NOC 2021 · 21100 · TEER 1
Physicists and astronomers
Unit group 21100 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Physicists conduct theoretical and applied research to extend knowledge of natural phenomena and to develop new processes and devices in fields such as electronics, communications, power generation and distribution, aerodynamics, optics and lasers, remote sensing, biotechnology, medicine and health. They are employed by electronic, electrical and aerospace manufacturing companies, telecommunications companies, power utilities, university and government research laboratories, hospitals and by a wide range of other processing, manufacturing, and research and consulting firms. Astronomers conduct observational and theoretical research to extend knowledge of the universe. They are employed by government and universities.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- acoustics physicist
- aerodynamicist
- aerophysicist
- aerospace research scientist
- astronomer
- astrophysicist
- atmospheric physicist
- biophysicist
- chemical physicist
- communications research scientist
- cosmic ray physicist
- cosmologist
- cryogenics physicist
- crystal physicist
- electricity and magnetism physicist
- electronics physicist
- electronics research scientist
- elementary particle physicist
- elementary particle theorist
- experimental physicist
- fluid physicist
- health physicist
- high-temperature physicist
- laser physicist
- low-temperature physicist
- magnetism physicist
- mathematical biophysicist
- mechanics physicist
- medical biophysicist
- medical engineering biophysicist
- medical physicist
- metal physicist
- metrologist
- microwave physicist
- molecular biophysicist
- nanotechnology physicist
- nuclear physicist
- nuclear reactor physicist
- optics physicist
- particle accelerator physicist
- particle physicist
- photonics physicist
- physicist
- physics research scientist
- plasma physicist
- radiation biophysicist
- radio astronomer
- reactor physicist
- remote sensing research scientist
- rheologist
- semiconductor physicist
- solid-state physicist
- space physicist
- theoretical nuclear physicist
- thermal physicist
- X-ray physicist
What it pays, and where it is hiring
Job Bank publishes a wage estimate and a three-year employment outlook for each occupation, region by region. Both are below as published — where an estimate is missing from the source it is missing here too, because the alternative is inventing one.
Across Canada
$56.49 an hour
Low $34.95, high $96.15
Where it pays most
- Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula · Ontario$65.03
- Kingston--Pembroke · Ontario$64.68
- London · Ontario$63.27
- Toronto · Ontario$61.30
- Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie · Ontario$59.60
Economic regions only. A province’s figure is an average over the regions inside it, so including one would rank a province above its own best region and read as a finding.
By province and territory
| Where | Median hourly | Low to high | Outlook 2025–2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Prince Edward Island | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nova Scotia | $47.47 | $28.32 – $72.39 | Undetermined |
| New Brunswick | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Quebec | $50.28 | $33.92 – $77.30 | Good |
| Ontario | $60.08 | $37.03 – $92.98 | Moderate |
| Manitoba | $64.71 | $35.02 – $96.38 | Undetermined |
| Saskatchewan | $65.83 | $37.09 – $85.31 | Undetermined |
| Alberta | $57.20 | $32.55 – $84.81 | Undetermined |
| British Columbia | $52.43 | $34.29 – $78.80 | Limited |
| Yukon Territory | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Northwest Territories | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nunavut | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
By economic region
The 15 economic regions where Job Bank publishes a wage or a rated outlook, of 72.
| Where | Province | Median hourly | Low to high | Outlook 2025–2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax | Nova Scotia | $48.41 | $29.40 – $67.59 | Undetermined |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $50.48 | $33.15 – $73.44 | Good |
| Estrie | Quebec | $48.57 | $34.10 – $67.09 | Undetermined |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $50.16 | $34.37 – $70.73 | Very good |
| Montréal | Quebec | $54.01 | $36.44 – $73.93 | Good |
| Laval | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Good |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $58.91 | $37.66 – $83.08 | Limited |
| Kingston--Pembroke | Ontario | $64.68 | $44.02 – $91.03 | Undetermined |
| Toronto | Ontario | $61.30 | $37.01 – $88.19 | Moderate |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $59.60 | $36.97 – $81.56 | Undetermined |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | $65.03 | $42.43 – $96.42 | Undetermined |
| London | Ontario | $63.27 | $38.01 – $85.98 | Undetermined |
| Calgary | Alberta | $58.39 | $34.53 – $79.87 | Undetermined |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $55.36 | $32.22 – $80.22 | Undetermined |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $52.88 | $35.18 – $75.55 | Moderate |
Job Bank rates employment prospects for each occupation in each economic region from very good to very limited over 2025–2027, and says “undetermined” where it has not got enough to rate. It is an assessment of prospects, not a count of vacancies.
The estimates on this page come from Labour Force Survey (2023-2024) · Small Area Estimation (2024).
Job Bank publishes an estimate for 24,364 of the 44,376 occupation-and-place pairs in this release. The rest are suppressed rather than modelled, and appear here as not published.
Wage estimates from the 2025 Wages release, revised 19 November 2025; employment outlooks from 2025-2027 Employment Outlooks - NOC 2021, released 8 December 2025. Both are updated annually. Estimates for different regions come from different surveys, so comparing two regions is exactly as sound as Job Bank’s own regional comparison and no more.
Source: Statistics Canada — National Occupational Classification 2021 V1.0; Employment and Social Development Canada — Job Bank wages; Employment and Social Development Canada — Job Bank 3-year employment outlooks. Data current as of 13 August 2026. NOC 2021 Version 1.0. The classification is versioned rather than dated — IRCC moved to it in November 2022, and a new version would be a new classification rather than an update.