What avionics technicians make
Median
$84,000
Lower end
$55,000
Upper end
$119,000
Job Bank's national median is $40.47 an hour, about $84,000 a year full time. Shift premiums and overtime add to it.
Avionics Technician
The electronics that fly the plane: radios, navigation, autopilot, wiring. A 2-year diploma and a Job Bank median of about $84,000 a year.
- Typical pay
- $84,000a year
- Time to qualify
- 4 to 5 yearsafter high school
- Demand
- Moderate
- Licence needed
- Nono licence to hold
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Where to study to become an avionics technician in Canada
Programs in the fields this career usually comes through. Each has its own page: what it takes to get in, the courses you need and what it costs.
Colleges
- Aircraft Maintenance and Avionics (Co-op)Fanshawe, meet the course requirements
- Aviation Technician: Avionics MaintenanceCanadore, meet the course requirements
- Aviation Technician: Avionics MaintenanceMohawk, meet the course requirements
- Aviation Technician: Avionics Maintenance (Co-op)Fanshawe, meet the course requirements
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Quick answers
How much does an avionics technician make in Canada?
The median pay is about $84,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $55,000 at the lower end to about $119,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
How long does it take to become an avionics technician in Canada?
4 to 5 years after high school, on the usual route.
What does it cost to become an avionics technician?
$12,000 to $16,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
Do you need a licence to work as an avionics technician in Canada?
No. There is no licence to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
What is the job outlook for an avionics technician in Canada?
Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
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Avionics Technician salary in Canada
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Where pay is highest
$49.10 an hour
The median in Newfoundland and Labrador, the highest in Canada
Quebec ($41.49) is next. Ontario's median is $38.91 and Saskatchewan's the lowest, at $36.62. An AME (aircraft maintenance engineer) licence with an E rating, which lets you sign off avionics work, is the biggest pay step.
What it costs to get there
- College diploma (2 years)
- About $5,500 to $5,800 a year in tuition at Centennial or Canadore (2026)
- Tools
- $1,500 to $3,000; precision electronics tools, not a big chest
- Transport Canada licence exams and application
- A few hundred dollars; approved graduates skip the technical exams
- Books and safety gear
- Under $1,000
Roughly, all in
$12,000 to $16,000
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
A two year college diploma is essentially the whole cost, and it is low for a job paying over eighty thousand dollars at the median. The low end is tuition at about fifty five hundred dollars a year plus precision electronics tools and books. The high end adds a better tool set, safety gear and the Transport Canada licence application and exam fees. Graduates of approved programs skip the technical exams, which keeps the licensing end cheap, and student loans of this size are commonly cleared in a couple of years of work.
Total cost is about $12,000 to $15,000, low for a job that pays over $80,000 at the median. Student loans cover it; many graduates clear them in a couple of years.
Benefits
Flight passes
Airline technicians and their families fly cheap or at no cost on standby.
Union pay scales and pension
Major airline hangars are unionized.
Shift premiums
Aircraft are fixed at night. Nights and weekends pay extra.
Health and dental
Standard across airlines and manufacturers.
How to become an avionics technician in Canada
The exact path from high school to qualified.
The path to becoming an avionics technician, step by step
A 2-year college diploma, then paid experience toward a Transport Canada licence.
- 1
High school diploma
Grade 12
Math and physics are essential. Electronics or computer courses help.
- 2
Avionics diploma
2 years
A 2-year Aviation Technician, Avionics Maintenance diploma at a Transport Canada approved college, such as Centennial in Toronto or Canadore in North Bay. Attendance and grade rules are strict: Centennial requires 95% attendance and 70% in every technical course to get the licence credit.
- 3
Get hired
Weeks to months
Airlines, repair shops, manufacturers and the air force hire graduates as apprentice technicians. You work under licensed engineers who sign off your work.
- 4
Build experience
2 to 3 years
An approved diploma counts for 18 months toward the experience Transport Canada requires. The rest, roughly 2 to 3 more years, comes from logged work.
- 5
AME (aircraft maintenance engineer) licence, E rating
After your experience
At 21 or older, with the experience logged, pass the Transport Canada regulatory exam. Approved graduates are exempt from the technical exams.
High school courses that help you become an avionics technician
Physics
Electricity, radio waves and flight.
Math
Circuit analysis and navigation math.
Electronics or computer technology
Soldering, circuits and troubleshooting.
English
Aircraft manuals are precise and you sign legal records.
Time and money, at a glance
- Years after high school
- 2 to first job, 4 to 5 to licence
- Admission
- Grade 12 with math and physics; monthly intakes at some colleges
- Total tuition
- $11,000 to $12,000
- Paid while training?
- Not in college; yes during the experience years
The licence is the ceiling, not the floor
You can work on aircraft electronics without a licence, under supervision, from the day you graduate. To sign off maintenance yourself you need a Transport Canada AME (aircraft maintenance engineer) licence with an E rating for avionics: minimum age 21, logged experience, an approved training program and the regulatory exam. The licence is federal, so it works in every province.
Quebec route. In Quebec? The route is different. 2 more cards.
The path in Quebec
In Quebec avionics is a 3 year CEGEP (public college) diploma taught in French at one college, while the licence is the same federal one as in the rest of Canada.
- 1
Secondary V math and physics
Secondary V
The DEC (Diploma of College Studies) needs Secondary V math in the TS (Technical and Scientific) or SN (Science) sequence, plus Secondary V physics.
- 2
DEC in Avionics Technology (280.D0)
3 years
2,730 hours at the École nationale d'aérotechnique in Longueuil. You learn to inspect, troubleshoot and repair electrical, communication and navigation systems on planes and helicopters.
- 3
Paid work terms
During the DEC
The ATE (alternance travail-études, the work-study option) adds two paid internships at aerospace companies. You can sign up from your first semester.
- 4
Experience in the field
About 29 months
Transport Canada asks for 48 months of experience for the avionics (E) licence. With 70% or more in the theory of each core subject and under 5% absences, the DEC credits 19 months.
- 5
Licence exams
From age 21
Graduates who meet those marks write only the regulations exam. The AME (aircraft maintenance engineer) licence is issued from age 21 and lets you sign aircraft back into service.
- 6
University, if you want it
Optional
The DEC also opens more than a dozen engineering bachelor's degrees through DEC to bachelor's pathways.
An evening route for adults in Quebec
The École nationale d'aérotechnique runs an AEC (Attestation of College Studies) in Aircraft Avionics Systems: 1,830 hours over 23 months, Monday to Friday from 4pm to 11pm, partly online, in French. It costs $196.03 a session plus materials and a $30 application fee. You need Secondary V math and must have been out of full-time school for two sessions, or have finished two sessions of college. It credits 17 of the 48 months of experience.
What helps you get ahead as an avionics technician
Things you don't need, but that help.
Ratings and skills that raise your pay
AME (aircraft maintenance engineer) licence, E rating
The credential that lets you certify work. The biggest pay jump in the field.
Add an M rating
A second licence category covering airframes and engines. Dual-licensed technicians are rare and wanted by small operators.
Type training
Manufacturer courses on a specific aircraft, paid by the employer.
Inspection and quality roles
Senior technicians move into inspection, training and maintenance planning.
Nice-to-haves
Soldering and bench skills
Practise before college; it shows.
Ham radio or electronics hobby
Radio theory is a large part of the diploma.
Security clearance eligibility
Airport access needs a clean background check.
Comfort with heights and confined spaces
Wiring runs through tail cones and under floors.
The military route
The Royal Canadian Air Force trains avionics systems technicians at its own expense and pays you while you learn. You commit to years of service, and the experience counts toward a civilian licence afterward. Many airline avionics technicians started in uniform.
What being an avionics technician is really like
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
A typical shift
Night shift in the hangar, 7pm to 7am, because the aircraft flies all day. A pilot has written up a faulty weather radar: pull the maintenance manual, run the built-in tests, trace the wiring, swap the unit, test it again and sign the logbook. Then a scheduled inspection: check antennas, batteries and connectors, update a navigation database. Every step documented. The aircraft leaves at 6am.
The honest pros and cons of being an avionics technician
The good
- High pay for a 2-year diploma
- Federal licence that works anywhere in Canada
- Airline travel benefits
- Real responsibility: your signature keeps the aircraft flying
The hard parts
- Nights, weekends and cold hangars
- Strict attendance and grade rules in college
- Years of logged experience before the licence
- Zero tolerance for errors, and the paperwork to prove it
Work life
- Typical hours
- 40 a week on rotating shifts, often 12 hours
- Remote work
- None
- Physical demand
- Moderate: ladders, tight spaces, fine hand work
- Unionized
- Usually at airlines and manufacturers
Similar paths
- Aircraft Maintenance EngineerInspect and repair aircraft, then sign them safe to fly. A Transport Canada licence, not a university degree.
- Electronics Service TechnicianDiagnose and repair the circuit boards inside machines, medical gear and industrial equipment.
- Aerospace EngineerAircraft, engines, satellites and flight simulators. Montreal is the hub, and only a handful of schools teach it.
Things nobody tells you about being an avionics technician
Things people don't tell you.
A small trade
Job Bank counts about 3,500 avionics and aircraft instrument technicians in Canada in 2023, 36% of them aged 50 or over, and projects a moderate risk of a shortage through 2033.
You must be 21 to sign
Transport Canada will not issue an AME (aircraft maintenance engineer) licence to anyone under 21, no matter how much experience they have. Most technicians hit the experience requirement and the age at about the same time.
Canada builds the planes too
Bombardier in Montreal and Toronto, De Havilland in Alberta and dozens of parts makers employ avionics technicians on the factory floor, not just in hangars.
How an avionics technician compares
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
More skilled trades careers in Canada
Vehicles and equipment first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.
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- Automotive Service TechnicianDiagnose and fix cars and light trucks. Paid from day one, but you buy your own tools.$62kTypical pay4 to 5 yearsTo qualifyModerateDemand
- Bicycle MechanicFix, build and tune bikes and e-bikes. No licence, a short course or shop training, and busy summers.$52kTypical payup to 2 yearsTo qualifyModerateDemand
- Heavy-Duty Equipment TechnicianKeep excavators, haul trucks and loaders running at mines and job sites. Job Bank's median is about $77,000 a year.$77kTypical pay4 to 5 yearsTo qualifyModerateDemand
- Marine MechanicOutboards, sterndrives and boat systems. A short apprenticeship and a summer spent at the marina.$62kTypical pay2 to 3 yearsTo qualifyModerateDemand
- Motorcycle MechanicService and repair motorcycles, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. A Red Seal trade with long summers and quiet winters.$62kTypical pay3 to 4 yearsTo qualifyModerateDemand
Where these numbers come from
- Job Bank: Avionics technician, wages (updated Nov 2025)
- Transport Canada: Licensing of aircraft maintenance engineers
- Transport Canada: Obtaining an AME licence
- Centennial College: Aviation Technician, Avionics Maintenance
- Canadore College: Aviation Technician, Avionics Maintenance
- Inforoute FPT: DEC 280.D0 Avionics Technology
- École nationale d'aérotechnique: Techniques d'avionique
- École nationale d'aérotechnique: licence credits for graduates
- École nationale d'aérotechnique: AEC Aircraft Avionics Systems
- Québec.ca: Avionics instrument technicians
- Transport Canada: AME licensing general information
- Job Bank: Avionics technician, outlook (2024 to 2033 projection)
Last checked October 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. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.