NOC 2021 · 21101 · TEER 1
Chemists
Unit group 21101 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Chemists conduct research and analysis in support of industrial operations, product and process development, quality control, environmental control, medical diagnosis and treatment, biotechnology, nanotechnology and other applications. They also conduct theoretical, experimental and applied research into basic chemical and biochemical processes to create or synthesize new products and processes. They are employed in research, development and quality control laboratories; chemical, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries; mineral, metal and pulp and paper industries; and a wide variety of manufacturing, utility, health, educational and government establishments.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- agricultural chemist
- agrochemist
- analytical biochemist
- analytical chemist
- atmospheric chemist
- bioanalytical chemist
- biochemist
- biochemistry research scientist
- biological chemist
- chemical spectroscopist
- chemist
- chemist - biomolecular assembly
- chemistry research scientist
- chemistry researcher
- clinical chemist
- coatings chemist
- control chemist
- dairy chemist
- detergent chemist
- dye chemist
- electrochemist
- environmental chemist
- enzyme chemist
- fermentologist
- food chemist
- forensic chemist
- glass chemist
- hydrochemist
- industrial chemist
- inorganic chemist
- laboratory chemist
- leather chemist
- medical biochemist
- medical chemist
- medicinal chemist
- nanochemist
- nuclear chemist
- nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopist
- nutritional chemist
- oceanographic chemist
- optical spectroscopist
- organic chemist
- organic mass spectrometrist
- organometallic chemist
- petroleum chemist
- pharmaceutical chemist
- pharmacological chemist
- physical chemist
- physical research chemist
- physiological chemist
- plastics and resins chemist
- polymer chemist
- process control chemist
- protective coatings chemist
- protein chemist
- quality control chemist
- research chemist
- soil chemist
- standards chemist
- textile chemist
- theoretical chemist
- water chemist
- water purification chemist
- wood chemist
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
$38.46 an hour
Low $24.00, high $65.93
Where it pays most
- Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House · Alberta$45.74
- Avalon Peninsula · Newfoundland and Labrador$45.46
- Edmonton · Alberta$44.91
- Outaouais · Quebec$44.85
- Ottawa · Ontario$44.27
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 | $43.69 | $29.36 – $70.91 | Undetermined |
| Prince Edward Island | $36.41 | $22.00 – $51.79 | Good |
| Nova Scotia | $39.23 | $26.52 – $56.76 | Moderate |
| New Brunswick | $36.83 | $25.30 – $56.10 | Undetermined |
| Quebec | $38.88 | $24.94 – $60.75 | Moderate |
| Ontario | $39.49 | $27.09 – $66.67 | Moderate |
| Manitoba | $39.40 | $27.22 – $67.01 | Moderate |
| Saskatchewan | $42.97 | $27.86 – $72.14 | Good |
| Alberta | $43.74 | $27.00 – $68.19 | Moderate |
| British Columbia | $39.95 | $26.69 – $59.34 | Moderate |
| Yukon Territory | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Northwest Territories | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nunavut | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
By economic region
The 35 economic regions where Job Bank publishes a wage or a rated outlook, of 72.
| Where | Province | Median hourly | Low to high | Outlook 2025–2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon Peninsula | Newfoundland and Labrador | $45.46 | $32.69 – $72.06 | Undetermined |
| Annapolis Valley | Nova Scotia | $39.11 | $25.62 – $55.33 | Undetermined |
| Halifax | Nova Scotia | $40.26 | $27.93 – $59.28 | Moderate |
| Moncton--Richibucto | New Brunswick | $36.77 | $25.24 – $55.78 | Undetermined |
| Fredericton--Oromocto | New Brunswick | $36.70 | $26.43 – $54.84 | Undetermined |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $40.33 | $26.85 – $60.50 | Moderate |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | $40.71 | $28.71 – $59.35 | Moderate |
| Estrie | Quebec | $43.91 | $29.78 – $63.55 | Moderate |
| Centre-du-Québec | Quebec | $39.85 | $29.03 – $56.41 | Undetermined |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $40.65 | $27.27 – $56.69 | Moderate |
| Montréal | Quebec | $38.69 | $25.32 – $63.65 | Moderate |
| Laval | Quebec | $41.24 | $28.08 – $59.89 | Moderate |
| Lanaudière | Quebec | $40.81 | $29.92 – $60.97 | Moderate |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $41.50 | $28.56 – $61.59 | Good |
| Outaouais | Quebec | $44.85 | $33.04 – $64.49 | Moderate |
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue | Quebec | $41.51 | $29.01 – $66.59 | Moderate |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | $40.87 | $25.87 – $69.03 | Undetermined |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $44.27 | $31.87 – $66.87 | Limited |
| Kingston--Pembroke | Ontario | $44.02 | $31.77 – $65.91 | Moderate |
| Muskoka--Kawarthas | Ontario | $42.35 | $29.97 – $62.64 | Undetermined |
| Toronto | Ontario | $38.46 | $28.00 – $65.93 | Moderate |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $38.97 | $27.22 – $55.82 | Moderate |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | $39.49 | $27.09 – $66.67 | Moderate |
| London | Ontario | $40.78 | $27.64 – $61.33 | Moderate |
| Windsor--Sarnia | Ontario | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Northeast | Ontario | $38.70 | $27.02 – $60.80 | Undetermined |
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | $38.88 | $27.46 – $64.47 | Limited |
| Saskatoon--Biggar | Saskatchewan | $42.32 | $27.19 – $63.25 | Undetermined |
| Lethbridge--Medicine Hat | Alberta | $43.37 | $29.58 – $66.97 | Undetermined |
| Calgary | Alberta | $41.55 | $27.29 – $63.85 | Moderate |
| Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House | Alberta | $45.74 | $30.11 – $70.78 | Undetermined |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $44.91 | $29.62 – $69.99 | Moderate |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | $39.79 | $29.08 – $62.06 | Undetermined |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $40.03 | $27.06 – $72.70 | Moderate |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | $39.02 | $28.13 – $59.98 | Undetermined |
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.