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Skilled trades · Building & Making

Industrial electrician: what the job actually is

Keeping the motors, drives and controls of a factory running, where a stopped machine costs money every minute.

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Industrial electrician: quick facts

Industrial electrician salary in Ontario: the median pay is $40.50 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
$40.50 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$29.00 to $48.00 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
16,100
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 72201. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Installing, maintaining and repairing the electrical equipment in factories and plants: motors, drives, motor control centres, sensors and the controls that run machines.
  • Skilled Trades Ontario lists Industrial Electrician as trade code 442A and as non-compulsory. It is a different trade from the Construction and Maintenance Electrician (309A), who wires buildings. We cover that one on its own page.
  • A lot of the day is troubleshooting. A machine stops, a sensor fails, a drive trips, and the line is losing money, so you work out why, quickly.
  • You work around moving machinery and high-energy equipment, so lockout, testing and procedures are the work itself.
  • Job Bank lists the main employers as manufacturers, mainly motor vehicle and parts, steel mills and food producers, along with building equipment contractors and metal ore mining companies.

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. 6:00 — Shift handover. Read what broke overnight and what is on the planned list.
  2. 6:30 — Permit and lockout. Isolate the machine, test that it is dead, and tag it before you open anything.
  3. 7:00 — Replace a failed motor on a conveyor, check its connections and its alignment with the mechanical crew.
  4. 9:00 — Break. A call comes in: a line is down.
  5. 9:15 — Troubleshoot with a meter and the electrical drawings: power, control signal, sensor, drive, in that order.
  6. 11:00 — Replace a failed sensor, test the circuit and restart the machine under watch.
  7. 12:00 — Lunch.
  8. 12:30 — Planned work: thermal imaging or inspection of a motor control centre, checking connections and labels.
  9. 14:00 — Programme or adjust a drive's settings with a maintenance laptop.
  10. 15:00 — Write up the repair and handover notes, because the next shift will find the same fault otherwise.

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 finding the reason a machine stopped, under pressure from people who need it running.
  • You are interested in motors, controls, sensors and the programmable systems behind them.
  • You follow lockout and testing procedures exactly, every time, with no shortcuts.
  • You work well with the mechanics, operators and engineers around you.
  • You want to be paid while you train for years.
You may hate this if
  • Shifts, nights, weekends and callbacks would wear on you. Plants run on schedules that do not suit everybody.
  • Noise, heat and industrial environments are a problem for you.
  • You get anxious when everyone is waiting on you. A stopped line is expensive, and people stand and watch.
  • You are worried about the sector. Job Bank's Ontario outlook notes employment decline and says prospects may be constrained by weak business conditions in manufacturing, including automotive and steel production, so check it yourself.
  • You dislike constant learning. Controls, drives and software keep changing and you must keep up.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Understand the two electrician trades

    Industrial Electrician (442A) is non-compulsory, so you can work in the field without being certified, though certification is the proof of your skill. Construction and Maintenance Electrician (309A) is compulsory and covers building wiring. They are separate trades with separate hours.

  2. Find an employer and work the hours

    The time-frame for the Industrial Electrician trade is 9,000 hours, approximately five years, made up of 8,160 hours of on-the-job work experience and 840 hours of in-school training. Entry depends on a plant or contractor willing to sign you on.

  3. Certify

    Skilled Trades Ontario lists Industrial Electrician as a Red Seal trade, so the qualification is recognised across Canada.

  4. Read the long electrician guide too

    Our guide on how to become an electrician in Ontario covers the construction route in detail, including how to find the first employer. Much of the advice about sponsors and apprenticeships applies here too.

Where this comes from: Skilled Trades Ontario — Industrial Electrician (442A) · Skilled Trades Ontario — Electrician, Construction and Maintenance (309A) · Ontario — Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program

The money

Industrial electrician 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.

$29.00
Low (hourly)
$40.50
Median (hourly)
$48.00
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 72201. 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 — Industrial electrician 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.

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

  • Opportunities to support upgrades and maintenance of electrical equipment in the province's large manufacturing base
  • However, during the forecast period, employment prospects may be constrained by weak business conditions in manufacturing, including automotive and steel production due to economic uncertainty

Who hires for it

  • Manufacturers, mainly motor vehicle and parts, steel mills, and food producers
  • Building equipment contractors
  • Metal ore mining companies
16,100
people work in this job in Ontario
less than 5%
are women (48% across all jobs)
5%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Industrial electricians job prospects in Ontario (NOC 72201). 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 physics, maths, electronics and technology courses. Circuits and controls are the language.
  • Ask about OYAP and co-op, and ask the board recruiter which manufacturers near you take students.
  • Learn to read a simple electrical schematic. A technology teacher can show you in minutes.
  • Ask about a school visit to a local manufacturer or college trades shop, and ask to see the control panels.

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 through a control circuit on paper

About 75 minutes
  1. Find a free simple motor start and stop control diagram. Follow the path of the signal with a pencil, from the start button to the motor.
  2. Imagine the motor does not run. Write the checks you would do in order: power, fuse, control signal, motor.
  3. Watch a video of an industrial electrician troubleshooting a machine. Compare their order of checks with your list.
  4. Do not touch any real wiring. Phone one local industrial maintenance employer and ask what they look for in an apprentice.

What it tells you. If ordering the checks and then seeing the real order felt like a puzzle you wanted to solve, troubleshooting may be your kind of work. If you wanted someone to just give you the answer, remember that finding it is most of the job.

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 much of your week is planned work and how much is breakdowns?”
  2. “What is your shift pattern and how do you live with it?”
  3. “How secure is work in your plant, and what do people say about the next ten years?”
  4. “What is the most satisfying fault you have found?”
  5. “How did you decide between construction and industrial?”
  6. “What did your first year look like?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Sometimes, as a contractor or in controls and maintenance services, but most industrial electricians work for a plant. Independent work involves insurance, tools and a few large customers, and it comes after years of experience and the right certification.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does an industrial electrician make in Ontario?

The median pay for an industrial electrician in Ontario is $40.50 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $29.00 to $48.00 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for an industrial electrician 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. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become an industrial electrician 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: Understand the two electrician trades; Find an employer and work the hours; Certify.

Where does an industrial electrician work in Ontario?

Manufacturers, mainly motor vehicle and parts, steel mills, and food producers. Building equipment contractors. Metal ore mining companies. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as an industrial electrician in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 16,100 people working in this job in Ontario. Less than 5% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

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.