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Computer network technician: what the job actually is

Keeping an organisation's computers talking to each other: cables, switches, wireless and the faults between them.

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Computer network technician: quick facts

Computer network technician salary in Ontario: the median pay is $35.71 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate. The job usually needs a college diploma, or an apprenticeship of two or more years.

Median pay in Ontario
$35.71 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$19.00 to $57.69 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
17,450
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 22220. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Setting up, running and fixing the networks that let an organisation's computers, phones and printers reach each other and the internet.
  • Job Bank's group is computer network and web technicians, so it also covers people who look after websites and web servers. Here we mean the network side, and the job varies by employer.
  • The work is half physical and half diagnostic: pulling cable, mounting equipment in a cupboard, then working out why one office cannot reach the printer.
  • A fault is a puzzle with a clock on it. The network is down, people cannot work, and you are the person walking toward the cupboard.
  • More and more of this is moving to services run offsite by other companies. Job Bank's own outlook text says the role of these technicians may change as more businesses adopt cloud-based technologies.

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. 7:45 — Check overnight alerts. One switch has been quietly dropping connections since three in the morning.
  2. 8:30 — A user cannot get online. You check the simple things first, because it is nearly always the simple thing.
  3. 9:30 — Walk to the wiring cupboard and trace a cable. The label says one thing and the cable does another.
  4. 10:45 — Configure new equipment on the bench before it goes into service.
  5. 12:00 — Lunch, interrupted by a message that the guest wireless is slow.
  6. 12:45 — Work out that slow wireless is one device hogging a connection. Fix it and write down what you did.
  7. 14:00 — Ticket queue: a new starter's account, a printer, a request to move a desk and its network point.
  8. 15:30 — Plan an after-hours change with a colleague so that nobody loses their connection in the middle of the day.
  9. 16:30 — Update the network diagram, which was out of date before you started and still is.
  10. 17:00 — Hand over. On call this week, which means your phone stays near you.

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 enjoy working out why something does not work and you are not rattled when people are waiting on you.
  • You like both the physical side, cables and racks, and the logical side, addresses and settings.
  • You are tidy about labels and documentation, because you are the one who will need them at midnight.
  • You do not mind explaining a technical fault to a person who just wants it fixed.
  • You are happy to keep learning new equipment and tools.
You may hate this if
  • You hate being interrupted. The job is a stream of urgent small things, and the big project keeps getting pushed back.
  • You dislike being on call. Networks fail at bad hours, and some employers expect you to answer.
  • You do not like crawling under desks, climbing ladders or working in cramped wiring spaces.
  • You want a growing job market. Job Bank rates Ontario as Moderate for this group and its text mentions some positions being lost to decline, with several opening through retirements.
  • You cannot tolerate being blamed when 'the internet is down', even when the fault is a provider you do not control.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Finish high school with maths and any computing or technology course

    There is no regulated entry point. Job Bank says a college or other programme in computer science, network administration, web technology or a related field is usually required.

  2. Take a college programme with networking in it

    ontariocolleges.ca has a Computer - Networking / Communications field page that lists network administrator and network engineer among the career possibilities. Programme names, lengths and credentials vary by college, so read the college's own page.

  3. Sit entry certifications if they help you get hired

    CompTIA says its A+ certification covers hardware, networking, mobile devices and troubleshooting, and recommends 12 months of hands-on IT support experience. It says Network+ validates networking tools and concepts and recommends A+ plus 9 to 12 months in a junior network administrator or network support role. Whether you need either depends on the employer.

  4. Check the regulation note before you assume anything

    Job Bank's page for this group says Skilled Trades Ontario regulates it, but we could not find a matching network technician trade on the Skilled Trades Ontario pages we read. Ask a college programme coordinator whether any certification is actually required before you plan around one.

  5. Start in support, then move toward networks

    Many technicians start on a help desk and move to networks once they have shown they can trace a fault. The it-support-technician page covers that first step.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Requirements for computer network and web technicians in Ontario · ontariocolleges.ca — Computer - Networking / Communications · CompTIA — Network+ certification · CompTIA — A+ certification

The money

Computer network technician 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.

$19.00
Low (hourly)
$35.71
Median (hourly)
$57.69
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 22220. 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 — Computer network 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.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Moderate3 out of 5 stars

  • Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
  • 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

  • The extensive use of advanced digital tools across all industries will continue to create job opportunities
  • However the level of job prospects may be moderated, or the roles of these technicians may change as more businesses adopt cloud-based technologies which are usually available from offsite third-party providers
  • The pace of employment growth may also be affected by recent restructuring in the technology sector

Who hires for it

  • All major industries, but the leading share employed in computer systems design services
  • Telecommunications
  • Public administration, largely federal government departments
17,450
people work in this job in Ontario
17%
are women (48% across all jobs)
7%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Computer network and web technicians job prospects in Ontario (NOC 22220). 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 computer science or any technology course that covers how computers connect. Even a unit on how the internet routes data is relevant.
  • Ask your school's IT person if you can watch them fix a real problem. Offer to carry things; the offer is how you get to watch.
  • Learn what your home router does by reading its settings page with a parent's agreement, and write down what each setting means.
  • Ask about a co-op placement in a school board or business IT department.

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.

Find out what is on your network and why

About 60 minutes
  1. At home, count every device that connects to the wifi: phones, TVs, speakers, consoles. Write the list and, for each, where in the house it sits.
  2. Read about what an IP address and a router do, in one plain-language explainer. Write one sentence on each in your own words.
  3. Imagine a fault: the TV cannot reach the internet but your phone can. Write the first five things you would check, in order, and why.
  4. Look up one college's network programme page and write down the first-year subjects.

What it tells you. If the fault-finding list was the part you enjoyed and you wanted to know the real answer, a network or support path fits you. If the whole exercise felt like admin, consider programming or design work instead. If you liked the thinking but not the idea of cables and cupboards, look at cloud and systems roles.

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 is the usual first thing you check when someone says the network is down?”
  2. “How much of your job is hands-on and how much is on a screen?”
  3. “Are you on call, and how often does it actually ring?”
  4. “How has the move to cloud services changed your job?”
  5. “Which certification, if any, did an employer actually ask you for?”
  6. “What would you tell someone choosing between help desk and networking?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes, as a managed IT or network installation business for small offices. A small share of this group is self-employed in Job Bank's figures. You need reliable people skills and insurance, and you need to be honest about what you can and cannot support.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a computer network technician make in Ontario?

The median pay for a computer network technician in Ontario is $35.71 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $19.00 to $57.69 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a computer network technician in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as moderate for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions. 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. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become a computer network technician 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: Finish high school with maths and any computing or technology course; Take a college programme with networking in it; Sit entry certifications if they help you get hired.

Where does a computer network technician work in Ontario?

All major industries, but the leading share employed in computer systems design services. Telecommunications. Public administration, largely federal government departments. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as a computer network technician in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 17,450 people working in this job in Ontario. 17% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Where people come from

Which programs lead here?

In the 2021 Census, this job is one of the 12 most common for graduates of these programs. Each page shows what else they do, and which of those jobs have openings.

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

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 — freeAll jobs

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

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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.