The hands-on half of every engineering office. A 2 or 3 year college diploma, then drafting, testing and site work.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Certified, 5 years in
$70,000
New graduate
$55,000
Senior or supervisor
$90,000
Civil and construction technologists in Alberta and BC sit at the high end. Senior technologists in estimating or project management can pass $100,000, especially in industrial construction.
$50,000 to $60,000
Junior technologist, drafting or field testing
One or two years less school than an engineer, so you start earning sooner. Co-op students earn $18 to $24 an hour.
$75,000 to $90,000
CET (certified engineering technologist), 8 to 10 years in
Technologists who move into estimating, inspection or project coordination earn the most. Overtime on site work adds up.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a two year college diploma at Ontario prices plus the certified engineering technologist application, the professional practice exam, and the first year of association dues. The high end is a three year diploma at a polytechnic in Alberta or British Columbia, where tuition runs higher, with the same fees on top. This is about a third the cost of an engineering degree and at least a year shorter. The certification fees are small next to the tuition, so where you study matters far more than which association you join.
About a third the cost of an engineering degree, and at least a year shorter. Ontario colleges charge less than the Alberta and BC polytechnics.
Health and dental
Overtime
On site and testing work.
Pension
In municipalities and utilities.
Vehicle or mileage
For field roles.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A college diploma, not a degree. Then 2 years of work and a certification exam.
High school
Grade 12
Grade 12 with a college-level math and a science. Averages in the 65 to 75 range get in at most colleges.
College diploma
2 to 3 years
2 years for a technician diploma, 3 for a technologist advanced diploma. Civil, mechanical, electrical, electronics, chemical or environmental. Many include co-op.
Work
2 years
Get hired at an engineering firm, contractor, utility or manufacturer. Drafting, testing, surveying, inspection.
Certification
After 2 years of experience
Apply to your provincial association, such as OACETT (Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists). Pass a professional practice exam and submit a technology report. You can now use the title CET (certified engineering technologist).
Math
Grade 12 college or university math is required.
Physics or chemistry
One science is usually required.
Technological design or shop
Drafting and hands-on courses map straight onto the job.
English
You will write reports and read specifications every day.
You do not need a licence to work as a technologist, but the title CET (certified engineering technologist) is protected in Ontario, Alberta and other provinces. Certification is run by a provincial association: OACETT (Ontario's technologist association), ASET (Alberta's) and ASTTBC (BC's), and it transfers between provinces. You cannot call yourself an engineer or sign engineering drawings on your own.
Ontario
Conestoga, Mohawk, Seneca, Humber, Algonquin, Fanshawe, George Brown, Sheridan.
Alberta
NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology), SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology).
BC
BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology).
Elsewhere
Red River College Polytechnic, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Nova Scotia Community College, and Quebec colleges (called cégeps).
Things you don't need, but that help.
Bridge to an engineering degree
Lakehead and Ontario Tech, among others, give technologists advanced standing. A 3-year diploma plus about 2 more years can equal an engineering degree, and then the P.Eng (professional engineer) path opens.
P.Tech (professional technologist) in Alberta
Lets experienced technologists sign off on work within a defined scope. A step above CET (certified engineering technologist).
Limited licence in Ontario
Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) grants experienced technologists a limited licence to practise within a defined scope.
Specialty tickets
Surveying, concrete and asphalt testing, building inspection, PLC (programmable logic controller) programming.
CAD (computer-aided design) skills
AutoCAD, Revit, SolidWorks. Employers hire the people who already know them.
A driver's licence
Most field roles require one.
Summer work with a contractor or survey crew
The co-op option at your college
Most of the job offers come from co-op employers.
Two years gets you a technician diploma and a job. Three gets you the technologist advanced diploma and the CET (certified engineering technologist) path. About two more at a bridging university gets you an engineering degree. Each step is a real job you can stop at. Some people do all three over a decade, paid the whole way.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Civil technologist on a road project: on site by 7 with the survey gear, laying out grades and checking the contractor's work against the drawings. Sampling asphalt and concrete for the lab. Back in the office by 3 to update drawings in CAD (computer-aided design) software and write up quantities. Mechanical and electrical technologists spend more time at a desk, drafting, testing prototypes or programming controls in a plant.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
OACETT (Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists) has more than 21,000 members. Technologists are one of the largest engineering-related groups in the province.
In Alberta an experienced technologist can become a P.Tech (professional technologist) and take independent responsibility for engineering work within a defined scope. It is the closest thing to an engineer's stamp without the degree.
On a highway or bridge job, the person setting out the lines that everything else follows is usually a civil technologist. If the layout is wrong, the whole structure is wrong.
Most of the drawings and 3D models that engineers seal are produced by technologists. Fluency in CAD (computer-aided design) software is the fastest way to become the person the office cannot do without.
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.