Food processing labourer: pay in Quebec and Greater Montreal
A food processing labourer does the entry-level work of a food or beverage plant: loading ingredients, feeding and unloading machines, packing and cleaning equipment. The job involves no cooking and no restaurant work. This page covers the job in Greater Montreal: pay region by region, the hygiene rules that start in the locker room, and what NOC 95106 actually counts.
- Quebec median
- $20.05/h
- Range
- $16.45 – $26/h
- Montreal
- $18.56/h
Guichet-Emplois (Job Bank), edition 2025 · CNP 95106
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Food processing labourer pay, region by region
| Region | Low | Median | High | vs Quebec | Offered in postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All of Quebec | $16.45 | $20.05 | $26 | — | — |
| Montérégie | $17 | $21 | $26.25 | +5% | $20 (143) |
| Montréal | $16.10 | $18.56 | $24.25 | −7% | $18.20 (29) |
| Laval | $16.10 | $19 | $25 | −5% | $19 (13) |
| Lanaudière | $17 | $21 | $26 | +5% | $19 (22) |
| Laurentides | $16.10 | $19.66 | $25.53 | −2% | $19.40 (46) |
The table measures NOC 95106, “Labourers in food and beverage processing”: meat packager, dairy helper, brewery labourer, and also tobacco and cannabis processing labourers. Counted elsewhere: fish and seafood (95107, 94142), machine and process operators (94140), testers and graders (94143) and supervisors (92012).
Low, median and high wages published by Job Bank (NOC 95106), and pay offered in Greater Montreal job postings (6 months, February to August 2026); in brackets, the number of hourly postings — under ten, no median is shown.
Quebec median by file edition: 2023: $18/h · 2024: $19.25/h · 2025: $20.05/h.
What the job postings say
Of 256 postings on Job Bank in Greater Montreal (6 months, February to August 2026), 16% mention a night shift, 21% an evening shift and 10% weekends.
Job Bank reports a 35 to 40 hour week. In Quebec, 83% of people in this group work full time; 56% work all year, and the rest an average of 40 weeks. The block above sums up what Greater Montreal job postings say about nights, evenings and weekends. In a food plant, the shift starts in the locker room: clean clothes worn only for work, hairnet, beard cover, jewellery and watch removed, hands and forearms washed. Ask whether that time counts as paid hours. If the job is on the sanitation crew, ask when the lines are cleaned: that sets your schedule.
What a food processing labourer does
- Move raw materials, packaging materials and finished products between the warehouse and the line, by hand or with mechanical equipment
- Measure ingredients and load them into mixer and grinder hoppers
- Feed food processing machines and unload them at the end of each cycle
- Place flattened boxes into the forming machine and take filled containers off the conveyor
- Pack products into bags, boxes or cases by hand, stack the cases and build the pallets
- Check products and packaging for obvious defects and set aside anything that does not conform
- Clean and sanitize work areas and equipment, locking out the machine before entering its danger zone
- Assist the machine or process operator: prepare materials, watch the product flow, warn of a jam
- Wash hands and forearms before starting, after using the washroom and after handling raw food, as Quebec’s Règlement sur les aliments (Food Regulation) requires
Requirements, cards and certifications
- No diploma: the NOC says some secondary school education may be required, and Job Bank lists the occupation as not regulated
- Dress rules set by section 2.2.3 of the Règlement sur les aliments: a cap or hairnet covering all hair, a beard cover, clean clothes worn only for work, no jewellery, no watch, no nail polish
- Be free of any contagious disease transmissible through food and of any infected skin lesion; an open wound gets a clean waterproof dressing, plus a glove if it is on the hand, wrist or forearm (section 2.2.3.1)
- WHMIS (SIMDUT) training given by the employer for the hazardous products used in the plant
- Training in the plant’s lockout procedure: Quebec’s Regulation respecting occupational health and safety requires lockout before any cleaning or unjamming in a machine’s danger zone (section 196)
- Age 16 (section 256.2) and the training set by section 256.3 of the same regulation to drive a forklift
- Ability to stand, bend or twist, handle materials and repeat the same motions, according to Job Bank
Training
No program is required to start as a labourer: the employer trains you on site in WHMIS, in its lockout procedure and, if there is a forklift, under section 256.3 of the Regulation respecting occupational health and safety. Hygiene has its own rule. The Règlement sur les aliments requires the operator to put food hygiene under a holder of the food establishment manager certificate, and then either to have a trained person on site during operating hours or to have at least 10% of preparation and cleaning staff holding the food handler certificate. Food handler training lasts at least 6 hours and ends with an exam. To go further, Inforoute FPT lists the AEP Opération d’équipements en transformation alimentaire (4255), also offered in English as Food Processing Equipment Operation (4755): 330 hours, about 2 months; in the region, it links it to École Polymécanique de Laval. Admission requires Secondary III credits in language of instruction, second language and mathematics, plus being 18 or holding a high school diploma (DES). At college level, Collège de Maisonneuve offers the AEC Transformation des aliments (705 hours, with a 3-week internship), and Inforoute FPT lists the DEC Technologie des procédés et de la qualité des aliments (154.A0), a 3-year program given at Collège de Maisonneuve, Cégep de Lanaudière à Joliette and the Institut de technologie agroalimentaire du Québec, Saint-Hyacinthe campus, among others.
Career path
According to Statistics Canada, there is some mobility among jobs in the group, and experience can lead to machine or process operator positions, a separate occupation, NOC 94140. The AEP Food Processing Equipment Operation prepares for that job. According to Inforoute FPT, the DEC Technologie des procédés et de la qualité des aliments leads to food product inspector and food and beverage processing supervisor jobs (NOC 92012).
Frequently asked questions
What does a food processing labourer do?
A food processing labourer does the entry-level work of a food or beverage plant: loading ingredients, feeding and unloading machines, packing, checking packaging and cleaning equipment. The job involves no cooking. Statistics Canada places these workers in fruit and vegetable plants, dairies, flour mills, bakeries, sugar refineries, meat plants and breweries.
Is a “food production labourer” posting the same job?
Yes, when the plant makes food or beverages. Quebec postings often say « journalier de production alimentaire »; Statistics Canada classifies the work under NOC 95106, which lists the title “food processing labourer”. A labourer in a furniture or plastics plant falls under a different code, with its own pay figures, so check what the plant produces before comparing.
What jobs are there in a food processing plant?
On a food plant floor, the NOC separates several occupations: labourers (95106), machine and process operators (94140), testers and graders (94143) and supervisors (92012). Fish and seafood have their own codes (94142 and 95107). Quality control is taught in the DEC Technologie des procédés et de la qualité des aliments. The labourer is the entry-level job, and the one whose pay this page shows.
How much does a food processing labourer make in Montreal?
The table above shows the low, median and high wages Job Bank publishes for Quebec and region by region, and the last column shows what job postings offer. It covers all of NOC 95106, so meat, bakery, dairy and brewery work are blended together. A fish or seafood plant is measured under another code, NOC 95107, and is not part of these figures.
What training do you need to work in a food plant in Quebec?
None is required for a labourer job: the NOC says some secondary school education may be asked for, and the employer trains on site. To go further, Inforoute FPT lists the AEP Food Processing Equipment Operation (330 hours) and the DEC Technologie des procédés et de la qualité des aliments (154.A0). Collège de Maisonneuve also offers an AEC Transformation des aliments, a college certificate in food processing.
Is the MAPAQ food handler certificate mandatory?
Not for every employee. The Règlement sur les aliments requires the operator to put hygiene under a certified manager, then either to have a trained person on site during operating hours or at least 10% of preparation and cleaning staff trained. Food handler training lasts at least 6 hours and ends with an exam. Some establishments, including those registered under the federal meat inspection act, are exempt. MAPAQ is Quebec’s agriculture, fisheries and food ministry.
Why do food plants require hairnets and no jewellery?
Section 2.2.3 of the Règlement sur les aliments requires it of anyone who prepares products or cleans equipment: a cap or hairnet covering all hair, a beard cover, clean clothes worn only for work, no jewellery, no watch, no nail polish. The same section requires washing hands and forearms with hot water and soap before starting, after using the washroom and after handling raw food.
Can I get a food plant job in Montreal with no experience or diploma?
Yes. NOC 95106 requires no diploma, and Job Bank lists the occupation as not regulated. In Quebec, 36% of people in this group have no high school diploma, according to the same source. Job Bank mainly describes physical demands: standing, repetitive motions, handling loads, bending and twisting. WHMIS and lockout are the employer’s to teach.
What does sanitation work in a food plant involve?
Sanitation is the cleaning of work areas and equipment, a duty the NOC assigns to labourers. As soon as someone must enter a machine’s danger zone to clean it, Quebec’s Regulation respecting occupational health and safety requires lockout (section 196), and each person with access applies their own lock (section 197). The AEP Food Processing Equipment Operation gives this a 45-hour competency.
Are food plant jobs year-round?
Not always. According to Job Bank, 56% of people in this group in Quebec work all year and 44% only part of it, an average of 40 weeks. Part-time work covers 17% of them. The source does not say why, so before accepting, ask whether the job is permanent, whether it follows a production season or depends on orders, and how many hours are guaranteed.
What is the job outlook in Greater Montreal?
Job Bank rates the outlook for NOC 95106 as “Very limited” in Quebec, Montreal, Laval, the Laurentides and Montérégie, and “Limited” in Lanaudière. It expects employment to decline, some jobs to open through retirements, and several experienced workers to be looking for work in this occupation. To stand out, put food plant experience or a food handler certificate at the top of your resume.
What is the French title for a food processing labourer?
Statistics Canada’s French title is « manoeuvre à la transformation des aliments », and the group is called « Manoeuvres dans la transformation des aliments et des boissons », NOC 95106. Other official English titles in the group include meat packager, frozen food packer, brewery labourer and candy packer. In Quebec postings, the job is often called « journalier de production alimentaire ».
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