NOC 2021 · 32101 · TEER 2
Licensed practical nurses
Unit group 32101 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
What this group covers
Licensed practical nurses provide nursing care usually under the direction of medical practitioners, registered nurses or other health team members. Operating room technicians prepare patients and provide assistance to medical practitioners prior to and during surgery. Licensed practical nurses are employed in hospitals, nursing homes, extended care facilities, rehabilitation centres, doctors' offices, clinics, companies, private homes and community health centres. Operating room technicians are employed in hospitals.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- certified nursing assistant (CNA)
- graduate nursing assistant
- licensed nursing assistant
- licensed practical nurse (L.P.N.)
- medical technician - Canadian Armed Forces
- nurse educator - cannabis
- nursing assistant (registered - Québec)
- operating room technician
- operating room technician - Canadian Armed Forces
- operating room technician - nursing
- registered nursing assistant (R.N.A.)
- registered practical nurse (R.P.N.)
- surgical nursing assistant
- surgical technician - nursing
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
$31.32 an hour
Low $25.00, high $38.00
Where it pays most
- Yorkton--Melville · Saskatchewan$39.06
- Regina--Moose Mountain · Saskatchewan$38.71
- Swift Current--Moose Jaw · Saskatchewan$38.50
- Prince Albert · Saskatchewan$38.09
- Northern · Saskatchewan$38.09
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 | $29.58 | $26.44 – $32.08 | Good |
| Prince Edward Island | $31.00 | $25.00 – $32.25 | Very good |
| Nova Scotia | $30.42 | $28.00 – $35.11 | Very good |
| New Brunswick | $31.50 | $27.00 – $35.00 | Very good |
| Quebec | $30.00 | $24.21 – $33.00 | Moderate |
| Ontario | $31.00 | $25.32 – $37.94 | Good |
| Manitoba | $33.57 | $25.00 – $38.57 | Good |
| Saskatchewan | $38.09 | $33.00 – $42.00 | Good |
| Alberta | $32.00 | $25.80 – $36.00 | Good |
| British Columbia | $34.57 | $29.00 – $42.00 | Good |
| Yukon Territory | $43.50 | $38.00 – $53.00 | Undetermined |
| Northwest Territories | $44.15 | $30.00 – $48.86 | Very good |
| Nunavut | Not published | Not published | Very good |
By economic region
The 72 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 | $29.50 | $27.00 – $32.60 | Good |
| South Coast--Burin Peninsula | Newfoundland and Labrador | $29.58 | $25.90 – $32.04 | Good |
| West Coast--Northern Peninsula--Labrador | Newfoundland and Labrador | $30.00 | $26.44 – $32.67 | Good |
| Notre Dame--Central Bonavista Bay | Newfoundland and Labrador | $29.58 | $25.90 – $32.04 | Good |
| Cape Breton | Nova Scotia | $30.00 | $27.00 – $32.00 | Very good |
| North Shore | Nova Scotia | $31.00 | $27.00 – $33.58 | Very good |
| Annapolis Valley | Nova Scotia | $30.42 | $29.50 – $35.11 | Very good |
| Southern | Nova Scotia | $31.74 | $28.97 – $38.00 | Very good |
| Halifax | Nova Scotia | $31.00 | $28.96 – $35.11 | Very good |
| Campbellton--Miramichi | New Brunswick | $32.14 | $28.00 – $38.00 | Very good |
| Moncton--Richibucto | New Brunswick | $31.16 | $21.00 – $34.50 | Very good |
| Saint John--St. Stephen | New Brunswick | $31.19 | $25.00 – $34.50 | Very good |
| Fredericton--Oromocto | New Brunswick | $31.50 | $27.00 – $35.00 | Very good |
| Edmundston--Woodstock | New Brunswick | $31.80 | $30.10 – $39.40 | Very good |
| Gaspésie--Îles-de-la-Madeleine | Quebec | $29.00 | $21.00 – $32.32 | Good |
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | Quebec | $30.00 | $24.21 – $33.00 | Moderate |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $30.00 | $24.21 – $33.00 | Moderate |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | $32.25 | $25.30 – $33.00 | Good |
| Estrie | Quebec | $32.00 | $25.63 – $32.32 | Moderate |
| Centre-du-Québec | Quebec | $34.03 | $26.40 – $38.89 | Moderate |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $30.00 | $25.63 – $33.00 | Moderate |
| Montréal | Quebec | $30.00 | $25.00 – $32.75 | Moderate |
| Laval | Quebec | $28.40 | $22.00 – $33.33 | Moderate |
| Lanaudière | Quebec | $32.00 | $25.00 – $32.75 | Moderate |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $30.00 | $24.21 – $33.50 | Moderate |
| Outaouais | Quebec | $30.00 | $24.94 – $33.95 | Good |
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue | Quebec | $32.00 | $28.00 – $40.00 | Good |
| Mauricie | Quebec | $25.93 | $24.20 – $45.00 | Good |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | $30.32 | $24.21 – $37.50 | Moderate |
| Côte-Nord | Quebec | $31.60 | $26.94 – $42.00 | Moderate |
| Nord-du-Québec | Quebec | $31.60 | $26.94 – $42.00 | Moderate |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $32.00 | $28.00 – $37.05 | Good |
| Kingston--Pembroke | Ontario | $30.60 | $22.67 – $36.00 | Good |
| Muskoka--Kawarthas | Ontario | $32.70 | $25.78 – $37.44 | Good |
| Toronto | Ontario | $31.00 | $25.32 – $37.94 | Good |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $32.00 | $25.00 – $37.49 | Good |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | $33.00 | $25.00 – $37.04 | Good |
| London | Ontario | $30.00 | $24.73 – $37.05 | Good |
| Windsor--Sarnia | Ontario | $29.00 | $25.00 – $33.33 | Moderate |
| Stratford--Bruce Peninsula | Ontario | $31.00 | $25.32 – $37.94 | Good |
| Northeast | Ontario | $33.00 | $26.92 – $39.00 | Good |
| Northwest | Ontario | $32.28 | $26.50 – $36.00 | Good |
| Southeast | Manitoba | $32.17 | $27.97 – $39.73 | Very good |
| South Central | Manitoba | $32.13 | $25.85 – $40.12 | Moderate |
| Southwest | Manitoba | $32.00 | $29.00 – $38.00 | Good |
| North Central | Manitoba | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | $32.00 | $25.00 – $39.00 | Good |
| Interlake | Manitoba | $33.51 | $26.51 – $42.01 | Very good |
| Parklands | Manitoba | $34.07 | $26.78 – $43.81 | Very good |
| North | Manitoba | Not published | Not published | Very good |
| Regina--Moose Mountain | Saskatchewan | $38.71 | $33.60 – $48.08 | Good |
| Swift Current--Moose Jaw | Saskatchewan | $38.50 | $30.00 – $42.00 | Very good |
| Saskatoon--Biggar | Saskatchewan | $37.45 | $25.00 – $38.72 | Good |
| Yorkton--Melville | Saskatchewan | $39.06 | $28.28 – $53.96 | Good |
| Prince Albert | Saskatchewan | $38.09 | $36.00 – $39.00 | Good |
| Northern | Saskatchewan | $38.09 | $36.00 – $39.00 | Good |
| Lethbridge--Medicine Hat | Alberta | $32.00 | $25.80 – $36.00 | Good |
| Camrose--Drumheller | Alberta | $32.00 | $25.80 – $36.00 | Good |
| Calgary | Alberta | $33.00 | $27.25 – $36.00 | Good |
| Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House | Alberta | $34.00 | $28.00 – $38.66 | Good |
| Red Deer | Alberta | $34.36 | $26.55 – $40.97 | Good |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $32.00 | $25.80 – $36.00 | Good |
| Athabasca--Grande Prairie--Peace River | Alberta | $34.00 | $28.00 – $38.66 | Good |
| Wood Buffalo--Cold Lake | Alberta | $34.00 | $21.00 – $36.63 | Good |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | $34.57 | $29.00 – $42.00 | Good |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $32.04 | $28.00 – $40.38 | Good |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | $36.92 | $30.15 – $41.00 | Good |
| Kootenay | British Columbia | $34.57 | $29.00 – $42.00 | Very good |
| Cariboo | British Columbia | $32.98 | $29.00 – $46.00 | Moderate |
| North Coast | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Nechako | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Northeast | British Columbia | $36.71 | $29.33 – $44.45 | 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.