NOC 2021 · 84110 · TEER 4
Chain saw and skidder operators
Unit group 84110 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Chain saw and skidder operators operate chain saws to fell, delimb and buck trees, and operate skidders to move or yard the felled trees from the logging site to the landing area for processing and transportation. They are employed by logging companies and contractors.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- bucker
- bucker - logging
- cable skidder operator
- chain saw operator - logging
- chaser - logging
- cordwood cutter
- cutter - logging
- faller
- faller - logging
- faller and bucker - logging
- feller
- feller - logging
- forest worker - logging
- grapple skidder operator
- hardwood faller and bucker
- horse logger
- landing bucker - logging
- landingman/woman
- landingman/woman - logging
- log cutter
- logger
- logging tractor operator
- lumberjack
- pieceworker - logging
- pole cutter
- post cutter
- pulpwood cutter
- skidder operator
- skidder operator - logging
- wood cutter - logging
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
$30.00 an hour
Low $20.00, high $40.00
Where it pays most
- Vancouver Island and Coast · British Columbia$39.79
- Thompson--Okanagan · British Columbia$34.00
- Kootenay · British Columbia$33.65
- Cariboo · British Columbia$33.00
- Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean · Quebec$31.00
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 | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| New Brunswick | $23.00 | $18.00 – $30.00 | Limited |
| Quebec | $28.00 | $20.00 – $35.00 | Very limited |
| Ontario | $26.00 | $20.00 – $33.00 | Limited |
| Manitoba | $22.73 | $18.00 – $29.00 | Undetermined |
| Saskatchewan | $25.00 | $16.40 – $32.00 | Undetermined |
| Alberta | $30.00 | $21.50 – $37.00 | Limited |
| British Columbia | $35.00 | $28.00 – $41.50 | 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 29 economic regions where Job Bank publishes a wage or a rated outlook, of 72.
| Where | Province | Median hourly | Low to high | Outlook 2025–2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Breton | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| North Shore | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Annapolis Valley | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Southern | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Campbellton--Miramichi | New Brunswick | $25.00 | $20.00 – $31.62 | Limited |
| Edmundston--Woodstock | New Brunswick | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Gaspésie--Îles-de-la-Madeleine | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Very limited |
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | Quebec | $26.00 | $20.00 – $33.03 | Limited |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | $25.00 | $20.45 – $31.50 | Limited |
| Estrie | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Montérégie | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Very limited |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $27.00 | $18.50 – $34.00 | Very limited |
| Outaouais | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Very limited |
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue | Quebec | $28.00 | $20.00 – $34.61 | Very limited |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | $31.00 | $27.87 – $35.97 | Very limited |
| Côte-Nord | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Very limited |
| Nord-du-Québec | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Very limited |
| Northeast | Ontario | Not published | Not published | Very limited |
| Northwest | Ontario | Not published | Not published | Very limited |
| Calgary | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Athabasca--Grande Prairie--Peace River | Alberta | $30.00 | $24.00 – $35.00 | Limited |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | $39.79 | $34.88 – $43.00 | Limited |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | $34.00 | $27.00 – $38.00 | Very limited |
| Kootenay | British Columbia | $33.65 | $25.00 – $47.50 | Limited |
| Cariboo | British Columbia | $33.00 | $27.00 – $37.00 | Limited |
| North Coast | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Nechako | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Limited |
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 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.