Bed bugs, mice, wasps and termites. Licensed in months, hired fast, never boring.
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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.
The median pay is about $54,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $40,000 at the lower end to about $78,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
Up to 1 year, on the usual route, and you are paid while you train from the first day.
From nothing up to about $550, depending on the route, for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
Yes. It is a regulated job, so you need a licence or registration before you can work.
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
$54,000
Lower end
$40,000
Upper end
$78,000
Job Bank's national median is $25.96 an hour, about $54,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The lower end ($19.23) and upper end ($37.50) are the bottom and top of the range for everyone in the group. Most companies hire you with no experience and pay for your licence course.
$28.09 an hour
The Job Bank median in Quebec, the highest of any province
Alberta is next at $27.25 and Ontario sits at the national $25.96. Nova Scotia is lowest at $23.71. Many firms add commission on contracts you sell.
Roughly, all in
Nothing to $550
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
Most companies pay the course and licence fees for new technicians and supply the uniform, respirator fit test and driver abstract, so the low end genuinely is nothing out of pocket. The high end is paying the technician application and listing, the exterminator exam with one retake allowed for, and the structural licence yourself. You can be earning within a week of being hired and fully licensed within a few months. Fees vary by province, and the figures here follow the Ontario schedule.
Most employers pay the course and licence fees. You can be earning within a week and licensed within a few months.
Company vehicle
Take-home van is common.
Health and dental
At national firms like Orkin, Abell and Rentokil.
Commission and bonuses
For selling annual service contracts.
Year-round work
Rodents in winter, insects in summer. Few layoffs.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Get hired first, then get licensed. No college needed.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Biology and chemistry help. A driver's licence is essential.
Get hired as a trainee
Weeks
Pest control companies hire year-round and train from scratch. You work under direct supervision at first.
Technician certificate
1 to 3 months
In Ontario, pass the Core Manual exam with 75% or better plus practical training from a licensed exterminator. Then you can work with weekly supervision.
Exterminator licence
Within the first year
Pass the ministry-approved exam: a 1-hour closed-book core exam and a 1.5-hour open-book structural module, 75% on both. Then apply for the licence, valid 5 years.
Specialize
Ongoing
Fumigation, wildlife, bird control or food-plant audits.
Biology
Insect and rodent life cycles are the whole job.
Chemistry
Understanding what pesticides do and how to use them safely.
English
Service reports, labels and customer conversations.
Business
Many technicians sell contracts or run their own route.
Applying pesticides for pay needs a provincial licence everywhere in Canada. In Ontario the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks issues a structural extermination licence after you pass an approved course, and it is valid for 5 years. Other provinces run their own applicator certificates. A licence from one province can usually be transferred through labour mobility rules.
Quebec licenses the person through its environment ministry: you need a pesticide certificate for pest management (subclass CD5), earned by passing two online exams.
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
Quebec asks for a certificate, not a diploma. Science and reading skills help with the exams.
Start under supervision
First months
A pest control company's employees must hold the pest management certificate (subclass CD5) or work under the supervision of someone who does.
Pass two exams
Weeks of study
Both through SOFAD (Quebec's public distance learning agency), online: Common Core for Pesticide Users, then Use of Pesticides, Application in Pest Management.
Get the CD5 certificate
Weeks
Apply to the MELCCFP (Quebec environment ministry) for the pest management certificate (subclass CD5). It is valid 5 years.
Keep it current
Every 5 years
To renew, earn 20 credits of approved training over the 5 years, 10 until October 2028. Otherwise you retake the course and exam within the last 12 months.
The company also needs a pesticide permit for pest management (subclass C5 or D5) from the MELCCFP (Quebec environment ministry). The permit holder must display it at each location, keep records of pesticide purchases and use for 5 years, and make sure staff hold the pest management certificate (subclass CD5) or work under a certified person's supervision.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Fumigation licence
Whole-structure and container fumigation. A rare skill.
Wildlife control
Raccoons, squirrels and bats. Often a separate provincial permit.
Food-plant and audit work
Commercial kitchens, warehouses and food factories need documented programs.
Bed bug heat treatment
Specialised equipment and training.
Clean driver's abstract
You drive all day in a company van.
Comfort with heights and crawlspaces
Attics, ladders and basements are daily.
Sales skills
Commission on contracts is a real part of the pay.
No fear of bugs or rodents
Obvious, but it rules some people out.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Load the van by 7am and check the route: a restaurant's monthly service, a bed bug treatment in an apartment, a wasp nest under a deck, then bait stations at a warehouse. Each stop means an inspection, a treatment, a written report and a talk with the customer. Summer days run long. Winter is mostly mice and rats.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Health Canada says bed bugs can live up to a year and a half without feeding, and a female lays at least 200 eggs in her life. That is why one treatment is rarely enough.
An Ontario structural exterminator licence is good for 5 years. Technicians who work under supervision must renew every 2 years by redoing both the study and the supervised practical training.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Industrial and mechanical 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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