Skilled trades · Building & Making
Automotive service technician: what the job actually is
Diagnosing and repairing cars and light trucks, which now means as much laptop and scanner as wrench.
Published Last reviewed How we research and correct this
The work
What this job actually is
- Inspecting, diagnosing and repairing the mechanical, electrical and electronic systems of cars and light trucks. Skilled Trades Ontario lists the trade as 310S and compulsory.
- Modern vehicles are computers with wheels. A big part of the work is reading fault codes, testing sensors and tracing a problem, and only then picking up a tool.
- Jobs range from routine maintenance such as brakes, tires and oil, to the fault nobody else could find.
- Most work is in repair shops and dealerships, and customers are in the loop through a service advisor or directly.
- Parts, tools and the information behind each vehicle keep changing, so learning does not stop when the apprenticeship does.
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.
- 7:30 — Shop opens. Read the work orders and see which car has been waiting longest.
- 7:45 — A car with a warning light. Connect the scan tool and read the codes, which tell you where to start and not what is wrong.
- 8:30 — Test the circuit the code points to with a meter and find the actual fault.
- 10:00 — Update the service advisor so they can call the customer with an honest quote.
- 10:30 — Brake job on the next car. Pull the wheel, inspect, measure, replace, torque to specification.
- 12:00 — Lunch.
- 12:30 — A noise that only happens on the road. Test drive, listen, then hoist and check.
- 14:30 — Routine maintenance, the dependable jobs that keep the shop running.
- 15:45 — Document what you found and what you did, because the next technician and the customer both rely on it.
- 16:30 — Clean the bay and put the tools away.
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 like finding the real cause of a fault rather than guessing.
- You are interested in how cars work and are willing to keep learning as they change.
- You like work with a clear result: a car that goes out better than it came in.
- You are comfortable being direct with people about what is wrong and what it costs.
- You want to be paid while you train.
- You dislike being hot, cold, greasy and on your feet or under a car.
- You hate being rushed. Shops have targets and customers want the car back today.
- Learning new technology every year is a chore, not a draw.
- Heavy parts, awkward positions and noise would wear on your body.
- You dislike buying tools. Technicians typically bring their own, and the cost builds up over years.
The route in
How you actually get there in Ontario
Find a shop to sponsor you
Automotive Service Technician is trade code 310S in Ontario and it is a compulsory trade. To practise it you need a Registered Training Agreement, a Provisional Certificate of Qualification or a Certificate of Qualification, so the first step is an employer willing to register you.Work the hours
The apprenticeship is 7,220 hours, which Skilled Trades Ontario describes as approximately four years: 6,500 hours on the job and 720 hours in school.Certify with the Red Seal
Skilled Trades Ontario lists the trade as part of the Interprovincial Red Seal Program, the national standard for the trade.Start in school
Ontario's own OYAP page names automotive service technician as an example of a trade you can start with a co-op placement in Grade 11 or 12. Ask your co-op teacher or board OYAP recruiter.
Where this comes from: Skilled Trades Ontario — Automotive Service Technician (310S) · Ontario — Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program
The money
What it pays 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.
- $18.75
- Low (hourly)
- $30.00
- Median (hourly)
- $43.27
- High (hourly)
Ontario, NOC 72410. 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 — Automotive service technician 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.
Moderate3 out of 5 stars
- Employment is expected to remain relatively stable.
- A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
- There are a small number of 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.
What is changing in this work
- Increase in the number of motor vehicles will support demand for automotive repair and maintenance work
- The province has a large commercial and industrial base, including transit systems and warehousing and distribution hubs, which should create favourable opportunities for bus and truck mechanics
Who hires for it
- Automotive repair and maintenance shops
- Automobile dealerships
- 53,650
- people work in this job in Ontario
- less than 5%
- are women (48% across all jobs)
- 17%
- are self-employed (15% across all jobs)
Source: Job Bank — Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics and mechanical repairers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 72410). 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 the automotive or transportation technology course if your school offers one.
- Ask about OYAP, which Ontario's own page uses automotive service technician as an example of.
- Learn to do the basic safe jobs on a family vehicle with a licensed adult in charge: checking tire pressure and fluid levels.
- Visit a college or a local shop on an open day and ask to see the diagnostic equipment.
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.
Trace a fault from symptom to cause on paper
About 60 minutes- Pick a common symptom such as a car that cranks but does not start. Write down every possible cause you can think of.
- Watch a technician diagnose the same kind of fault on video. Compare their order of checks with your list.
- Look up what an OBD-II scan tool does and what a fault code does and does not tell you.
- Phone a local shop and ask one question: what do they look for in a first-year apprentice? Do not ask for a job.
What it tells you. If ranking possible causes and then watching the real diagnosis felt like a puzzle you wanted to solve, you may like the job's core. If you wanted someone to just tell you the answer, diagnosis is most of the work and that will keep annoying you.
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.
- “How much of your day is diagnosis compared to replacing parts?”
- “What tools did you have to buy yourself, and what did they cost over time?”
- “How has the work changed since you started?”
- “What is the difference between working in a dealership and an independent shop?”
- “How are you paid: hourly, flat rate, or something else?”
- “What is the part of the job that wears you out?”
Could you own one of these?
The part other career sites never mention
Yes, and independent garages are a classic small business. You need to be registered or certified in this compulsory trade first, and then a shop is a big investment: a building, lifts, scan tools, insurance and a steady flow of customers. Many technicians work for others for years before opening their own.
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.
Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.
If this appeals, look at these too
auto body technician heavy equipment operator millwright agricultural equipment technician
Read next
Apprenticeships in Ontario What to do after high school All careers guides
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.