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Audio engineer: what the job actually is

Recording, mixing and operating sound for music, film, broadcast and live events, in a field where there are far more hopefuls than jobs.

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Audio engineer: quick facts

Audio engineer salary in Ontario: the median pay is $32.50 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is very limited. The job usually needs a college diploma, or an apprenticeship of two or more years.

Median pay in Ontario
$32.50 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$21.00 to $48.20 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Very limited
People working in it in Ontario
4,750
Usually needs
Usually a college diploma, or an apprenticeship of two or more years

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 52113. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Capturing, shaping and playing back sound. In a studio that means recording and mixing music or voices. In live work it means running the sound at an event. In film, television and broadcast it means recording on set and fixing it afterward.
  • Job Bank groups audio engineers with audio and video recording technicians. It reports that the work is not regulated in Canada.
  • Most of the job is technical and patient: placing microphones, setting levels, fixing noise, cutting and tidying recordings, and being calm while people who are nervous or tired try to do their best take.
  • Much of the skill is people. A good engineer makes performers comfortable and gets what the producer or client is hearing in their head onto a recording.
  • Job Bank's Ontario outlook for this group is Very limited. It says employment is expected to stay relatively stable, few positions will open through retirement, and there are several unemployed workers with recent experience in the occupation. That means competition is heavy.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 9:30 — Into the studio before the band. Set up microphones, run cables, test every channel and check the headphone mixes.
  2. 10:30 — The band arrives, late. You spend twenty minutes getting a good drum sound while they talk about their weekend.
  3. 11:30 — Record the first take. You listen for one thing, a buzz that was not there on the test, and find it in a faulty cable.
  4. 13:00 — Lunch, if there is time. Nobody has eaten because the singer is having a bad day.
  5. 14:00 — Record vocal takes, give gentle direction, mark the best parts and keep the mood up.
  6. 17:00 — The band leaves. Back up the session to two drives, because losing a day's takes is not an option.
  7. 17:30 — Edit the day's recordings: remove clicks, line up timing, tidy the noise between phrases.
  8. 20:00 — A second job: run sound at a venue tonight. Load in the speakers, soundcheck, and mix the show by ear.
  9. 23:30 — Tear down, coil cables, load out, and drive home with your ears ringing.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You listen to the detail in a recording, and you care about how things sound.
  • You enjoy technical problems like gain, noise and wiring, and you are patient about fixing them.
  • You are good with people who are nervous, tired or creative, and you can stay calm.
  • You are willing to work irregular hours, including evenings and weekends.
  • You are happy to build a career from several jobs at once, such as studio, live events and post-production.
You may hate this if
  • You want a secure, well-paid, easy-to-find job. Job Bank rates the Ontario outlook for this group as Very limited, and several people with recent experience are already unemployed.
  • You dislike irregular hours. Sessions run late and live shows run later, so evenings and weekends are normal.
  • You do not like being self-employed. Job Bank reports that a large share of this group works for themselves, which means finding your own clients, chasing invoices and covering your own gaps.
  • Loud environments are a problem. Concerts, studios and loading speakers wear on your hearing, and hearing damage is a real risk if you do not protect it.
  • You want to be the creative lead. The engineer serves the artist or client, and most of your work is invisible when it is done well.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. There is no licence

    Job Bank says the occupation is not regulated in Canada, so there are no mandatory certifications. Employers want proof you can do it, and that is a mix of training, a portfolio and a reputation.

  2. College or hands-on training

    Job Bank says employers typically look for completion of a college or other program in recording engineering, audiovisual technology or a related field, or experience as a recording studio assistant. Search ontariocolleges.ca for audio and recording programs and ask each what its graduates do.

  3. Start as an assistant or runner

    Studio assistant or venue crew work lets you see the job and gets you known. It is often poorly paid or unpaid at first, so decide how long you can afford it.

  4. Build a portfolio of recordings

    Record and mix real people, such as bands at school, friends, or podcasts. A set of finished tracks that sound good is more persuasive than a certificate.

  5. Plan for a second string

    Because the outlook is Very limited, it is sensible to learn adjacent skills: live event sound, video editing, podcast production, or broadcast work. Ask people in the field what combination of work pays their bills.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Requirements for audio and video recording technicians in Ontario · ontariocolleges.ca — program search

The money

Audio engineer salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$21.00
Low (hourly)
$32.50
Median (hourly)
$48.20
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 52113. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.

Source: Job Bank — Audio engineer wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Very limited1 out of 5 stars

  • Employment is expected to remain relatively stable.
  • Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are several unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

4,750
people work in this job in Ontario
18%
are women (48% across all jobs)
42%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Audio and video recording technicians job prospects in Ontario (NOC 52113). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Take music, media arts, drama and any technology courses, and ask whether you can help run sound for school concerts and assemblies.
  • Offer to run sound for a school event or a local group. Real events teach faster than any class.
  • Record a friend's song with whatever you have and try to make it sound better. Do it ten times.
  • Protect your ears now: turn the volume down in headphones and use ear protection at loud shows. This is the one piece of equipment you cannot replace.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Record three minutes on a phone and make it sound better

About 75 minutes
  1. Use your phone's voice recorder. Record three minutes of someone talking or you playing something in two places: a bare room and a room with soft furnishings. Listen to both with headphones, at a low volume.
  2. Notice the differences: echo, background hum, distance. Try moving the phone and the speaker, closing a window or turning off a fan, and record again.
  3. Open a free audio editor on a computer and try to remove a click or a long pause from one recording. Listen again at a low volume.
  4. Ask one person who runs sound for a school, venue or event what they wish they had known at the start.

What it tells you. If you were absorbed in finding why one recording sounded better and wanted to keep adjusting, your ears and patience are the right kind. If it felt like a chore, or if you realise you wanted to make the music more than record it, that is worth knowing in a field where entry is so crowded.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “How do you actually make a living, and from how many different kinds of work?”
  2. “What did your first two years look like in terms of pay and hours?”
  3. “How did you get your first paid job?”
  4. “How do you look after your hearing?”
  5. “How has the work changed with cheaper home recording and automated tools?”
  6. “What would you do if you were starting now?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes, and Job Bank reports that a large share of this group is self-employed. People run their own studios, mobile recording, live sound or podcast production businesses. Starting costs for equipment can be significant, and the hard part is finding steady clients in a field with many competitors.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does an audio engineer make in Ontario?

The median pay for an audio engineer in Ontario is $32.50 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $21.00 to $48.20 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for an audio engineer in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as very limited for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment is expected to remain relatively stable. Not many positions will become available due to retirements. There are several unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become an audio engineer in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a college diploma, or an apprenticeship of two or more years. The usual route in Ontario, in order: There is no licence; College or hands-on training; Start as an assistant or runner.

How many people work as an audio engineer in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 4,750 people working in this job in Ontario. 18% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

Start from yourself, not from the job.

Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.

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Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.