Job prospects Heavy Equipment Operating Engineer in Québec

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "heavy equipment operating engineer" in Québec or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Québec

These outlooks were updated on December 11, 2024.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be limited for Heavy equipment operators (NOC 73400) in Quebec for the 2024-2026 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are several unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Employment in this occupation primarily depends on activity in the construction industry, particularly in engineering and road construction work. 

In recent years, the activity level has peaked in the civil engineering and road construction sectors. For the forecast period, the level of activity will increase only slightly. Some ongoing projects will be completed, but several large-scale projects will still begin during the forecast period, including the reconstruction of bridges, wind farms, and power lines. 

Part of the demand for this occupation also depends on other construction subsectors, mainly in land preparation. In this regard, residential construction should gradually pick up, driven by the decrease in interest rates. With a high level of activity in recent years, the institutional sector will remain fairly stable with several hospital and school refurbishment projects planned. While the commercial sector continues to be hindered by the uncertain pace of the economic recovery, several major projects should support investment growth in the industrial sector, particularly in the battery industry.

Here are some key facts about Heavy equipment operators in Quebec:

• Approximately 15,700 people work in this occupation.
• Heavy equipment operators mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Construction (NAICS 23): 62%
  • Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (NAICS 21): 9%
  • Management and administrative services (NAICS 55, 56): 5%
• 44% of heavy equipment operators work all year, while 56% work only part of the year, compared to 62% and 38% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 41 weeks compared to 43 weeks for all occupations.
• 5% of heavy equipment operators are self-employed compared to an average of 12% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: more than 95% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: less than 5% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: 23% compared to 12% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 19% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 52% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 5% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: less than 5% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 11% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Québec by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Job prospects elsewhere in Canada

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "heavy equipment operating engineer" Heavy equipment operators (except crane) (NOC 73400) or across Canada.

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