Hire a machinist in Greater Montreal
A machinist posting mostly attracts machine tool operators: the NOC keeps them in a separate group, but both write machinist on a résumé. This page gives you a job description to copy, the requirements that actually filter, and eight questions that show in ten minutes whether someone can set up and measure, or only press cycle start.
Job description to copy
Replace what is in brackets, then post it as is.
Machinist
Location: [city], Greater Montreal · Schedule: [day / evening / night], [number] h per week
Pay: [to be set] (benchmark: median $27.50/h in Quebec, $26/h in Montreal (Job Bank))
Responsibilities
- Interpret shop drawings, dimensions and tolerances, and plan the machining sequence.
- Set up parts and workholding on lathes, milling machines, grinders and machining centres.
- Dial in conventional and CNC machine tools, and correct the programs.
- Cut the first article, measure it and adjust offsets before releasing the run.
- Check dimensions with micrometers, calipers, gauges and optical comparators.
- Document deviations from specification and complete inspection reports.
- Prepare programs, tooling and instructions for operators on the following shifts.
- Maintain the machines, manage cutting tools and apply the shop’s SIMDUT rules for hazardous products.
- Work out speeds and feeds for the material and the tool, and adjust the recipe when the cut says so.
- Coach operators and apprentices on workholding, measurement and the check points that matter on the part.
Requirements
- A DEP in machining, a four-year apprenticeship, or four or more years of machining experience with specialized courses (NOC 72100).
- Print and tolerance reading, and everyday use of precision measuring instruments.
- Secondary school diploma or the equivalent.
- Current SIMDUT 2015 training — the Quebec version of WHMIS — required by the CNESST for anyone exposed to hazardous products.
- Confirmed availability for the shift posted, including evenings or nights where that applies.
- Able to work standing for long periods, in noise and with manual handling, the conditions Job Bank describes for the trade.
- Independent on setup and dial-in: the job is not loading and unloading a machine someone else prepared.
Assets
- ASP Usinage sur machines-outils à commande numérique (program 5224), the CNC specialization certificate.
- Certificat de qualification professionnelle for CNC machine tools, programmeur-régleur level.
- Red Seal endorsement, useful if you run sites outside Quebec.
- Experience with the control and the CAM software already on your floor.
- Experience in one of the settings NOC 72100 names: machinery, automotive or aircraft plants, and machine shops.
- Machining and tooling inspection experience, which sits in the same NOC group as this job.
What we offer
[benefits, insurance, shift premiums, training]
Machinist pay benchmark
| Region | Median | Offered in postings |
|---|---|---|
| All of Quebec | $27.50/h | — |
| Montérégie | $29/h | $28.66 (91) |
| Montréal | $26/h | $27.50 (43) |
| Laval | $27/h | — |
| Lanaudière | Quebec figures | $32.50 (15) |
| Laurentides | Quebec figures | $29.43 (19) |
Median published by Job Bank (NOC 72100) and median offered in job postings (6 months, February to August 2026); in brackets, the number of hourly postings.
Eight interview questions
- Walk me through this dimension: what does the tolerance printed beside it actually control?
- Describe the workholding you would use to machine this part in two operations. Why that order?
- The first article comes out two thou over. Which offsets do you touch, and in what order?
- When did you last write or edit a program yourself, rather than load one that already existed?
- How do you choose speeds and feeds for a material you have never cut before?
- Which measuring instruments do you use every day, and how often do you have them calibrated?
- Tell me about a part you scrapped: how was the deviation found, and what went into the inspection report?
- Which shifts are you available for, and how much of your last job was setup rather than running parts?
Timelines and difficulties
The title misleads on both sides. The NOC puts machinists (72100) and machine tool operators (94106) in separate groups, yet both write machinist on a résumé, so an open posting mostly returns people who run a machine someone else set up. The trade is not regulated in Quebec, so no card sorts candidates for you: you have to test print reading, setup and measurement. The same group also mixes machinists with machining and tooling inspectors, and the training route runs through a DEP of 1,800 hours. The NOC places the trade in machinery, automotive and aircraft plants and in machine shops — settings that draw on the same pool, with no regional measure saying which one hires most here. Say in the posting how much is setup, how much is programming, and which processes: that is what makes the right people answer.
We run this search for employers in Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, the North Shore and the South Shore. Our recruitment service: manufacturing and production
If the placement does not hold six months, we replace it.
The replacement is on us. You do not pay twice for the same role.
A role to fill?
Fifteen minutes on the phone is enough to know whether we can deliver your mandate, and to tell you straight whether the salary range holds.
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