NOC 2021 · 21231 · TEER 1
Software engineers and designers
Unit group 21231 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Software engineers and designers research, design, evaluate, integrate and maintain software applications, technical environments, operating systems, embedded software, information warehouses and telecommunications software. They are employed in information technology consulting firms, information technology research and development firms, and information technology units throughout the private and public sectors, or they may be self-employed.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- application architect
- automation engineer - software
- backend engineer
- cloud administrator
- cloud architect
- cloud engineer
- cloud infrastructure engineer
- cloud operations engineer
- computer applications engineer
- computer software engineer
- computer systems platform engineer - software
- computer telecommunications software specialist
- development and operations (DevOps) engineer
- embedded software designer
- embedded software engineer
- lead development and operations (DevOps) engineer
- lead software engineer
- mobile development lead
- simulation software design engineer
- site reliability engineer
- software and information technology project manager
- software architect
- software design engineer
- software design project manager
- software design supervisor
- software design verification engineer
- software designer
- software development engineer
- software engineer
- software engineering lead
- software project manager
- software quality assurance (QA) engineer
- software systems designer
- software systems integration engineer
- software technical architect
- software testing engineer
- systems applications engineer
- systems architect
- systems engineer - software
- telecommunications software engineer
- telecommunications software specialist
- test automation engineer - software
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 $35.00, high $91.35
Where it pays most
- Lower Mainland · British Columbia$62.50
- Windsor--Sarnia · Ontario$57.69
- Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie · Ontario$56.77
- Ottawa · Ontario$56.73
- Toronto · Ontario$56.49
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 | $48.88 | $33.48 – $71.24 | Undetermined |
| Prince Edward Island | $41.69 | $28.88 – $78.48 | Moderate |
| Nova Scotia | $52.50 | $32.32 – $98.56 | Good |
| New Brunswick | $52.88 | $26.44 – $81.73 | Moderate |
| Quebec | $53.60 | $35.00 – $86.54 | Limited |
| Ontario | $56.73 | $36.06 – $88.00 | Very limited |
| Manitoba | $46.15 | $20.00 – $69.23 | Limited |
| Saskatchewan | $50.48 | $33.65 – $74.71 | Moderate |
| Alberta | $51.92 | $36.06 – $100.00 | Moderate |
| British Columbia | $62.50 | $35.00 – $99.04 | 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 46 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 | $49.19 | $33.85 – $70.82 | Undetermined |
| Cape Breton | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Good |
| North Shore | Nova Scotia | $46.06 | $31.35 – $71.65 | Good |
| Annapolis Valley | Nova Scotia | $48.37 | $32.57 – $72.95 | Good |
| Southern | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Good |
| Halifax | Nova Scotia | $49.52 | $32.31 – $98.56 | Good |
| Campbellton--Miramichi | New Brunswick | $44.20 | $32.03 – $65.32 | Undetermined |
| Moncton--Richibucto | New Brunswick | $42.35 | $31.12 – $66.51 | Moderate |
| Saint John--St. Stephen | New Brunswick | $45.82 | $32.08 – $78.61 | Moderate |
| Fredericton--Oromocto | New Brunswick | $43.21 | $32.44 – $70.04 | Moderate |
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | Quebec | $45.31 | $32.06 – $62.89 | Moderate |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $53.60 | $35.00 – $86.54 | Limited |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | $53.60 | $35.00 – $86.54 | Limited |
| Estrie | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Centre-du-Québec | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $54.95 | $41.03 – $100.96 | Limited |
| Montréal | Quebec | $52.88 | $31.53 – $82.42 | Limited |
| Laval | Quebec | $53.60 | $35.00 – $86.54 | Limited |
| Lanaudière | Quebec | $53.60 | $35.00 – $86.54 | Moderate |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $53.60 | $35.00 – $86.54 | Moderate |
| Outaouais | Quebec | $53.60 | $35.00 – $86.54 | Limited |
| Mauricie | Quebec | $48.76 | $34.29 – $67.23 | Limited |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | $49.30 | $33.67 – $68.15 | Limited |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $56.73 | $36.06 – $88.00 | Limited |
| Kingston--Pembroke | Ontario | $52.88 | $36.95 – $83.17 | Limited |
| Muskoka--Kawarthas | Ontario | $52.07 | $35.15 – $78.81 | Moderate |
| Toronto | Ontario | $56.49 | $36.06 – $88.94 | Very limited |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $56.77 | $36.06 – $84.13 | Very limited |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | $48.72 | $32.47 – $87.00 | Very limited |
| London | Ontario | $49.31 | $32.69 – $87.65 | Very limited |
| Windsor--Sarnia | Ontario | $57.69 | $26.81 – $81.25 | Very limited |
| Stratford--Bruce Peninsula | Ontario | $51.50 | $34.09 – $80.29 | Limited |
| Northeast | Ontario | $48.08 | $23.50 – $86.54 | Very limited |
| Northwest | Ontario | $49.86 | $33.64 – $74.76 | Limited |
| Southeast | Manitoba | $45.94 | $34.34 – $64.59 | Undetermined |
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | $46.15 | $20.00 – $69.23 | Limited |
| Regina--Moose Mountain | Saskatchewan | $45.78 | $32.09 – $67.84 | Moderate |
| Saskatoon--Biggar | Saskatchewan | $50.48 | $33.65 – $74.71 | Limited |
| Lethbridge--Medicine Hat | Alberta | $46.74 | $30.93 – $64.21 | Undetermined |
| Calgary | Alberta | $51.92 | $43.00 – $100.00 | Moderate |
| Red Deer | Alberta | $45.25 | $29.14 – $65.61 | Undetermined |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $50.24 | $32.50 – $72.55 | Moderate |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | $55.29 | $36.06 – $106.09 | Good |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $62.50 | $34.62 – $99.04 | Moderate |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | $52.63 | $35.21 – $79.78 | Good |
| Kootenay | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Good |
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.