Hire a production labourer in Greater Montreal
A production labourer is hired on three points: the exact station on the line, the shift, and the training you will have to provide yourself. Statistics Canada lists 395 job titles under NOC 95109, from packer to printing helper: say in the posting what the work will be. This page gives a job description to copy, the requirements that come from regulation and eight interview questions.
Job description to copy
Replace what is in brackets, then post it as is.
Production labourer
Location: [city], Greater Montreal · Schedule: [day / evening / night], [number] h per week
Pay: [to be set] (benchmark: median $20/h in Quebec, $17.50/h in Montreal (Job Bank))
Responsibilities
- Feed the line or machine with materials, components and packaging
- Help the machine operator or assembler and take product off the machine
- Check, weigh and sort products, and set aside anything that does not meet spec
- Pack, crate and label products, then build and wrap pallets
- Follow, for each product, the work instructions and quality checkpoints posted at the station
- Move materials and finished products around the plant, by hand or with a pallet jack
- Clean the station, work areas and equipment following plant procedure, lockout included
- Clear and prepare the station at production changeovers, putting away the previous order’s materials
- Wear the required protective equipment and follow WHMIS instructions
- Report right away when material runs short, a product is damaged or a machine behaves abnormally
Requirements
- No diploma required; able to read instructions and labels in the plant’s language
- Able to stand, handle materials and repeat the same motions for most of the shift
- Age 16 or older if the job involves a powered pallet truck or a forklift (section 256.2 of the Regulation)
- Commitment to complete the plant’s WHMIS and lockout training
- Available for the posted shift
Assets
- Plant experience, ideally with a product similar to yours
- Experience with a powered pallet truck or a forklift
- DEP in production equipment operation, or interest in becoming an operator
- WHMIS training already completed, even though you must redo it for your own products
- Used to visual quality checks or weighing
- Working French and English if instructions or labels are bilingual
What we offer
[benefits, insurance, shift premiums, training]
Production labourer pay benchmark
| Region | Median | Offered in postings |
|---|---|---|
| All of Quebec | $20/h | — |
| Montérégie | $20.82/h | $20.25 (98) |
| Montréal | $17.50/h | $20.44 (20) |
| Laval | $18/h | — |
| Lanaudière | $20.75/h | $21.24 (28) |
| Laurentides | $20.34/h | $19.91 (20) |
Median published by Job Bank (NOC 95109) and median offered in job postings (6 months, February to August 2026); in brackets, the number of hourly postings.
Eight interview questions
- At your last plant, what did it make, and which station on the line were you on?
- Tell me about a shift when the line ran faster than you could keep up. What did you do?
- A machine jams and the operator is not there: what do you do, and what do you not do?
- What is lockout, and have you ever applied it yourself?
- How do you know a box or a pallet is good to ship?
- What material handling equipment have you used, and who trained you on it?
- What do you look at on a product label before you handle it?
- Which shifts can you work, and how will you get to the plant at the start and end times?
Timelines and difficulties
The pool is there: Job Bank rates the outlook for NOC 95109 as “Very limited” in Greater Montreal and notes that several experienced workers are looking for work in this occupation. The difficulty lies elsewhere. First, the title: “production labourer” does not tell a candidate whether they will pack, feed a press or clean machines; describe the station, the product and the weight of the loads. Second, training: WHMIS, lockout and, if there is a powered pallet truck or a forklift, the training required by Quebec’s Regulation respecting occupational health and safety are on you, before the first shift. Put them in the onboarding schedule. Finally, the shift: state it in the posting, with start and end times, so candidates check their commute before the interview. One last point: according to Job Bank, half of the people in this group in Quebec work only part of the year. If your need is seasonal or follows orders, say so; if it is permanent, say that too, plainly, in the title or first line of the posting.
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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