Canada CAD salary in 2025 is an hourly wage with an older reference period than the title suggests. Job Bank updated the table for drafting technologists and technicians on 19 November 2025. The wages themselves come from 2023 to 2024. The national median is $31.79 an hour. The published low is $21.50. The published high is $48.38. The source line on the national row is the Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada. The occupation is NOC 22212.
The title of this guide says 2025 because that is when the wage report was issued. The first pay sentence has to say 2023 to 2024, or the year in the headline overclaims. Job Bank does not print a national annual salary for this occupation. At 2,080 hours, which is 40 hours times 52 weeks, the median is about $66,100. That product is arithmetic done here so readers can compare with yearly offers. It is not a figure the agency published.
What the occupation includes
Job Bank describes drafting technologists and technicians as people who prepare engineering designs, drawings, and related technical information, including building information models. They work on teams with engineers, architects, or industrial designers, or they work on their own. Employers include consultancies, construction firms, utilities, resource companies, manufacturers, and government. The usual requirement is a college diploma, a longer apprenticeship, or experience in a supervisory trade.
That description mixes drafters and technologists on purpose. A CAD drafter and a technologist who also supports design calculations can share this median. The United States splits drafters from engineering technicians and gets different numbers. Canada asks you to live with one hourly wage. CAD technician salary 2025 lines the countries up without converting them into one another.
Provinces, from the Labour Force Survey rows
Several provincial medians in the same update come from the Labour Force Survey for 2023 to 2024. Others are small area estimates for 2024, which are a model, not the same source. This table stays with the survey rows.
| Area | Low, dollars an hour | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 21.50 | 31.79 | 48.38 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 25.00 | 36.00 | 56.73 |
| Alberta | 25.48 | 36.00 | 53.85 |
| British Columbia | 20.00 | 33.65 | 51.00 |
| Ontario | 20.00 | 31.25 | 48.08 |
| Manitoba | 22.00 | 30.03 | 48.56 |
| New Brunswick | 23.32 | 30.00 | 40.11 |
| Quebec | 21.00 | 29.81 | 42.31 |
| Toronto region | 23.08 | 32.50 | 45.45 |
| Calgary region | 22.00 | 33.65 | 50.00 |
| Montreal region | 20.00 | 30.00 | 41.35 |
| Lower Mainland and Southwest, British Columbia | 20.00 | 32.21 | 52.88 |
Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador share the highest survey median in that list, $36.00. Quebec is the lowest of these provinces, at $29.81. Ontario, the largest labour market, sits just under the national median, at $31.25. Toronto's own survey median is $32.50, so the provincial number is not the city number. Calgary's survey median is $33.65, below Alberta's $36.00. The provincial figure is being pulled up outside Calgary. Montreal matches a round $30.00. The Lower Mainland, which includes Vancouver, is $32.21, under the British Columbia median of $33.65.
Lows and highs are the ends Job Bank publishes. They are not labeled as a tenth and a ninetieth percentile in the table. Call them the published low and the published high. Hamilton and the Niagara peninsula show a survey high of $75.00 beside a median of $32.05. That high is in the Labour Force Survey row and it is an outlier next to the national high of $48.38. It is a poor number to treat as a typical top wage.
How to compare with a yearly offer
A salaried offer of about $66,000 lines up with 2,080 hours at the national median, before you talk about overtime, pension, or a short year. An offer of $36 an hour matches the Alberta and Newfoundland medians and beats the national median by a clear margin. An offer of $30 an hour matches Montreal and New Brunswick and sits under Ontario. None of this converts to the U.S. drafter median of $68,090. Currency, benefits, and occupation boundaries differ. US CAD salary 2025 and UK CAD salary 2025 are separate descriptions.
The wage report does not split AutoCAD, Revit, SolidWorks, or BIM coordinator. The occupation text mentions building information models as something these workers prepare. BIM is inside the Canadian drafting wage, not beside it. A coordinator title can still be a broader job than the survey average. The survey will not price the extra scope.
What the update is for
Use the November 2025 Job Bank table when someone asks what drafting technologists and technicians earn in Canada. Say the hours were worked in 2023 and 2024. Say the national middle is $31.79 an hour. Say Alberta's middle is not Calgary's middle. If you need a yearly figure, show the multiplication. The agency's own number is the hourly one, and the low and the high are wide enough that a single annual average would have hidden the point.
Sources
- Job Bank, wages for drafting technologists and technicians. Updated 19 November 2025. National and provincial Labour Force Survey rows cited here use the 2023 to 2024 reference period. NOC 22212.
- Job Bank, labour market summary for this occupation. Duties and education.