Graduates · Ontario · 2021 Census
What can you do with a culinary and personal services diploma?
What graduates actually work as, from Statistics Canada, beside what Job Bank says about each job: openings, pay, and what it takes.
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What can you do with a culinary and personal services diploma in Ontario?
In the 2021 Census, the most common jobs among employed Ontarians aged 25 to 34 with a college certificate or diploma in culinary and personal services were hairstylists and barbers (11.6%), chefs (11%) and cooks (8.7%). The 12 most common jobs cover only 59.1% of graduates, so culinary and personal services leads to a wide spread of work rather than one career.
What graduates really do
What jobs do culinary and personal services graduates in Ontario actually have?
Statistics Canada groups cooking and baking with hairstyling, esthetics and similar personal services, so the lead table is that whole group for Ontario college graduates aged 25 to 34, not cooking alone. The apprenticeship tables below are for people whose highest credential is a trades certificate; the Canada one is culinary arts alone.
| Job | Share of graduates | People | Job Bank outlook | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hairstylists and barbers | 11.6% | 2,270 | Moderate | $18.00/hr |
| ChefsOur guide | 11% | 2,155 | Limited | $22.00/hr |
| CooksOur guide | 8.7% | 1,715 | Limited | $18.00/hr |
| Estheticians, electrologists and related occupationsOur guide | 7.2% | 1,410 | Limited | $19.00/hr |
| Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations | 4.3% | 840 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers | 4% | 785 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| BakersOur guide | 2.7% | 530 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Retail and wholesale trade managers | 2.3% | 450 | Moderate | $43.27/hr |
| Restaurant and food service managers | 2% | 385 | Limited | $27.47/hr |
| Other customer and information services representatives | 2% | 385 | Very limited | $21.50/hr |
| Funeral directors and embalmersOur guide | 1.7% | 330 | Moderate | $34.62/hr |
| Receptionists | 1.6% | 320 | Moderate | $20.50/hr |
How does it look for other groups?
These are different groups of people, shown separately on purpose: a different place, age group or level of education. Do not read them as one comparison.
| Job | Share of graduates | People | Job Bank outlook | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hairstylists and barbers | 30.3% | 3,185 | Moderate | $18.00/hr |
| ChefsOur guide | 6.7% | 700 | Limited | $22.00/hr |
| Estheticians, electrologists and related occupationsOur guide | 6.3% | 660 | Limited | $19.00/hr |
| CooksOur guide | 5.4% | 570 | Limited | $18.00/hr |
| Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers | 4.7% | 495 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations | 2.8% | 295 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Other customer and information services representatives | 2% | 215 | Very limited | $21.50/hr |
| Light duty cleaners | 1.9% | 195 | Moderate | $19.00/hr |
| Managers in customer and personal services | 1.6% | 170 | Moderate | $36.25/hr |
| Retail and wholesale trade managers | 1.5% | 160 | Moderate | $43.27/hr |
| Cashiers | 1.5% | 160 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| BakersOur guide | 1.5% | 155 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Job | Share of graduates | People | Job Bank outlook | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CooksOur guide | 18.1% | 14,680 | Limited | $18.00/hr |
| ChefsOur guide | 11.4% | 9,265 | Limited | $22.00/hr |
| Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations | 4.7% | 3,815 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| BakersOur guide | 3.7% | 3,045 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Retail and wholesale trade managers | 3.4% | 2,760 | Moderate | $43.27/hr |
| Restaurant and food service managers | 3.4% | 2,735 | Limited | $27.47/hr |
| Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers | 2.7% | 2,225 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Light duty cleaners | 2.6% | 2,120 | Moderate | $19.00/hr |
| Butchers - retail and wholesaleOur guide | 2.4% | 1,950 | Good | $21.75/hr |
| Transport truck driversOur guide | 1.9% | 1,570 | Moderate | $26.00/hr |
| Food and beverage servers | 1.4% | 1,165 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Food service supervisors | 1.4% | 1,105 | Moderate | $19.00/hr |
Do those jobs have openings?
Which of those jobs are hiring?
None of the 12 most common jobs for these graduates has a good or very good Ontario outlook from Job Bank for 2025 to 2027; the best-rated are listed below. That means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hired. Outlook is a province-wide forecast of openings against job seekers, not a promise for any one town or employer.
- Hairstylists and barbers: Job Bank outlook moderate, 11.6% of these graduates.
- Retail and wholesale trade managers: Job Bank outlook moderate, 2.3% of these graduates.
- Funeral directors and embalmers: Job Bank outlook moderate, 1.7% of these graduates.
- Receptionists: Job Bank outlook moderate, 1.6% of these graduates.
When the degree is not enough
What does the degree not lead to on its own?
A culinary program gives you kitchen skills and a school credential. Cook and baker are non-compulsory trades in Ontario, so you can work without being certified, but a registered apprenticeship is the route to the trade certificate.
Whether school hours count toward an apprenticeship depends on the trade and your sponsor, so ask Skilled Trades Ontario before you assume they do.
Routes that need more than the degree
Start a registered apprenticeship
Skilled Trades Ontario lists five steps: qualify (at least 16, authorized to work in Canada, the education the trade asks for, and a sponsor in Ontario), find a sponsor, apply, sign a Training Agreement with your sponsor, and download your logbook. It says about 20% of an apprenticeship is in-school training, in cycles of 8 to 12 weeks. A college program on its own is not an apprenticeship. Skilled Trades Ontario: starting your apprenticeshipCook apprenticeship (415A)
Skilled Trades Ontario lists Cook as trade code 415A, a non-compulsory trade, with about 6,000 hours of training including 720 in school. It says Cook is a Red Seal trade. Skilled Trades Ontario: cookBaker apprenticeship (423A)
Skilled Trades Ontario lists Baker as trade code 423A, a non-compulsory trade, about 6,000 hours in total. It says the trade has no certifying exam and issues a Certificate of Apprenticeship on completion. Skilled Trades Ontario: baker
Jobs to look at
Careers worth a closer look
Full guides: what the work is really like, who hates it, what it pays, and the route in.
- ChefRunning a kitchen: the menu, the crew, the costs and the timing, usually during hours when everyone else is out having dinner.Career guide
- CookMaking food to order or in batches, fast, hot and the same way every time, usually in a kitchen that is too small.Career guide
- BakerMixing, shaping and baking bread, pastry and cakes, which means starting in the dark and being done by early afternoon.Career guide
- ButcherBreaking carcasses and primals into cuts people will buy, with sharp knives, cold rooms and a counter to stand behind.Career guide
- Food processing operatorRunning and watching the machines that mix, cook, pack and package food in a plant, to a schedule and a safety standard.Career guide
- Business ownerFinding people with a problem, solving it for money, and being the last person responsible when anything goes wrong.Career guide
Read this before you rely on it
What the numbers do not show
- The Census is from 2021. Jobs and hiring have moved since. Job Bank's outlook is current to 2025 to 2027.
- It counts employed people and what they do, not whether they wanted that job or use their degree in it. A graduate working as a retail supervisor is counted in the data exactly like one working in their field.
- It is a 25% sample, and Statistics Canada rounds every count to a multiple of five. Small groups are noisy.
- For Ontario the Census publishes bachelor's degree or higher together, so those tables include master's and doctoral graduates.
- Each person is counted once, by their highest credential. A person who finished a diploma and then a degree appears under the degree, not the diploma.
- The 12 jobs shown are the most common, not all of them. The rest of the graduates are spread across hundreds of other jobs.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population, tables 98-10-0447-01 and 98-10-0403-01; Job Bank (Employment and Social Development Canada) Ontario outlooks and wages, linked on each job. We join them by occupation code and change neither.
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