Imagine you are working beside a busy highway interchange, carefully collecting, and replacing air quality sampling tubes from a small monitoring station. You are an environmental technologist/technician working for a small environmental consulting firm that has been recruited by the city to coordinate its new air quality monitoring program.
The program is designed to measure levels of air pollutants in different areas of the city and compare them to national air quality standards.
Months ago, you and your team mapped and built several monitoring stations to effectively test problem areas. Now it is your responsibility to collect samples from these stations each week and make certain they are functioning properly.
As an environmental technologist/technician, you are often responsible for collecting and processing a variety of air, water, and soil samples.
For this project, you collect air quality samples using diffusion tubes placed at each monitoring station: air enters the tubes, and a chemical absorbent traps any pollutants present. Each week, you collect the old tubes for analysis and replace them with new ones.
Some monitoring stations are also outfitted with more advanced sampling equipment that uses filters to collect pollutants.
Regulated volumes of air are pumped through specialized filters that trap pollutants for detection and analysis. As with the diffusion tubes, you must regularly collect the old filters and replace them with new ones.
Once you have collected the samples, you take them to the lab for analysis. You and your team of environmental professionals will evaluate the results and compare them to national standards, which will tell you if you the city’s air quality levels are above or below legal limits.
Finally, you will contribute to the preparation of a report summarizing your firm’s findings that will be presented to the City.
Duties vary significantly from job to job, but the following list includes typical job duties that an environmental technologist/technician might perform:
Environmental technologists/technicians work in a variety of locations including offices, labs and assessment sites.
The lab:
The office:
The field:
Please note: During a site assessment, the type of work may require that technologists work underground, climb ladders, work on roofs of varying heights and lift or move heavy equipment.
There are several places environmental technologists/technicians can find employment. They include:
Search for job opportunities for environmental technicians/technologists on the ECO Canada Job Board.
If you are considering a career as an environmental technologist/technician, you should have a strong interest in:
In most cases, the minimum education requirement to work as an environmental technician is a college technical diploma. To be an environmental technologist, you typically need an undergraduate degree.
If you are a post-secondary student, the following programs are most applicable to work as an environmental technologist/technician:
Most environmental technicians/technologists are required to become certified as technicians or technologists through their provincial association. Requirements for certification vary among provinces.
Hard/Technical Skills (obtained through formal education and training programs)
Soft Skills (personal attributes)
Environmental employers look for professionals who can combine technical knowledge with soft skills. Watch our free webinar “Essential Not Optional: Skills Needed to Succeed in Canada’s Environmental Industry” or take our Essential Skills courses.
Both environmental technologists and technicians require broad scientific knowledge and technical skills.
The difference between an environmental technologist and an environmental technician is that an environmental technologist typically has an engineering degree whereas an environmental technician has either a diploma or a certificate. In terms of organizational hierarchy, a technologist is usually placed above a technician.
Environmental technologists research, analyze, design, conduct studies, and resolve problems. Technicians are involved in the supporting duties including maintenance, design drafting and implementation, repairs, and troubleshooting.
Environmental technologists/technicians can be responsible for collecting and analyzing air, water, and soil samples; conducting field inspections and investigations of contamination; operating and monitoring pollution control or treatment equipment; monitoring compliance with federal and provincial regulations, or participating in environmental assessments and cleanup efforts.
Environmental technologists/technicians often work as part of a team of professionals and play a key role in conservation and protection efforts. They may also be tasked with penalizing or shutting down operations or organizations for violation of health or environmental regulations.
Without the efforts of environmental technologists/technicians, the work of other environmental workers may be stalled or never even put into action.
If, for example, an environmental scientist discovered an innovative way to combat water contamination in a rural area, an environmental technologist would take on more work including designing a filtration system, figuring out where to place it without disrupting ecosystems and animal habitats, and ensuring that as the project progresses, there is consideration for potential environmental impacts.
After the blueprint is set in place, an environmental technician would be brought in. The environmental technician’s role would be to install the filtration device, ensure that things are working as they should, and verify that it is serving its purpose to combat water contamination in a sustainable and efficient way.
The technician would also perform follow-up assessments, collect data, and draft feedback reports on the operations, to circulate back to the environmental scientist. This last step is very important as it is key to measuring the success of the project.
Environmental technologists/technicians produce tangible results that help bring the workforce closer to a more sustainable and efficient environment.
Individuals employed as environmental technologists/technicians may be classified in one or more of the following occupational groupings:
NOC Code: 2221-Biological Technologists and Technicians
NOC Code: 2211-Chemical Technologists and Technicians
NOC Code: 2263-Inspectors in Public and Environmental Health and Occupational Health and Safety
NOC Code: 7302-Contractors and Supervisors, Heavy Equipment Operator Crews
The National Occupation Classification (NOC) provides a standardized language for describing the work performed by Canadians in the labour market. It gives statisticians, labour market analysts, career counsellors, employers and individual job seekers a consistent way to collect data, describe and understand the nature of work within different occupations.
The NOC is developed and updated in partnership with Statistics Canada to coincide with the 5- year census cycles. It is based on in-depth occupational research and consultations conducted across Canada, to reflect changes in the Canadian labour market.
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