Launch League

Engineering & technical · Leading & Selling

Engineering manager: what the job actually is

Leading a team of engineers: setting the work, defending the schedule and signing off that it is safe and correct.

Published Last reviewed How we research and correct this

Engineering manager: quick facts

Engineering manager salary in Ontario: the median pay is $72.12 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate.

Median pay in Ontario
$72.12 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$46.00 to $102.56 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
15,550
Usually needs
Management

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 20010. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Managing engineers and their projects: assigning work, keeping a schedule and a budget, reviewing designs and being the person who explains technical risks to people who are not engineers.
  • Job Bank's group is engineering managers, which covers managers of civil, mechanical, electrical and other engineering work. It reports one wage and one outlook for all of them, and the work differs a lot between specialities.
  • Job Bank says a bachelor's degree in engineering is usually required, along with extensive experience in an engineering discipline, including supervisory experience.
  • Job Bank says registration as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) by a provincial or territorial association is usually required. Engineers Canada says a licence requires an accredited engineering degree, engineering work experience, a professional practice exam, good character and language ability, and is granted by provincial and territorial regulators.
  • Job Bank's Ontario outlook for the group is Moderate. It says infrastructure investment should benefit civil engineering managers and advanced manufacturing should support those in mechanical and electrical work.
  • It is a management job reached after years as an engineer, so it comes after the engineering pages, not in place of them.

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. 7:30 — Read the overnight emails. A site is waiting on an answer from your team.
  2. 8:30 — Stand-up with your engineers. One is stuck, one is ahead, and one has found a problem in a drawing.
  3. 10:00 — Review a design someone else made and sign off, or send it back with questions.
  4. 11:30 — Meet the client, who wants the deadline moved forward and the budget kept the same.
  5. 12:30 — Lunch with a supplier, who explains why the part is late.
  6. 14:00 — A one-on-one with a junior engineer about what to learn next.
  7. 15:00 — Update the schedule and the budget. Your honest estimate is not what anyone wanted.
  8. 16:30 — Review a safety report and decide what to change.
  9. 18:00 — Go home. You solved nothing with your own hands today, and the project moved.

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 engineering but find yourself more interested in how the team and the project work than in the calculation.
  • You can tell people the truth about time and risk, even when they will be disappointed.
  • You are patient enough to spend years as an engineer before you lead others.
  • You enjoy teaching and developing younger people.
  • You can switch between technical detail and the big picture.
You may hate this if
  • You love doing the technical work yourself. A manager spends days in meetings, reviews and schedules and does less hands-on design.
  • You dislike responsibility for safety. Engineering decisions can affect the public, and you answer for your team's work.
  • You do not want years of preparation. Job Bank says extensive experience in engineering, including supervision, is required.
  • You dislike pressure between technical truth and the client's wishes. Both come to your desk.
  • You want a quick start. The route is a degree, years as an engineer and then a step up.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Earn an accredited engineering degree

    Job Bank says a bachelor's degree in engineering is usually required, and Engineers Canada says licensing requires a degree from a Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board accredited programme or equivalent qualifications. Check ontariouniversitiesinfo.ca for Ontario programmes, and look for co-op, which many include.

  2. Work as an engineer and become licensed

    Job Bank says P.Eng. registration is usually required. Engineers Canada lists the steps: the degree, engineering work experience in the province where you apply, the professional practice exam, good character and language ability. Read the Ontario regulator's own current page for the details and the timing before you plan around them.

  3. Take on supervising, then managing

    Job Bank says supervisory experience is required. Ask to lead a small project, mentor a junior or coordinate a site, because those are the stepping stones.

  4. Add management training if you want it

    Some people add a business course or a master's degree. Job Bank does not say one is required, so ask managers at companies you like what they looked for in a promotion.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Engineering managers (NOC 20010), requirements · Job Bank — Engineering managers (NOC 20010), outlook · Engineers Canada — overview of the licensing process

The money

Engineering manager 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.

$46.00
Low (hourly)
$72.12
Median (hourly)
$102.56
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 20010. 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 — Engineering manager 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 growth will lead to a few new 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

  • This occupation includes different specializations, therefore the level of job opportunities and sources of employment will vary:
  • Significant public sector infrastructure investments in highways, bridges and in transit systems should benefit civil engineering managers
  • Shift towards more advanced processes in manufacturing are expected to support employment for engineering managers that specialize in mechanical or electrical engineering
  • Need for consultancy services to support clients in the mining sector

Who hires for it

  • A variety of industries, but the leading share employed in professional, scientific and technical services industry, largely architectural, engineering and related services
  • Manufacturing, especially in transportation equipment production
15,550
people work in this job in Ontario
18%
are women (48% across all jobs)
7%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Engineering managers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 20010). 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 maths and science courses that engineering programmes list as prerequisites, and check each programme's entry page.
  • Join a robotics team or any group project where you can take a role such as coordinator, not only builder.
  • Lead something with a deadline, such as a school event or a team build, and write down what went wrong and why.
  • Ask an engineer to tell you which of their years were spent doing technical work, and when they started to manage.

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.

Lead a small build with a schedule and one problem

About 120 minutes
  1. Pick a small project that a few people can build with materials you have, such as a cardboard bridge that must hold a set weight, and set a deadline of two hours.
  2. Divide the work among two or three people, or divide it into stages for yourself, and write a schedule with a time for each part.
  3. Build it, and when something goes wrong, write the problem down, decide what to change and note how long it set you back.
  4. Test it, then write what you would tell a client about the time and the risk.

What it tells you. If you enjoyed planning the stages and dealing with the setback more than the building itself, management may suit you after some engineering years. If you wished you could just do the building without the planning, that points to an engineering job that stays hands-on.

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. “How many years did you work as an engineer before you managed?”
  2. “What do you miss about doing the technical work?”
  3. “How did you get your P.Eng., and did it matter to your promotion?”
  4. “How do you decide when a design is safe enough to sign?”
  5. “What is the hardest part of managing engineers?”
  6. “How much of your week is meetings?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Job Bank reports a lower share of self-employment for this group than for all occupations. Many engineers go on to run consulting firms, usually after years of licensed experience, a reputation and clients who trust them. It is a business of liability and insurance, so find out what that involves first.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does an engineering manager make in Ontario?

The median pay for an engineering manager in Ontario is $72.12 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $46.00 to $102.56 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for an engineering manager in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as moderate for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment growth will lead to a few new 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 engineering manager in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work is classed as a management occupation. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Earn an accredited engineering degree; Work as an engineer and become licensed; Take on supervising, then managing.

Where does an engineering manager work in Ontario?

A variety of industries, but the leading share employed in professional, scientific and technical services industry, largely architectural, engineering and related services. Manufacturing, especially in transportation equipment production. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as an engineering manager in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 15,550 people working in this job in Ontario. 18% 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?

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

civil engineer mechanical engineer electrical engineer construction manager industrial engineer

Read next

University vs college vs apprenticeship What to do after high school Careers that match your strengths All careers guides

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.