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Electronics technologist: what the job actually is

Building, testing and repairing electronic equipment, and turning an engineer's design into something that actually works on the bench.

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Electronics technologist: quick facts

Electronics technologist salary in Ontario: the median pay is $34.09 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
$34.09 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$23.08 to $52.88 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
10,450
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 22310. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Building, testing, calibrating and repairing electronic equipment and systems, from circuit boards to control systems to communications gear.
  • Job Bank's group is Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians. It is the practical, hands-on partner of the electrical engineer, who designs the system.
  • A technologist works from the engineer's drawings and makes it work: builds a prototype, finds why it fails, tests it against the specification and writes up the results.
  • Job Bank lists job titles in this group that include hardware technician and microelectronics manufacturer, so the work ranges from labs to manufacturing floors.
  • It is different from an electrician, who installs and maintains wiring in buildings. See /careers/jobs/electrician.

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. 8:00 — Pick up the prototype board from last night's test. It failed at one temperature.
  2. 8:45 — Probe the board with a meter and an oscilloscope. One component is out of tolerance.
  3. 10:00 — Swap the component, re-test, and write down what changed.
  4. 11:00 — Meeting with the engineer who designed it. They want the test repeated at three more temperatures.
  5. 12:00 — Lunch, and a debate about whether the fault is the part or the supplier.
  6. 13:00 — Set up the test equipment and run the three tests. Log every reading.
  7. 14:30 — Spot a reading that does not fit. Check the cable. It is the cable.
  8. 15:30 — Write the test report in plain steps so someone else could repeat it.
  9. 16:30 — Calibrate the instruments that need it this week, and record it.
  10. 17:00 — Tidy the bench, label the failed parts, and leave a note on what is still open.

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 working with your hands and your head together, on small precise things.
  • You enjoy tracing a fault to its cause rather than guessing.
  • You can be careful and write down exactly what you did.
  • You want a technical job reached through a college programme.
  • You like the bench more than the meeting room.
You may hate this if
  • You want to design the system. Technologists mostly make an engineer's design work and test it.
  • You dislike detailed, repetitive testing and record-keeping.
  • You find small parts, soldering and long stretches of focused close work uncomfortable.
  • You want to be sure of your openings. Job Bank's Ontario outlook is Moderate, but its text also says employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
  • You want to be the one with the final say. In engineering, a licensed engineer takes responsibility for the approval.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Read the outlook

    Job Bank rates the 2025-2027 Ontario outlook for electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians as Moderate. It says employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions, several positions will become available through retirements, and there are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience. It names demand for consulting and technical expertise and investment in utilities and transportation infrastructure as supports.

  2. Take a college programme in electronics engineering technology

    Job Bank's Ontario page says completion of a two- or three-year college programme in electrical or electronics engineering technology, computer engineering technology, telecommunications technology or an equivalent is usually required for technologists. See /careers/degrees/engineering-technology. Look for programmes with a work placement and ask where graduates end up.

  3. Gain supervised experience

    Job Bank says a period of supervised work experience is required before certification. OACETT, the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists, says you must have at least two years of experience for certification, and that for the C.E.T. designation at least six months must be in a role OACETT has determined meets technologist-level competencies.

  4. Certify as a C.Tech. or C.E.T. if employers ask

    OACETT says graduates of a 2-year post-secondary programme in engineering technology or applied science generally work toward Certified Technician (C.Tech.), while those with three or more years of education can work toward Certified Engineering Technologist (C.E.T.). Associate members must pass the Professional Practice Examination. Job Bank says certification is available through provincial associations and may be required for some positions, so check each posting. A technologist diploma does not make you a professional engineer; that is a separate licence.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Requirements for electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians in Ontario · OACETT — Canadian-educated professionals: certification requirements

The money

Electronics technologist 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.

$23.08
Low (hourly)
$34.09
Median (hourly)
$52.88
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 22310. 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 — Electronics technologist 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.
  • Several 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.

What is changing in this work

  • Favourable demand for consulting services and technical expertise in a variety of areas, such as manufacturing
  • Investments in the utilities industry and transportation infrastructure

Who hires for it

  • Manufacturers, especially computer and electronic product
  • Building equipment contractors
  • Engineering and related firms
  • Utilities providers in electric power generation, transmission and distribution
10,450
people work in this job in Ontario
11%
are women (48% across all jobs)
7%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians job prospects in Ontario (NOC 22310). 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 maths, physics and any technology or electronics course. College programmes ask for specific Grade 12 credits, so check two programmes' requirements on ontariocolleges.ca now.
  • Build a simple circuit with a kit, or use a free simulator, and practise reading a meter.
  • Ask your guidance office about co-op placements with an electronics repair shop, a manufacturer or a utility.
  • Look at whether your school offers a Specialist High Skills Major or a robotics club connected to technology.

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 in a circuit simulator

About 60 minutes
  1. Use a free browser-based circuit simulator to build a battery, a switch, a resistor and an LED, and confirm it works.
  2. Deliberately break it in one way, such as a wrong resistor or a reversed LED, and look at what the simulator shows.
  3. Without looking at your own build, ask a friend to break it and see whether you can find the fault by testing one point at a time.
  4. Write the steps you took, in order, so someone else could repeat the diagnosis. Do all of this on screen and stay away from mains power.

What it tells you. If you enjoyed the detective work of narrowing down the fault and found the written steps satisfying, technologist work is a good fit. If you only liked building the circuit, a design-focused or trades route may suit you better. If the one-point-at-a-time method felt slow, note that patience is the whole skill.

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 build, test or repair in a normal week?”
  2. “Which college programme did you take, and did it prepare you for the work?”
  3. “Did you pursue C.Tech. or C.E.T. certification, and did employers ask for it?”
  4. “How do you work with the engineers who design what you test?”
  5. “What is the most frustrating kind of fault to find?”
  6. “What would you tell a student choosing between this and an engineering degree?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Sometimes. Some technologists start electronics repair or contract-testing businesses, but Job Bank's figures show a lower share of self-employment in this group than in the workforce overall, so most people work for an employer. The route is usually experience first, then going out on your own.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does an electronics technologist make in Ontario?

The median pay for an electronics technologist in Ontario is $34.09 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $23.08 to $52.88 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for an electronics technologist 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. Several positions will become available due to retirements. There are a moderate 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 an electronics technologist 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: Read the outlook; Take a college programme in electronics engineering technology; Gain supervised experience.

Where does an electronics technologist work in Ontario?

Manufacturers, especially computer and electronic product. Building equipment contractors. Engineering and related firms. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as an electronics technologist in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 10,450 people working in this job in Ontario. 11% 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.

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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.