Skilled trades · Building & Making

Butcher: what the job actually is

Breaking carcasses and primals into cuts people will buy, with sharp knives, cold rooms and a counter to stand behind.

Published October 5, 2026Last reviewed October 5, 2026How we research and correct this

The work

What this job actually is

Cutting, trimming, grinding, weighing and wrapping meat and poultry for retail or wholesale customers. Skilled Trades Ontario describes the trade as covering machinery, cutting preparation for several types of meat, and sausage making.
Most butchers work in grocery stores or in wholesale, so the job is a mix of production and customer service.
The skill is knife control and knowing the animal: where a cut comes from and what it will do when cooked. That takes years, not weeks.
It is cold, wet and standing all day, and a lot of it is cleaning. Food safety is not a side issue; it is the job.
Customers ask for specific cuts and for advice, so you are part tradesperson, part salesperson.

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.

6:30 — In, apron and gloves on. Check the cooler, check the dates, check the counter is stocked for the day.
7:00 — Break down a delivery of primals on the cutting table. A good butcher wastes very little, and the cuts have to match what the display needs.
9:00 — Grind, trim and tray steaks, chops and roasts. Weigh each, label each, rotate the old stock to the front.
10:30 — Customer special order: a particular cut, sliced a particular way. Explain what you can do and what it will cost.
11:30 — Wash and sanitise everything. Knives, boards, saws, the grinder, the floor. This happens several times a day.
12:30 — Lunch, after hours of standing on a cold wet floor.
13:30 — Sausage or marinated product for the weekend. Mix, stuff, portion and label.
15:00 — Counter busy. Answer questions about how long to cook a roast, three times.
16:30 — Final clean-down, temperature log, tomorrow's order.
17:00 — Hands cold, back stiff, but you can see the full counter and the empty bins.

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.

How you actually get there in Ontario

Start with a counter or prep job
Grocery stores and butcher shops hire entry-level meat department staff. Job Bank shows plenty of butchers in Ontario with no apprenticeship at all, so you can try the work first.
Know what the trade is called
In Ontario the trade is Retail Meat Cutter, trade code 245R. It is a non-compulsory trade, so you can work as a butcher without certification. Skilled Trades Ontario issues a Certificate of Apprenticeship when you finish; there is no certifying exam, so there is no Certificate of Qualification.
Find an employer who will sponsor you
An apprenticeship needs an employer who registers you and signs off your hours. The Skilled Trades Ontario page for the trade links a Schedule of Training that lists what you must learn; ask the employer to walk you through it.
Branch out
Experienced butchers move into wholesale and processing, run a meat department, or open their own shop. A trade certificate helps the move, even though it is not compulsory.

Where this comes from: Skilled Trades Ontario — Retail Meat Cutter (245R) · Ontario — Start an apprenticeship · 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.

$17.95: Low (hourly)
$21.75: Median (hourly)
$29.00: High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 63201. 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 — Butcher 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

Good4 out of 5 stars

Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
There are a moderate 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.

4,100: people work in this job in Ontario
13%: are women (48% across all jobs)
9%: are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Butchers - retail and wholesale job prospects in Ontario (NOC 63201). 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 any food and nutrition or hospitality course and the safe food handling content that comes with it.
Ask about OYAP and co-op placements. A grocery store or butcher shop co-op shows you the real job.
Look into a food handler certificate. It is cheap, it is useful in any food job, and employers like seeing it.
Practise knife skills at home with a cheap, sharp knife and a chicken. Learn how to hold, cut and clean up safely.

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.

Break down a whole chicken and see how you feel

About 60 minutes

Buy one whole raw chicken. Watch two tutorials on breaking it down into legs, thighs, breasts and wings, and note how the knife is held.
Wash your hands, set up one board and one sharp knife, and clean up your workspace before you start. Food safety first.
Break the chicken down. Go slowly, cut away from your hands, and take a break if you feel unsafe.
Clean and sanitise everything, then cook what you cut. Notice how you felt about the raw meat, the smell, the mess and the cleanup.

What it tells you. If you finished, were curious how to do it better and did not mind the raw meat or the cleanup, a butcher shop job is worth a trial. If you felt squeamish or hated the cleanup, do not push through it; the job is that, ten hours a week, forever. Yes means ask a local shop about a part-time role.

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 long before you felt confident with a knife?”
“What do your hands and back feel like at the end of a week?”
“What do customers ask for that surprises you?”
“Did you do the apprenticeship, and did it change what you were paid?”
“What makes someone quit this job in the first year?”
“What would you tell a 17-year-old who is not sure about the cold and the smell?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes, though it is a harder one than most trades. A butcher shop needs a cold room, equipment, inspection and licensing, and steady suppliers. Many owners worked in someone else's shop for years first. Check with the province on the meat licensing rules before you plan anything.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

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.

Try Future Finder — free All jobs

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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