Background:

Been working for a small electrical contractor as an electrical apprentice since october, got registered with the province in april.

I have kept work logs of my hours since starting on october 4. In an excel file, I would track the date, time started, time ended, the job site I worked at, and a general description of what I did that day.

I would also receive texts from him the day of, telling me to show up at a given jobsite at a particular time. sometimes these would be calls.

I printed out the worklog with a sentence saying something along the lines of "I, [owner of company], can confirm ghostofiambeepbeep has worked x amount of hours between y and z date" every now and then, and would get him to sign it. I have my hours between october 4 2021 till june 17 signed off. I have also worked the week of june 20 (excluding friday) but did not get him to sign off on these last 4 days (he was getting annoyed that I would get him to sign off every month or so, so getting him to sign my work log every week wouldn't be feasible.)

I've been getting paid 15 an hour, no benefits. Didn't get holiday pay either, and the one week I worked overtime I didn't get overtime pay, but I'm something of a coward so I didn't argue with him about it.

paycheques did not come on a set schedule, it was not uncommon for them to be a week or 2 (perhaps more) late. I wouldn't get pay stubs, he would e-transfer me the money. Before anyone asks, I have a registered training agreement with the guy (I did all the paperwork and emailed with the province myself, he was only involved insofar as he gave me the info about his business to write down on the paperwork, or sent me a copy of his business license when it was requested by the province, which I then sent to them) so I know I wasn't being paid under the table, received a T4 (or T4A, don't remember) a couple months ago.

I've been paid up till may 20. So there are 148.5 hours I've worked but not been paid.

Today I texted him, giving a one week notice that I've found another job. Met up with him at the jobsite half an hour later and an argument ensued. He was very upset and, among other things, said that he's going call the province and "cancel" my apprenticeship, and told me that I should leave now, not in a week. I accepted and went to grab my tools and put them in my car.

Went back to him to return a hole saw and wood drill bit of his that I had in my tool bag, and we started arguing again. He said he's gnna call the province and "cancel" our agreement, and tell them he's not "liable" for me anymore. Those are the specific words he used so I added quotes, not sure if that means anything. When I came back, he was actually calling the apprenticeship office on the car speaker, (a machine responded to him) but hung up and we got into our second argument.

He said it's fucked up that I'm leaving after a few months, that when he hired me it was under the assumption that I would work for at least a year or two. Said that this is gnna delay his business by 2 or 3 months and cause great loss for him. Said that he expects at least a 1 month notice for someone quitting.

I said i'm definitely not giving a month. I don't remember the exact words, but at one point he sort of wanted me to stay for the rest of the week, I said, didnt you just fire me? He said, well I was very angry, I didn't mean it. I think he would've been open to me staying the week, but he was clearly so pissed that it wouldn't have been a good idea to stay for another week, would've been too hostile, so I left.

My question is, if he doesn't pay me the rest of the money, what recourse do I have? I'd be willing to give him some extra time, but I don't want to forfeit my right to the money. Would this be some sort of civil suit? How would I go about finding a lawyer for this sort of thing, and when should I start looking? How much would would the lawyer cost, would it be so high that at the end it would come out in a wash? if so would it be better to let this go? Should I contact a lawyer now, or wait to see if I'm going to get my money?

I'll try to have conversations with him over text but if that doesn't work, can anyone recommend a call recording app I can use to record our calls? would such evidence be admissible in court or otherwise useful?

The second question is regarding my standing with skilled trades ontario. Will him "cancelling" our agreement affect my standing as a registered apprentice? will I essentially be going to my next employer as an unregistered apprentice? I have a hard time believing that's the case coz it sounds like indentured servitude from the medieval era, and essentially chains an apprentice to a single employer (should that employer wish) and I'm guessing (and hoping) that's not how it works.

Thanks in advance.