Engineering & technical · Analyzing & Problem-solving
Electrical engineer: what the job actually is
Designing and testing the electrical and electronic systems that power, control and connect everything else.
Published Last reviewed How we research and correct this
The work
What this job actually is
- Designing, testing and improving systems that generate, move, control or use electricity, and the electronics that sense and decide.
- The field is wide: power generation and distribution, circuit design, control systems, communications, building electrical design. People tend to specialise early.
- Much of the work is modelling, simulation, drawing and documentation, followed by testing real equipment to see whether the model was right.
- You work with electricians, technicians and manufacturers, and your design has to be buildable, safe and inspectable.
- Electrical work can be dangerous, so standards and sign-off carry real weight. Once licensed, your name is on the approval.
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.
- 8:30 — Review overnight test data from a circuit board. One measurement is off.
- 9:15 — Check the simulation against the real measurement. They disagree by more than they should.
- 10:30 — Go to the lab bench and probe the board yourself. A component is a different value than the drawing says.
- 11:30 — Update the design and the parts list, and flag the change to the people who order the parts.
- 12:30 — Lunch, and an argument about whether the standard allows what the client wants.
- 13:15 — Meeting with a technician who will have to install this. They point out that nobody could reach the connector.
- 14:30 — Redraw it so a person can reach the connector, and document why.
- 15:30 — Write a test procedure with a clear pass and fail.
- 16:30 — Review a colleague's calculation and find a unit error.
- 17:00 — Save, back up and leave a note on what is still unverified.
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 understanding things you cannot see, and then proving it with a measurement.
- You enjoy maths and physics when they predict something real.
- You can be careful with safety and standards without finding them tedious.
- You like both screen work and bench work.
- You want a specialist field where depth is valued.
- You dislike abstract maths. Much of the foundation is mathematical and arrives early.
- You want to see the thing you made. A lot of the output is a design, a model or a document.
- You do not like risk. The work can involve high voltage, and mistakes matter.
- You want a wide-open market. Job Bank rates the 2025-2027 Ontario outlook as Limited, though it also notes some growth will lead to a few new positions.
- You dislike sign-off and paperwork. Standards and approvals are a real share of the job.
The route in
How you actually get there in Ontario
Know what the outlook says
Job Bank rates the 2025-2027 Ontario outlook for electrical and electronics engineers as Limited. It says employment growth will lead to a few new positions, a moderate number of positions will become available through retirements, and there are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience. That means competition for entry roles, and good reason to arrive with co-op experience.Earn an accredited engineering degree
Professional Engineers Ontario says the academic requirement for a P.Eng. licence is a bachelor's degree in an engineering programme accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board, or a degree on PEO's Recognized Programs List plus a technical exam programme. Look for programmes with a co-op stream so you gain paid industry experience.Gain verified experience under a licensed engineer
PEO requires at least two years of eligible, verifiable experience beginning when a recognized four-year Bachelor of Engineering degree is conferred, and passing a competency-based assessment covering 34 competencies. PEO says applicants on average need three to four years to demonstrate them all, and it does not require Canadian experience. The rules were updated on 1 July 2026.Apply for the P.Eng. licence
PEO also requires a good character assessment and identification. Job Bank says eligibility for registration follows an accredited programme, three to four years of supervised engineering experience and a professional practice exam. Until you are licensed, you work under the supervision of a licensed engineer.
Where this comes from: Professional Engineers Ontario — Application requirements · Job Bank — Requirements for electrical and electronics engineers in Ontario
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.
- $33.65
- Low (hourly)
- $50.00
- Median (hourly)
- $82.42
- High (hourly)
Ontario, NOC 21310. 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.
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.
Limited2 out of 5 stars
- Employment growth will lead to a few 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.
- 16,350
- people work in this job in Ontario
- 13%
- are women (48% across all jobs)
- 10%
- are self-employed (15% across all jobs)
Source: Job Bank — Electrical and electronics engineers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 21310). 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 and physics available, and any electronics or technology course. A good chance to try the field is a school robotics or electronics club.
- Learn what a circuit actually does by building a simple one, or using a free simulator on your computer.
- Ask about co-op placements with an electrical contractor, a utility or a manufacturer.
- Compare the entry requirements and co-op options at 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.
Build and break a simple circuit in a simulator
About 75 minutes- Find a free browser-based circuit simulator and build a battery, a switch, a resistor and an LED. Predict before you run it whether the LED will light.
- Change the resistor value and see what happens. Predict first each time and write down whether you were right.
- Deliberately make it fail, for instance by removing the resistor, and note what the simulator shows.
- Write two sentences about why it behaved that way. Do all of this on screen only and leave real mains electricity alone.
What it tells you. If predicting then checking was the fun part, and being wrong made you curious rather than annoyed, you have the right temperament. If you found the predictions a chore and wanted simply to follow instructions, an electrician or technician route, which is more hands-on, may fit better. Both are respectable and different.
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.
- “What do you actually design, and how do you know it is right?”
- “How much of your week is at a computer and how much in a lab or on site?”
- “How did you find your first job, and did co-op matter?”
- “What is the hardest part of getting licensed?”
- “How do you stay safe when the equipment can hurt people?”
- “Which area of the field would you pick if you started again?”
Could you own one of these?
The part other career sites never mention
Yes, but usually after years of experience and a P.Eng. licence. Consulting engineers design electrical systems for buildings and small manufacturers, and Job Bank's workforce figures include self-employed engineers. Early in a career, your growth comes from working under licensed engineers.
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.
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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.