That financial freedom gave Lucas opportunities that many people his age don't get. At one point, he spent a year living in Spain. But even while overseas, he never drifted far from the trade. Instead, he continued studying HVAC remotely, turning what could have been a break from the industry into another step forward in his career.  

Now, at age 27, he has already achieved milestones many people spend years chasing, including home ownership. That's why he believes tradespeople often start four years ahead. "Everyone that goes to university, they're four years in school," he says. "They get out and then they're just getting into those entry-level jobs. Even an entry-level job in HVAC pays better than those other jobs." 

Today, Lucas has traded most of his tools for a desk as Director of Operations for Brooks Heating and Air and as chairman of the training committee for Climate Care Canada, overseeing operations, supporting technicians, and helping to guide the company's future.  

Looking ahead, his goal is clear: continue growing the business and eventually step into ownership. 

For someone who started as the gopher, it's been a remarkable climb. But ask Lucas, and he'll tell you it's simply what happens when you start early, work hard, and keep moving up the ladder, rung by rung.

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