Graduates · Ontario · 2021 Census
What can you do with a transportation and materials moving trades certificate?
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 transportation and materials moving trades certificate in Ontario?
In the 2021 Census, the most common jobs among employed Ontarians aged 25 to 34 with an apprenticeship or trades certificate in transportation and materials moving were transport truck drivers (21.7%), heavy equipment operators (18%) and crane operators (8.4%). This is one of the more direct fields: the single biggest job, transport truck drivers, covers 21.7% of these graduates, and the 12 most common jobs together cover 66.1%.
What graduates really do
What jobs do transportation and materials moving graduates in Ontario actually have?
Ontario is published for the transportation and materials moving group, so the lead table is Ontario people aged 25 to 34 whose highest credential is an apprenticeship or trades certificate.
| Job | Share of graduates | People | Job Bank outlook | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transport truck driversOur guide | 21.7% | 830 | Moderate | $26.00/hr |
| Heavy equipment operatorsOur guide | 18% | 690 | Moderate | $32.00/hr |
| Crane operatorsOur guide | 8.4% | 320 | Moderate | $40.48/hr |
| Construction trades helpers and labourers | 5% | 190 | Moderate | $27.00/hr |
| Material handlers | 3% | 115 | Limited | $21.50/hr |
| Delivery service drivers and door-to-door distributors | 2.1% | 80 | Moderate | $20.00/hr |
| Landscaping and grounds maintenance labourers | 2.1% | 80 | Moderate | $20.96/hr |
| Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews | 1.4% | 55 | Moderate | $40.00/hr |
| Public works maintenance equipment operators and related workers | 1.4% | 55 | Moderate | $29.03/hr |
| Public works and maintenance labourers | 1.2% | 45 | Very limited | $26.70/hr |
| Security guards and related security service occupations | 0.9% | 35 | Limited | $20.00/hr |
| Welders and related machine operatorsOur guide | 0.9% | 35 | Very limited | $28.00/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructorsOur guide | 12.4% | 455 | Good | $63.00/hr |
| Heavy equipment operatorsOur guide | 10.4% | 380 | Moderate | $32.00/hr |
| Transport truck driversOur guide | 9% | 330 | Moderate | $26.00/hr |
| Construction trades helpers and labourers | 2.7% | 100 | Moderate | $27.00/hr |
| Crane operatorsOur guide | 2.5% | 90 | Moderate | $40.48/hr |
| Material handlers | 2.3% | 85 | Limited | $21.50/hr |
| Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers | 1.8% | 65 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations | 1.8% | 65 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Delivery service drivers and door-to-door distributors | 1.8% | 65 | Moderate | $20.00/hr |
| Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectorsOur guide | 1.6% | 60 | Good | $38.00/hr |
| Retail and wholesale trade managers | 1.5% | 55 | Moderate | $43.27/hr |
| Air transport ramp attendants | 1.5% | 55 | Moderate | $23.36/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.
- Transport truck drivers: Job Bank outlook moderate, 21.7% of these graduates.
- Heavy equipment operators: Job Bank outlook moderate, 18% of these graduates.
- Crane operators: Job Bank outlook moderate, 8.4% of these graduates.
- Construction trades helpers and labourers: Job Bank outlook moderate, 5% of these graduates.
- Delivery service drivers and door-to-door distributors: Job Bank outlook moderate, 2.1% of these graduates.
- Landscaping and grounds maintenance labourers: Job Bank outlook moderate, 2.1% of these graduates.
- Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews: Job Bank outlook moderate, 1.4% of these graduates.
- Public works maintenance equipment operators and related workers: Job Bank outlook moderate, 1.4% of these graduates.
When the degree is not enough
What does the degree not lead to on its own?
A transportation or materials-moving program does not replace the licence. Driving a large truck in Ontario depends on the right class of licence, which comes from the province after training, tests and a medical report.
Logistics and warehouse roles often depend more on experience and the employer's own requirements, so check the posting.
Routes that need more than the degree
Get a Class A truck licence
Ontario says you must be at least 18, hold a valid Ontario licence other than G1, G2 or M-class, pass a vision test and submit a medical report. It also requires a mandatory entry-level training course before the Class A road test, and says that from January 1, 2027 applicants must have held a Class G or higher licence for at least 6 months before the road test. Ontario.ca: get a truck driver's licence
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.
- Truck driverMoving freight long distances alone, to a schedule, under rules about how long you are allowed to drive.Career guide
- Logistics coordinatorBeing the person who knows where everything is, what is late, and what happens next — and fixing it before anyone else notices.Career guide
- Heavy equipment operatorRunning the machines that dig, grade and lift on construction and civil sites, with a lot of waiting and a few minutes of exact work.Career guide
- PilotPlanning, flying and landing an aircraft safely, with far more preparation, checking and paperwork than the view suggests.Career guide
- Aircraft maintenance engineerInspecting, repairing and signing off aircraft as safe to fly, where your signature is the legal point of the job.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; 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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