NOC 2021 · 21232 · TEER 1
Software developers and programmers
Unit group 21232 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Software developers and programmers design, write, and test code for new systems and software to ensure efficiency. They create the foundations for operative systems and run diagnostic programs to certify effectiveness. They are employed in computer software, computer and video game development firms, information technology consulting firms, and in information technology units throughout the public and private sectors.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- animation programmer
- application programmer
- artificial intelligence programmer
- cloud developer
- computer application programmer
- computer game developer
- computer game programmer
- electronic business (e-business) software developer
- electronic commerce (e-commerce) software developer
- graphical user interface (GUI) designer
- graphical user interface (GUI) developer
- graphics programmer
- interactive media developer
- interactive media programmer
- mobile applications developer
- multimedia developer
- multimedia programmer
- software developer
- software development programmer
- software development project manager
- software programmer
- special effects programmer
- teleprocessing software programmer
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
$48.08 an hour
Low $30.00, high $76.92
Where it pays most
- Lower Mainland · British Columbia$52.40
- Vancouver Island and Coast · British Columbia$51.28
- Ottawa · Ontario$50.26
- Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula · Ontario$48.37
- Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie · Ontario$48.35
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 | $43.75 | $30.77 – $74.52 | Moderate |
| Prince Edward Island | $38.46 | $26.67 – $53.85 | Moderate |
| Nova Scotia | $40.87 | $24.50 – $66.67 | Good |
| New Brunswick | $45.67 | $28.00 – $74.04 | Moderate |
| Quebec | $45.67 | $29.00 – $68.13 | Moderate |
| Ontario | $48.08 | $30.29 – $77.40 | Limited |
| Manitoba | $41.03 | $30.00 – $62.02 | Moderate |
| Saskatchewan | $48.07 | $28.85 – $68.68 | Limited |
| Alberta | $48.08 | $29.81 – $76.92 | Moderate |
| British Columbia | $52.40 | $31.25 – $84.13 | Moderate |
| Yukon Territory | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Northwest Territories | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nunavut | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
By economic region
The 51 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 | $43.75 | $30.00 – $74.52 | Moderate |
| Cape Breton | Nova Scotia | $39.42 | $29.24 – $54.29 | Good |
| North Shore | Nova Scotia | $41.13 | $30.39 – $59.05 | Good |
| Annapolis Valley | Nova Scotia | $43.45 | $32.13 – $63.40 | Good |
| Southern | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Good |
| Halifax | Nova Scotia | $40.67 | $25.00 – $68.27 | Good |
| Moncton--Richibucto | New Brunswick | $44.67 | $26.44 – $78.37 | Moderate |
| Saint John--St. Stephen | New Brunswick | $43.69 | $27.85 – $73.03 | Moderate |
| Fredericton--Oromocto | New Brunswick | $45.67 | $30.29 – $74.33 | Moderate |
| Edmundston--Woodstock | New Brunswick | $40.64 | $30.38 – $59.00 | Undetermined |
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | Quebec | $42.58 | $29.29 – $63.13 | Moderate |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $45.67 | $26.44 – $64.90 | Moderate |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | $43.48 | $29.42 – $56.92 | Moderate |
| Estrie | Quebec | $43.50 | $26.52 – $68.32 | Moderate |
| Centre-du-Québec | Quebec | $43.68 | $29.26 – $58.79 | Moderate |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $46.94 | $31.25 – $71.34 | Moderate |
| Montréal | Quebec | $45.67 | $29.00 – $67.31 | Moderate |
| Laval | Quebec | $44.38 | $28.21 – $67.30 | Moderate |
| Lanaudière | Quebec | $46.75 | $31.82 – $66.58 | Good |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $45.74 | $31.34 – $67.97 | Good |
| Outaouais | Quebec | $47.38 | $29.94 – $65.80 | Moderate |
| Mauricie | Quebec | $41.92 | $31.20 – $59.97 | Good |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $50.26 | $33.65 – $81.25 | Limited |
| Kingston--Pembroke | Ontario | $43.51 | $29.64 – $64.98 | Very limited |
| Muskoka--Kawarthas | Ontario | $47.57 | $28.95 – $75.31 | Moderate |
| Toronto | Ontario | $48.08 | $30.00 – $76.92 | Very limited |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $48.35 | $32.31 – $86.54 | Limited |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | $48.37 | $30.00 – $75.00 | Limited |
| London | Ontario | $46.50 | $30.32 – $72.72 | Limited |
| Windsor--Sarnia | Ontario | $43.27 | $26.44 – $68.75 | Very limited |
| Stratford--Bruce Peninsula | Ontario | $48.08 | $30.29 – $77.40 | Moderate |
| Northeast | Ontario | $43.27 | $22.50 – $73.56 | Very limited |
| Northwest | Ontario | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Southeast | Manitoba | $40.45 | $29.49 – $56.80 | Moderate |
| South Central | Manitoba | $39.80 | $29.28 – $55.30 | Moderate |
| Southwest | Manitoba | $41.21 | $29.04 – $57.66 | Undetermined |
| North Central | Manitoba | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | $41.03 | $30.00 – $57.69 | Moderate |
| Regina--Moose Mountain | Saskatchewan | $44.71 | $32.00 – $57.69 | Limited |
| Saskatoon--Biggar | Saskatchewan | $48.08 | $26.44 – $68.68 | Limited |
| Lethbridge--Medicine Hat | Alberta | $42.37 | $30.27 – $60.01 | Moderate |
| Calgary | Alberta | $48.08 | $26.00 – $76.92 | Moderate |
| Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House | Alberta | $46.64 | $31.32 – $68.69 | Limited |
| Red Deer | Alberta | $44.25 | $33.67 – $63.96 | Moderate |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $40.87 | $30.00 – $72.12 | Moderate |
| Athabasca--Grande Prairie--Peace River | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | $51.28 | $28.00 – $79.33 | Good |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $52.40 | $32.00 – $84.13 | Moderate |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | $46.76 | $32.48 – $69.05 | Moderate |
| Kootenay | British Columbia | $47.16 | $33.22 – $69.79 | 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).
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.