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Skilled trades · Building & Making

Tool and die maker: what the job actually is

Making the precise tools, dies, jigs and gauges that other machines use to stamp, cut and shape thousands of identical parts.

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Tool and die maker: quick facts

Tool and die maker salary in Ontario: the median pay is $34.00 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is limited. The job usually needs a college diploma, or an apprenticeship of two or more years.

Median pay in Ontario
$34.00 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$22.00 to $42.50 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Limited
People working in it in Ontario
7,700
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 72101. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Skilled Trades Ontario describes the trade as designing, creating, repairing and testing prototype and production tools such as dies, cutting tools, jigs, fixtures, gauges and specialty tools.
  • The trade is code 430A, non-compulsory, and a Red Seal trade. A die is a tool that shapes or cuts metal, for example to stamp a car panel, and the tool and die maker builds it.
  • The work uses conventional and CNC machines for turning, milling and grinding, and careful measuring, and it involves interpreting engineering drawings and checking the finished tool.
  • It is very precise and often one-off: you may spend weeks on one tool that must be right before it can make anything.
  • Job Bank's Ontario outlook for this group is Limited. It says employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions, that most work is in manufacturing, that much of the demand comes from automotive manufacturing, and that automation and 3D printing may change the skills needed. Read it before you commit.

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. 6:45 — In. Read the drawing for the die you are building, and check the notes from yesterday.
  2. 7:00 — Set up the mill: clamp the block, indicate it square, zero the machine. Setup takes longer than cutting.
  3. 8:15 — Cut. A pocket in hardened steel, slowly, measuring every pass.
  4. 9:30 — Break. Your hands smell of cutting oil.
  5. 9:45 — Move to the grinder to bring a surface to a flatness you cannot see without a gauge.
  6. 11:30 — Fit two parts of the die together and check the clearance. It is off by a tiny amount, and you take the part back to the machine.
  7. 12:00 — Lunch. The talk is about a new CNC machine and whether it will replace someone.
  8. 12:30 — Program a CNC job and run a test on scrap, watching for the first cut.
  9. 14:30 — Assemble a section of the die and bring it to the press for a trial run. The first part comes out and you measure it.
  10. 15:30 — Clean the machine, log the hours, and write what needs to be done tomorrow.

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 precision, and you are happy checking something again when it has already measured correct.
  • You like solving a puzzle in metal, where the answer is a tool that works.
  • You enjoy both machines and thinking: reading drawings, calculating, planning the order of operations.
  • You want a long apprenticeship that leads to a skilled, Red Seal trade.
  • You are patient with a single piece of work that takes days.
You may hate this if
  • You want a secure job in a growing area. Job Bank's outlook for this group is Limited, with work tied to manufacturing and the automotive sector.
  • You like variety and speed. Tools take a long time, and one mistake in the last hour can ruin days of work and expensive steel.
  • Noise, oil, metal chips and standing all day bother you. This is a shop job, and your feet and back will notice it.
  • You are uneasy about technology changing the work. Automation, CNC and 3D printing are changing how tools are made, so you must keep learning.
  • You do not want a long apprenticeship. This one is among the longest on this page.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Know the trade

    Skilled Trades Ontario lists Tool and Die Maker as trade code 430A. It is non-compulsory and a Red Seal trade.

  2. Find an employer who will register you

    You need a tool and die shop, or a manufacturer with its own toolroom, willing to take you on and sign off your hours. Many start with a machining or CNC job and ask about moving into the toolroom.

  3. Work the hours and go to school

    Skilled Trades Ontario lists the apprenticeship as 8,000 hours, described as approximately four years: 7,280 hours on the job and 720 hours in school, over three levels.

  4. Learn what the school levels cover

    Skilled Trades Ontario says in-school training covers trade safety, calculations, CAD and engineering drawings, metallurgy, metrology, machining technologies such as turning, milling, grinding and CNC, and die-building processes.

  5. Write the certifying exam

    After the apprenticeship you receive a Certificate of Apprenticeship, and after passing the certifying exam a Certificate of Qualification. Because the trade is non-compulsory, the Certificate of Qualification does not need renewing.

Where this comes from: Skilled Trades Ontario — Tool and Die Maker (430A) · Ontario — Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program

The money

Tool and die maker 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.

$22.00
Low (hourly)
$34.00
Median (hourly)
$42.50
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 72101. 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 — Tool and die maker 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.
  • 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

  • Much of the demand for tool and die making comes from the automotive manufacturing industry
  • Job prospects are expected to be constrained by weak business conditions in manufacturing, particularly in automotive production
  • Automation and 3D printing have been growing trends in the tool and die creation process, which may alter the skill requirements of tool and die makers

Who hires for it

  • Mainly employed in the manufacturing industry, specifically in machinery, transportation equipment and fabricated metal production
7,700
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 — Tool and die makers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 72101). 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 technology, drafting and CAD course you can, and maths. Tolerances and angles are the daily work.
  • Ask about OYAP, co-op and an SHSM in a related sector. A placement in a machine shop shows you the real trade.
  • Visit a skills competition or a manufacturing open day and watch the machinists work.
  • Learn to read a measurement: use a digital caliper on things around the house and see how small a thousandth of an inch really is.

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 something to a tolerance and find out if fussy suits you

About 60 minutes
  1. Borrow or buy a cheap digital or dial calliper. Measure ten small objects at home and write down each one to the smallest increment it shows.
  2. Measure the same object three times and compare. Notice how much your result depends on how you hold the tool.
  3. Watch two videos of a tool and die maker or toolmaker building a die, or running a CNC mill. Write down which step you wanted to keep watching.
  4. Phone or email one local machine or tool and die shop and ask what the shop makes, whether it takes apprentices, and how the work is changing.

What it tells you. If getting a number exactly right and checking it again felt satisfying, and the videos kept your interest, you have the temperament for this trade. If it felt fiddly and pointless, or if the shop tells you work is shrinking, take both seriously. This is a demanding trade with a limited outlook, and you should choose it with that in view.

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 is the work changing with CNC, automation and 3D printing?”
  2. “How secure is your shop's work from year to year?”
  3. “What is the best part of seeing a tool you made produce its first part?”
  4. “How did you get into the toolroom?”
  5. “What does a first-year apprentice do?”
  6. “Would you recommend this trade now, and to whom?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes, but it is a serious step. Small tool and die shops exist, and they need expensive machines, insurance and customers who place repeat orders, often manufacturers. Job Bank reports a low share of self-employment in this group, which suggests most people work for employers. Learn the trade and the customer base first.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a tool and die maker make in Ontario?

The median pay for a tool and die maker in Ontario is $34.00 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $22.00 to $42.50 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a tool and die maker 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. 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 a tool and die maker 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: Know the trade; Find an employer who will register you; Work the hours and go to school.

Where does a tool and die maker work in Ontario?

Mainly employed in the manufacturing industry, specifically in machinery, transportation equipment and fabricated metal production. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as a tool and die maker in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 7,700 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.

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.

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

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

machinist welder millwright sheet metal worker automotive service technician

Read next

Apprenticeships in Ontario OYAP in Ontario SHSM in Ontario Highest-paying trades 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.