Program and run CNC (computer numerical control) machines that cut metal to a hundredth of a millimetre.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
An apprenticeship: you are hired by a sponsor, paid while you learn on the job, and go to class for a few weeks at a time. Every fact here is from Skilled Trades Ontario (STO) and the Ontario government. See every Ontario trade side by side
You are paid from your first day. Over the 7,280 hours on the job, even at the minimum wage you would earn at least $130,676 before tax while you train, and most sponsors pay more as your skills grow.
The trade on Skilled Trades Ontario's site(opens in a new tab)
You are paid from your first day. Over the 4,000 hours on the job, even at the minimum wage you would earn at least $71,800 before tax while you train, and most sponsors pay more as your skills grow.
Before you start: Must hold a Certificate of Qualification as a general machinist, mould maker, tool and die maker, tool/tooling maker or pattern maker.
The trade on Skilled Trades Ontario's site(opens in a new tab)
Still in high school? In Grade 11 or 12, with at least 14 credits and age 15 or older, you can start an apprenticeship through co-op placements and earn credits at the same time. Ask your school's OYAP recruiter, guidance counsellor or co-op teacher. Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP)(opens in a new tab)
Not ready to find a sponsor? Free pre-apprenticeship programs (up to a year at a college or community agency, tools and books covered, with a work placement) get you ready and in front of employers. Employment Ontario helps you apply. Pre-apprenticeship training(opens in a new tab)
Ontario sets no percentage of full pay for apprentices. Your sponsor agrees your wage with you, and it can never be below the minimum wage: $17.95 an hour from 1 October 2026. Source (opens in a new tab)
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.
The median pay is about $62,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $44,000 at the lower end to about $86,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
2 to 4 years after high school, on the usual route.
$500 to $16,200 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
No. There is no licence to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$62,000
Lower end
$44,000
Upper end
$86,000
Job Bank's national median is $30 an hour, about $62,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The lower and upper ends are Job Bank's low and high wages for everyone in the group, $21 and $41.50 an hour.
$38.00 an hour
The median in British Columbia, the highest in Canada
Alberta ($36.50) and Saskatchewan ($35.00) follow, Ontario sits at $30.00 and Quebec is lowest at $27.50. Many people start as operators loading parts, then learn to set up jobs and edit programs.
Roughly, all in
$500 to $16,200
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The apprenticeship route is paid work, so the low end is a set of measuring tools and boots built up over time, with the employer covering the in school levels and the first Certificate of Qualification and Red Seal exam try free in Ontario once your apprenticeship is complete. The high end is a one or two year college CNC (computer numerical control) certificate or diploma paid up front, a fuller set of measuring tools, and the same exam fees. The college first route costs more but gets you onto a shop floor sooner. In school levels on the apprenticeship side are only a few hundred dollars each.
Apprentices are paid on the job. The college-first route costs more up front but is quicker to start.
Health and dental
Standard at medium and large manufacturers.
Shift premiums
Many shops run two or three shifts. Nights pay extra.
Union pension
At auto, aerospace and rail plants.
Paid upgrading
Employers often pay for programming courses on new software.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Two routes: a college program that gets you running machines fast, or a full machinist apprenticeship that ends in a Red Seal.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Math, physics and any manufacturing or shop class. Blueprint reading starts here.
College program (fast route)
1 to 2 years
A one-year CNC (computer numerical control) certificate or two-year precision machining diploma. You leave able to set up and run machines.
Or apprentice as a machinist
About 4 years
Ontario's General Machinist trade is 8,000 hours: 7,280 on the job and 720 in school over three levels. College time can count toward it.
Certificate of Qualification and Red Seal
After your hours
Pass the provincial machinist exam and add the Red Seal endorsement, recognized across Canada.
Programmer
1 to 3 years on the job
Learn CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) software to write the programs instead of just running them.
Math
Trigonometry and geometry every day: feeds, speeds, angles and offsets.
Manufacturing technology or shop
Time on a lathe or mill before you apply.
Drafting or technological design
Reading drawings and 3D models.
Computer studies
Programming logic transfers directly to machine code.
No province requires a licence to run a CNC (computer numerical control) machine. Machinist is a voluntary Red Seal trade, designated in 1965, and Ontario's General Machinist certificate never needs renewing. Ontario also had a separate CNC Programmer apprenticeship, but it is now inactive and no longer takes new registrations, so programming is learned on the job or in college. Employers in aerospace and defence often require the Red Seal for senior roles.
In Quebec one vocational diploma covers both manual and CNC (computer numerical control) machining, and trade certificates are voluntary.
Secondary IV courses
From age 16
The DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies) in Machining needs a high school diploma, or age 16 with Secondary IV language, second language and math. From 18, the general development test is another way in.
DEP in Machining (Usinage 5371, or 5871 in English)
16 to 19 months
1,800 hours, including CNC programming and series production. In English at the Rosemount Technology Centre in Montreal, and at the Eastern Townships School Board in Cowansville.
Get hired as a CNC operator
Varies
Machine shops, aerospace and machinery plants. Older guides mention a separate CNC specialization after the diploma. The current DEP includes that training.
Or learn on the job
18 to 24 months
From age 16, an employer can train you through the PAMT (workplace apprenticeship program) for the CNC machinist certificate: about 24 months for milling, 18 for turning.
Certificates, if you want them
Optional
The CNC machinist certificate comes at operator-setter or programmer-setter level. The separate machinist certificate carries the Red Seal, with about 3 years of apprenticeship after a diploma.
Things you don't need, but that help.
CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) programming
Mastercam, Fusion or similar. Writing the program, not just running it.
Multi-axis machining
Five-axis mills and mill-turn centres are complex and few people run them well.
Tool and die or mould making
Related Red Seal trades.
Quality inspection
CMM (coordinate measuring machine) programming and GD&T (geometric dimensioning and tolerancing) lead into quality roles.
Attention to detail
A thousandth of an inch is the difference between a part and scrap.
Patience with setup
Half the job is preparing the machine, not watching it cut.
Home projects
3D printing or a hobby lathe shows you think in parts and tolerances.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Pull the job traveller and drawing. Load the program, mount the fixture, set the tools and touch off the zero points. Run the first part slowly, measure everything with micrometres and gauges, adjust the offsets. Then run the batch while watching for tool wear and chips, checking parts every few pieces. Between batches you deburr, clean the machine and set up the next job. Shops run early shifts and night shifts, and the machines are loud.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Job Bank counts about 43,400 machinists in Canada in 2023, and 44% of them were 50 or older. It projects a moderate risk of a labour shortage through 2033.
Numerical control was invented in the 1950s to machine aircraft parts from punched tape. The letter codes CNC (computer numerical control) machines read today still descend from that system.
Machinist was made a Red Seal trade in 1965, in the program's first years, and the endorsement is offered in every province and territory.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Metal and machining first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.
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.
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