NOC 2021 · 52111 · TEER 2
Graphic arts technicians
Unit group 52111 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Graphic arts technicians assist in conceptualizing a project, interpreting design specifications or sketches, preparing the page make-up, lay-out and lettering, and preparing production materials for press, electronic or multimedia publishing. They are employed by publishing, communications, advertising, marketing, printing and multimedia establishments, and by television and film production companies. They may also be self-employed.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- airbrush artist
- animated cartoon inker
- animated cartoon painter
- animated cartoon technician
- animated cartoons inker and painter
- animation camera operator
- animation inker
- animation painter
- apprentice sign painter
- art work assembler
- cartoon background artist
- compositor - animation
- compositor - film
- computer graphics design technician
- computer graphics operator
- computer graphics technician
- design assistant - advertising production
- digital graphic design technician
- graphic arts assembler
- graphic arts copy stylist
- graphic arts renderer
- graphic arts technician
- graphics technician
- hand painter - graphic arts
- lettering artist
- mannequin artist
- multimedia graphic design technician
- multimedia graphics technician
- paste-up artist
- photo editor
- photo process letterer - graphic arts
- photo stencil maker
- photograph retoucher
- photographic airbrush artist
- photographic colourist
- photography colourist
- poster layout designer
- poster painter
- rendering specialist
- screen stencil cutter - graphic arts
- sign layout detailer
- sign painter
- sign writer
- silkscreen stencil cutter
- silkscreen technician
- stencil marker
- stencil marker - graphic arts
- traffic sign painter
- video game artist
- vinyl lettering artist
- visual effects (VFX) artist
- visual effects artist
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
$34.96 an hour
Low $20.75, high $67.31
Where it pays most
- Lower Mainland · British Columbia$47.50
- Toronto · Ontario$36.08
- Ottawa · Ontario$34.63
- Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie · Ontario$34.63
- Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula · Ontario$34.63
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 | $27.80 | $20.64 – $36.73 | Moderate |
| New Brunswick | $29.15 | $22.21 – $46.22 | Undetermined |
| Quebec | $28.60 | $20.00 – $48.08 | Limited |
| Ontario | $34.63 | $21.09 – $56.70 | Very limited |
| Manitoba | $25.87 | $18.21 – $56.92 | Limited |
| Saskatchewan | $26.96 | $19.67 – $36.63 | Undetermined |
| Alberta | $32.66 | $21.41 – $48.59 | Very limited |
| British Columbia | $46.39 | $26.86 – $66.95 | Very 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 25 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 | $26.99 | $20.54 – $33.99 | Moderate |
| Moncton--Richibucto | New Brunswick | $28.01 | $24.10 – $47.89 | Undetermined |
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | Quebec | $27.16 | $22.33 – $38.87 | Undetermined |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $28.60 | $20.00 – $48.08 | Moderate |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | $23.40 | $20.00 – $29.40 | Moderate |
| Estrie | Quebec | $26.27 | $21.67 – $39.06 | Limited |
| Centre-du-Québec | Quebec | $27.90 | $22.01 – $38.30 | Moderate |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $28.72 | $25.00 – $48.08 | Limited |
| Montréal | Quebec | $30.00 | $25.00 – $44.12 | Limited |
| Laval | Quebec | $29.33 | $22.32 – $42.54 | Limited |
| Lanaudière | Quebec | $28.85 | $21.91 – $42.00 | Moderate |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $29.81 | $22.33 – $42.73 | Moderate |
| Outaouais | Quebec | $28.70 | $20.23 – $39.84 | Undetermined |
| Mauricie | Quebec | $25.03 | $21.05 – $35.18 | Undetermined |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | $25.57 | $21.97 – $38.03 | Moderate |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $34.63 | $21.09 – $56.70 | Undetermined |
| Toronto | Ontario | $36.08 | $23.19 – $58.00 | Very limited |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $34.63 | $21.09 – $56.70 | Undetermined |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | $34.63 | $21.09 – $56.70 | Very limited |
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Calgary | Alberta | $31.07 | $23.68 – $44.53 | Very limited |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $31.53 | $22.32 – $49.01 | Very limited |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $47.50 | $27.50 – $67.00 | Very limited |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | 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) · Employment Insurance Survey Data (2023-2024).
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.