Turn an architect's ideas into drawings a builder can use. A 2 or 3 year college diploma, Revit and the building code.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Certified, 5 years in
$62,000
New graduate
$45,000
Senior technologist
$82,000
Job Bank's national median works out to about $63,000 a year. Alberta and BC pay a little more. Technologists who run their own house-design business with a BCIN (Building Code Identification Number) can earn more than this, or less, depending on the housing market.
$45,000 to $55,000
Junior technologist, drafting in Revit
Big Toronto and Vancouver firms pay more than small towns, but rent eats the difference. Many jobs are hourly, so overtime is actually paid.
$70,000 to $90,000
Plans examiner or building inspector at a municipality
A common move after a few years. Municipal jobs come with a pension, set hours and a union.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is moving across from construction or a drafting job, teaching yourself the drawing software, and writing the Ontario building code exams that give you a Building Code Identification Number, which is what lets you sign residential drawings. Add a laptop strong enough to run the software. The high end is a three year college diploma, a better laptop, the fees charged by the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists, and the code exams. The cheap door is harder: without the diploma you cannot get that association's certification, so you need an employer willing to judge your drawings instead of your paper.
One of the cheapest routes into the building industry. Many students graduate with little or no debt.
Health and dental
Standard at mid-size and large firms.
Pension
Municipal building departments and school boards.
Paid overtime
Many firms pay technologists hourly, unlike salaried architects.
Predictable hours
Closer to 9 to 5 than most design jobs.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A college diploma, a job, then voluntary certification.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Grade 12 English and math. Physics and technological design help. Averages in the 70s are usually enough.
College diploma
2 to 3 years
A 2-year architectural technician or 3-year architectural technology diploma. Algonquin, Sheridan, Conestoga, George Brown and Fanshawe in Ontario; BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology); SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) and NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) in Alberta.
First job
Right after graduation
Drafting in Revit at an architecture firm, a home builder or an engineering firm. Co-op terms during the diploma often turn into this job.
Certification
2 years after graduation
After about 2 years of experience, apply to OACETT (Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists) or your provincial body, pass a practice exam, and use the C.E.T. (certified engineering technologist) title.
Optional: BCIN (Building Code Identification Number)
A few months of study
In Ontario, pass provincial building code exams to design houses and small buildings under your own name.
Math (Functions)
Required for admission.
Physics
Loads, heat, moisture. All of building science.
Technological design or drafting
You will be ahead on day one.
Construction technology
If your school has a shop, take it.
English
Required. Specs and code reports are writing.
You do not need a licence to work. Certification is voluntary but common. OACETT (Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists), ASET (Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta) and ASTTBC (Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of BC) grant the protected title C.E.T. (certified engineering technologist), which transfers between provinces. You can never call yourself an architect. In Ontario, a BCIN (Building Code Identification Number) from the province lets you design houses and small buildings under your own name.
Most large colleges have a program.
Ontario
Algonquin, Sheridan, Conestoga, George Brown, Fanshawe, Mohawk.
BC
BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology).
Alberta
SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology), NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology).
Prairies and Atlantic
Red River College Polytechnic, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, NSCC (Nova Scotia Community College).
Things you don't need, but that help.
BCIN (Building Code Identification Number)
Ontario only. Lets you take on house and small-building design yourself.
BIM (building information modelling) lead
The person who manages the Revit model on big projects is paid for it.
Building code specialist
Firms and municipalities pay for people who know the code cold.
Energy modelling and Passive House
Low-energy building rules keep tightening.
A degree bridge
Some colleges and universities give advanced standing toward an architecture or building science degree.
A summer on a construction site
You will draw better details if you have framed a wall.
Free student software
Autodesk gives students Revit and AutoCAD for free. Learn them before college.
SketchUp
Quick 3D models for clients and builders.
A driver's licence
Site visits and municipal offices.
In Ontario, pass the province's building code exams, register with the ministry and carry insurance, and you can design houses and small buildings under your own name. A large share of custom home and renovation drawings in Ontario are done by technologists, not architects. Some run a one-person business from home; others do it on the side of a day job.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Mostly at a desk in Revit, turning an architect's sketches into drawings a builder can price and build: wall sections, window details, stair dimensions, exit widths, fire ratings. A call from the site about a beam that does not fit. A code check before a permit goes in. Senior technologists visit sites and review shop drawings. Hours are steadier than an architect's, and deadlines land on you a week before they land on the architect.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
In Ontario, houses and small buildings up to three storeys and 600 square metres can be designed by anyone holding a BCIN (Building Code Identification Number). Most of them are technologists.
Ontario passed an act giving OACETT (Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists) members the exclusive right to the certified technologist and technician titles. Using them without membership is an offence.
Many municipal building inspectors and plans examiners started as architectural technologists. The building code knowledge is the same; the pension and the 9 to 5 are the draw.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.