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Biomedical engineer: what the job actually is

Applying engineering to medicine: designing, testing and keeping safe the devices, software and equipment used to diagnose and treat people.

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Biomedical engineer: quick facts

Biomedical engineer salary in Ontario: the median pay is $51.14 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate. The job usually needs a university degree.

Median pay in Ontario
$51.14 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$27.25 to $87.91 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
17,350
Usually needs
Usually a university degree

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 21399. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Engineering applied to health: medical devices, imaging equipment, monitoring systems, prosthetics and the software that goes with them.
  • Job Bank has no separate group for biomedical engineers. They sit in Other professional engineers, a broad group, so the pay, outlook and workforce figures on this page describe that whole group, not biomedical engineers alone.
  • Some work in hospitals making sure equipment is safe and working. Others work for manufacturers, designing and testing devices, or in research.
  • Anything used on a patient has to meet strict safety and quality rules, so a large share of the work is testing, documentation and approvals.
  • You work with doctors, nurses and technologists as well as other engineers, and you have to understand what they need before you build it.

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. 8:30 — Read the overnight test log for a prototype sensor. It drifted by an amount that would matter to a patient.
  2. 9:30 — Check the calibration records and the test set-up. The set-up was off, not the sensor.
  3. 10:45 — Meeting with a clinician who describes how they would actually use the device. It is not how the design assumes.
  4. 11:45 — Sketch a change to the handle so it works one-handed in gloves.
  5. 12:45 — Lunch, and a discussion of whether a new material has been tested for skin contact.
  6. 13:45 — Write up a risk assessment: what could go wrong, how likely it is, and how it is controlled.
  7. 15:15 — Review a colleague's test plan against the standard it must meet.
  8. 16:15 — Update the design record. Every change is logged, because an auditor may ask later.
  9. 17:00 — Leave a note on the next test, which has to be booked weeks ahead.

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 like biology and engineering together and want to use them for something that matters to patients.
  • You can ask a nurse or a doctor how they actually work and then change your design to suit.
  • You are comfortable with the extra care that medical safety demands.
  • You can work across disciplines and speak to both engineers and clinicians.
  • You like both calculating and building or testing real devices.
You may hate this if
  • You want a clear, single job title. The group is broad and the roles vary a lot.
  • You dislike documentation and approval processes, which are heavy in anything that touches patients.
  • You want to work directly with patients. Most engineers rarely do, and the work is behind the scenes.
  • You dislike long development timelines. Medical devices take a long time to test and approve.
  • You want a guaranteed opening. Job Bank's group rating is Moderate, but entry roles still need co-op and a strong record.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Know how Job Bank groups this job

    Job Bank classes biomedical engineers within Other professional engineers (NOC 21399). Its Ontario outlook for that whole group for 2025-2027 is Moderate, with employment expected to remain relatively stable, not many positions opening through retirements, and a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience. That is a broad-group signal, not a biomedical-specific one.

  2. Earn an accredited engineering degree

    Job Bank's page for the group says a bachelor's degree in an appropriate engineering discipline is required, and a master's or doctorate in a related discipline may be required. Several Ontario universities run biomedical programmes. Toronto Metropolitan University's calendar, for example, says its Biomedical Engineering programme is accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board and describes four years of full-time study, or five with its co-op option. Other schools reach the field through electrical or mechanical engineering. See /careers/degrees/engineering.

  3. Do co-op, then gain supervised experience

    Co-op is the most direct way to see whether you want a hospital, a manufacturer or a lab. For the licence, Job Bank says engineers are eligible for registration after graduating from an accredited programme, three or four years of supervised work experience in engineering and passing a professional practice examination.

  4. Licence if your work needs it

    Job Bank says licensing by a provincial or territorial association of professional engineers is required to approve engineering drawings and reports and to practise as a Professional Engineer. Engineers Canada lists academics, work experience, the Professional Practice Examination, good character and language as the criteria, with the specifics set by each regulator. In Ontario that is Professional Engineers Ontario. Check its pages for current rules, because this page could not read them.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Requirements for other professional engineers in Ontario · Engineers Canada — Overview of the licensing process · Toronto Metropolitan University — Biomedical Engineering calendar entry

The money

Biomedical 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.

$27.25
Low (hourly)
$51.14
Median (hourly)
$87.91
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 21399. 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 — Biomedical 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

Moderate3 out of 5 stars

  • Employment is expected to remain relatively stable.
  • Not many 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.

17,350
people work in this job in Ontario
22%
are women (48% across all jobs)
8%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Other professional engineers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 21399). 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 highest maths, physics and biology or chemistry you can, because biomedical programmes ask for both engineering and life-science strengths.
  • Volunteer somewhere that exposes you to healthcare equipment, such as a hospital volunteer programme, and notice what devices are in use.
  • Join robotics or design clubs. Building something a real person has to use is the closest preview.
  • Compare the entry requirements and co-op options of two Ontario engineering programmes on ontariouniversitiesinfo.ca.

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.

Redesign a medical aid for one real user

About 75 minutes
  1. Pick a simple health aid, such as a pill organiser, a walking cane grip or a jar opener, and find someone who uses it who is willing to talk for five minutes.
  2. Ask what annoys them about it and watch how they use it. Write down three problems without proposing solutions yet.
  3. Sketch one change that addresses one problem, and say what you would have to test to be sure it is safe and works.
  4. Show your sketch to the same person and ask what you got wrong.

What it tells you. If you enjoyed finding out what the user really needed, and your sketch got better after the feedback, you have the instinct this work needs. If you enjoyed the sketching but dreaded asking the user, remember that listening is half the job. If the safety question felt like an obstacle, that is also the job.

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. “What do you work on, and who uses it?”
  2. “How did you get into the field, and what degree did you take?”
  3. “How much of your time is design, how much is testing and how much is paperwork?”
  4. “Do you work in a hospital, for a manufacturer or in research, and what is the difference?”
  5. “What is the hardest part of making something safe enough for patients?”
  6. “What would you tell a student choosing a first-year engineering programme?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Sometimes. A few biomedical engineers start device companies, but medical products need extensive testing and approval, so a start-up takes time and money. Job Bank's figures for this broad group show a lower share of self-employment than in the workforce overall. Most people begin by working for a manufacturer, a hospital or a research group.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a biomedical engineer make in Ontario?

The median pay for a biomedical engineer in Ontario is $51.14 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $27.25 to $87.91 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a biomedical engineer in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as moderate 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 a small number of 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 a biomedical engineer in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a university degree. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Know how Job Bank groups this job; Earn an accredited engineering degree; Do co-op, then gain supervised experience.

How many people work as a biomedical engineer in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 17,350 people working in this job in Ontario. 22% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Tech and engineering jobs: who is hiring What can you do with your degree?

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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.