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Skilled trades · Building & Making

Machine operator: what the job actually is

Running automatic or multi-purpose machines that turn metal into parts and products such as wire mesh, nails, bolts and chains.

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Machine operator: quick facts

Machine operator salary in Ontario: the median pay is $23.00 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is limited. The job usually needs a high school diploma, or several weeks of on-the-job training.

Median pay in Ontario
$23.00 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$18.00 to $34.00 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Limited
People working in it in Ontario
25,950
Usually needs
Usually a high school diploma, or several weeks of on-the-job training

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 94107. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Job Bank describes this group as people who operate one or more automatic or multi-purpose machines to produce metal parts and products, such as wire mesh, nails, bolts and chains.
  • This group is machine operators of other metal products, in metal products manufacturing companies. It is a broad group, and what you operate depends on the plant.
  • An operator runs the machine: loads material, starts it, watches it, checks the parts, and stops it when something is wrong. Setting up a machine from scratch and programming one are skills that usually belong to other jobs.
  • This is different from a machinist or a tool and die maker, who make parts and tooling to precise drawings after an apprenticeship. See those pages for the trade route.
  • Job Bank says on-the-job training is provided, and that experience as a labourer in the same company may be required. Many people start as a labourer in the plant and move onto a machine.

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. 6:50 — In, safety glasses and hearing protection on. Read the production sheet: what is running, how many, to what tolerance.
  2. 7:00 — Start-up check on the machine: guards in place, material loaded, lubrication and coolant checked, a test run through the first parts.
  3. 7:20 — Measure the first parts with a gauge or caliper. If they are within tolerance, you run. If they are not, you stop and tell the setter or the supervisor.
  4. 8:00 — Running. You load stock, watch the machine, clear a jam, and sample parts at set intervals.
  5. 10:00 — Break. Your ears ring a little, as they do at the end of every shift.
  6. 10:15 — Running again. A coil of material runs out and you change it, carefully, with the machine off and locked out.
  7. 12:00 — Lunch. Somebody is talking about overtime, and somebody else about the layoff rumour.
  8. 12:30 — Afternoon: the same job, with a new batch and a different gauge to check.
  9. 14:30 — Clean the machine and the floor, log the counts and any scrap, and hand over to the next shift.

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 machines and watching a process run properly.
  • You are careful and patient about measuring and checking, because a bad batch costs money.
  • You like a job with a clear target for the day, in numbers you can see.
  • You want to start working without a post-secondary programme, and you are willing to learn on the job.
  • You might want to move later into setting machines up, a machinist trade or maintenance, and want to be near the equipment while you decide.
You may hate this if
  • Repetition and noise would wear you down. Machines are loud and the work is the same shape each hour.
  • You are worried about job security. Job Bank's outlook for this group in Ontario is limited, and it says employment is expected to decline.
  • You dislike being told your parts are out of tolerance. Measuring and quality checks are part of every shift.
  • Shift work, including nights or rotating shifts, would be hard on you.
  • You want to be creative in your work. The point of this job is that every part is the same.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Some secondary school, then an employer who will train you

    Job Bank says some secondary school education is usually required and that on-the-job training is provided. The occupation is not regulated in Canada, so there is no licence to get first.

  2. A labourer job in the plant is often the first step

    Job Bank says experience as a labourer in the same company may be required. That means applying for plant or warehouse jobs and moving onto a machine after you have proved you are reliable and safe.

  3. Check the age rule

    Ontario.ca lists 15 as the minimum age to work in factories and similar facilities such as manufacturing plants. Employers may set their own, higher, age.

  4. If you want more security and pay, look at the trade next door

    Given Job Bank's limited outlook for this group, many people use plant experience to start an apprenticeship such as machinist, tool and die maker or millwright. See those pages and the OYAP guide for how that works.

Where this comes from: Job Bank: Machine operators of other metal products, requirements in Ontario · Job Bank: Machine operators of other metal products, occupational summary · Ontario: Minimum age for work

The money

Machine operator 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.

$18.00
Low (hourly)
$23.00
Median (hourly)
$34.00
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 94107. 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 — Machine operator 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

Limited2 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.

25,950
people work in this job in Ontario
15%
are women (48% across all jobs)
5%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Machine operators of other metal products job prospects in Ontario (NOC 94107). 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 every manufacturing, shop and maths course you can. Reading a measurement and understanding tolerance are the core of this job.
  • Ask about co-op at a manufacturer, and ask the plant what its first-year jobs look like.
  • Ask about OYAP and Specialist High Skills Major programmes in manufacturing, which can start you on a trade while you are still at school.
  • Learn to use a caliper or a micrometer. They are cheap, and being able to read one makes you more useful on day one.

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.

Measure to a tolerance and see if you like it

About 60 minutes
  1. Look up how to read a vernier caliper or a digital caliper, and watch one short video of an operator checking a part.
  2. Borrow or buy a cheap caliper, or use a ruler if you cannot. Measure ten identical objects at home (screws, coins, bottle caps) to the finest division you can read, and write down each measurement.
  3. Work out the biggest difference between your ten readings and decide which ones you would reject if the tolerance were tight.
  4. Search for a video of a wire, nail or bolt machine running, watch for ten minutes, and write down whether you would be content watching it all day.

What it tells you. If you liked finding the small differences and were interested in the machine, you have the right attention for this work, and the next step is a conversation with a local plant. If measuring felt tedious and the video was dull, that matters: with a limited outlook, you would be better to spend the effort on a trade where the work is more varied.

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 make, and how is it checked?”
  2. “How long did it take to move from a labourer job to running a machine?”
  3. “What are the shifts, and how often do they rotate?”
  4. “How is the plant's work changing, and how is your job changing with it?”
  5. “Who sets the machines up, and how does somebody move into that job?”
  6. “What would you do if you were starting again at 18?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Not as an operator. A production machine is expensive and the work is tied to a manufacturer's orders. The skills lead toward a small machining or fabrication shop, but that normally needs a trade background, equipment, money and customers. The workforce box shows how few in this group are self-employed.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a machine operator make in Ontario?

The median pay for a machine operator in Ontario is $23.00 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $18.00 to $34.00 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a machine operator in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as limited 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 machine operator in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a high school diploma, or several weeks of on-the-job training. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Some secondary school, then an employer who will train you; A labourer job in the plant is often the first step; Check the age rule.

How many people work as a machine operator in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 25,950 people working in this job in Ontario. 15% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Skilled trades hub: kids, teens and adults The highest-paying skilled trades OYAP: start in high school SHSM: the Specialist High Skills Major Women in the skilled trades What can you do with your degree?

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

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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.