Industrial electrician: pay in Quebec and Greater Montreal
An industrial electrician installs, maintains, troubleshoots and repairs the electrical equipment of an industrial site and the electrical and electronic controls of its machines. In Greater Montreal the work happens in plants, warehouses and shops, not on construction sites. This page covers pay by region, what NOC 72201 measures, the required certificate and the training.
- Quebec median
- $43/h
- Range
- $24.80 – $48/h
- Montreal
- Quebec median
Guichet-Emplois (Job Bank), edition 2025 · CNP 72201
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Industrial electrician pay, region by region
| Region | Low | Median | High | vs Quebec | Offered in postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All of Quebec | $24.80 | $43 | $48 | — | — |
| Montérégie | $28.76 | $43.01 | $47.07 | +0% | $39 (129) |
| Montréal | No data of its own: Job Bank shows the Quebec figures | — (9) | |||
| Laval | No data of its own: Job Bank shows the Quebec figures | — (5) | |||
| Lanaudière | $22.40 | $43 | $47.07 | 0% | $39 (20) |
| Laurentides | $24 | $43 | $46.09 | 0% | $39 (18) |
NOC 72201 groups plant and plant maintenance electricians, but also marine, shipyard and mine electricians, and apprentices. It excludes construction electricians (72200), power system electricians (72202) and supervisors (72011).
Low, median and high wages published by Job Bank (NOC 72201), 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: $34/h · 2024: $42/h · 2025: $43/h.
What the job postings say
Of 183 postings on Job Bank in Greater Montreal (6 months, February to August 2026), 0% mention a night shift, 0% an evening shift and 0% weekends.
The shares above count the postings that name an evening, night or weekend shift. A posting that says nothing about it is not necessarily a day job: the schedule gets settled at the interview. Job Bank reports that 73% of industrial electricians in Quebec work all year, against 62% across all occupations: the job is more often year-round than average. Its two largest employing sectors, according to Job Bank, are primary metal manufacturing and the “other transportation and warehousing” group. If the plant runs around the clock, ask to see the actual schedule of the electrical team, not the production schedule, and who answers breakdowns at night and on weekends.
What an industrial electrician does
- Read electrical schematics, drawings and the requirements of the Quebec Construction Code, Chapter V – Electricity, before changing an installation.
- Install, replace and repair the plant's wiring, conduit, feeders, junction boxes and lighting.
- Test continuity, current, voltage and resistance to locate a fault in a circuit or a component.
- Maintain and test switchgear, transformers, distribution panels and regulators.
- Install, maintain and repair electric motors, generators, alternators and industrial storage batteries.
- Troubleshoot the electrical and electronic controls of machines: relay logic, starters, programmable controllers.
- Install, maintain and calibrate industrial instruments: sensors, transmitters, process measurement devices.
- Carry out the preventive maintenance program and keep the maintenance log for each piece of equipment.
- Lock out and verify the absence of voltage before any work, following the site's energy control procedure.
- Supervise the apprentice assigned to the team and sign off the skills they have mastered, once you hold the certificate.
Requirements, cards and certifications
- Certificat de qualification en électricité, Quebec's electricity qualification certificate, required to install, maintain, repair, rebuild or modify an electrical installation outside construction.
- Failing that, a valid apprentice card, renewed every year, and work under the supervision of a certified journeyperson.
- The four mandatory apprenticeship courses: reading electrical drawings and schematics, basic electricity, occupational health and safety, three-phase transformers.
- A CCQ competency certificate only if the work takes place on a construction site covered by the construction law; Statistics Canada adds that a construction certificate may also be required when the industrial equipment is not owned by the employer.
- Reading schematics, drawings and the Quebec Construction Code, Chapter V – Electricity.
- WHMIS training on the site's hazardous products, and command of the lockout procedure.
- A secondary school diploma, usually required according to the NOC.
Training
Two routes lead to the certificate, and they combine. The first is apprenticeship: at least 5,000 hours supervised by a journeyperson, the four mandatory courses, then the qualification exam, a 3-hour multiple-choice written test of 40 to 60 questions with a 60% pass mark. The second starts with a diploma. The DEP en électricité (5295), a vocational diploma, runs 1,800 hours and 120 credits, roughly 17 months (Inforoute FPT). It trains you to install, repair, modify and maintain the circuits and electrical systems of building machinery in the manufacturing, institutional and industrial sectors, programmable controllers, three-phase transformers and rotating machines included. It is offered at CIMME in Montreal and CFP Le Chantier in Laval, among others, and in English under the title Electricity (5795). The Quebec government also links the occupation to the DEP en électromécanique de systèmes automatisés and to the DEC in electrical engineering technology: automation and control.
Career path
Once certified, an industrial electrician can mentor apprentices and sign off their skills. Experience then leads to supervision: industrial electrician group lead, then foreman, an occupation classified separately (NOC 72011). The DEC in electrical engineering technology: automation and control opens the path toward automation. The Red Seal endorsement, earned through the interprovincial exam, makes it easier to work in another province.
Frequently asked questions
What does an industrial electrician do?
An industrial electrician keeps an industrial site's electrical installation, and the controls of the machines it feeds, in working order. They install, test, troubleshoot and repair wiring, transformers, switchgear, motors and instruments, then run the preventive maintenance program. NOC 72201 places them in the maintenance departments of plants, mines and shipyards.
How much does an industrial electrician make?
An industrial electrician's pay is in the table above: the low, median and high hourly wage published by Job Bank for NOC 72201, next to what Greater Montreal postings offer. The median is the middle value: half the occupation earns more, half earns less.
How much does an industrial electrician make in Quebec?
The Quebec median is the first row of the table, followed by each Greater Montreal region. When Job Bank has no data of its own for a region, the table flags it on that row and shows the figures for all of Quebec. To judge an offer, compare it with its region’s row, then with the Quebec row.
What is the average industrial electrician salary in Canada?
Job Bank publishes a low, median and high wage, province by province, rather than an average. This page sticks to Quebec. For another province, open the NOC 72201 profile on Job Bank and select it. Compare the rules too: according to Statistics Canada, the certificate is mandatory in Quebec, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island, and voluntary in several other provinces.
What training do you need to become an industrial electrician in Quebec?
The most direct school route is the DEP en électricité (5295): 1,800 hours, 120 credits, roughly 17 months according to Inforoute FPT. It covers three-phase transformers, rotating machines, programmable controllers and the instrumentation of building machinery. The diploma does not replace the qualification certificate, but the ministry can shorten the apprenticeship based on your diplomas.
Do you need a C licence to work as an industrial electrician in Quebec?
Yes, under its official name: the certificat de qualification en électricité, which some training centres still call the "C licence". It is required to install, maintain, repair, rebuild or modify an electrical installation outside construction, and it is renewed every four years. Working without a valid certificate or apprentice card is an offence that carries a fine.
Industrial electrician vs construction electrician: what is the difference?
The difference is the workplace. A construction electrician works on sites covered by the construction industry law, with a CCQ competency certificate; the NOC classifies the job separately (72200). An industrial electrician works outside construction, with the electricity qualification certificate. This page only covers the industrial side. A CCQ journeyperson electrician, however, receives the certificate with no further requirements.
How do you become an electrician apprentice in a plant?
You register with the Quebec government's electricity apprenticeship program, which issues an apprentice card renewed every year. The apprentice logs at least 5,000 hours under a certified journeyperson, who signs off that they can maintain, repair, install and modify an installation. Then come the four mandatory courses and the exam.
Can an electromechanical technician do an industrial electrician's job?
Not all of it. As soon as the work touches the electrical installation itself, to install, repair or modify it, the electricity qualification certificate is required, whatever the job title. The Quebec government does link the occupation to the DEP in automated systems electromechanics: that diploma leads there, but it does not exempt anyone from the certificate.
What are the job prospects for industrial electricians in Greater Montreal?
Moderate in Montreal, Laval, Montérégie and the Laurentides, Limited in Lanaudière, according to Job Bank for the next three years; it rates them Limited for Quebec as a whole. The Quebec government's profile, over a five-year horizon, rates them « Excellentes », the top of its own scale. The two sources disagree: look at the one that matches your region and your horizon.
Which industries employ industrial electricians?
Primary metal manufacturing comes first, with 19% of the occupation in Quebec according to Job Bank, followed by "other transportation and warehousing" (12%), paper manufacturing (10%), construction (8%) and mining (7%). The NOC job titles follow those settings: plant, mill, marine and mine electrician.
What is "électricien industriel" in English?
Industrial electrician, the English title of NOC 72201. The classification's English examples add plant electrician, plant maintenance electrician, mill electrician and mine electrician. On the diploma side, the DEP en électricité is also taught in English under the title Electricity (5795), and the qualification certificate is called the electricity qualification certificate.
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