NOC 2021 · 52120 · TEER 2
Graphic designers and illustrators
Unit group 52120 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Graphic designers conceptualize and produce graphic art and visual materials to effectively communicate information for publications, advertising, films, packaging, posters, signs and interactive media such as Web sites and CDs. They are employed by advertising and graphic design firms, by establishments with advertising or communications departments and by multimedia production companies, or they may be self-employed. Graphic designers who are also supervisors, project managers or consultants are included in this unit group. Illustrators conceptualize and create illustrations to represent information through images. They are almost solely self-employed.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- 2D animation artist
- 2D animator
- 3D animation artist
- 3D animator
- 3D artist
- 3D modeler
- advertising art director
- advertising art supervisor
- advertising artist
- advertising designer
- advertising illustrator
- advertising illustrator chief
- advertising layout designer
- animated cartoon artist
- animated cartoon artist - visual arts
- animated cartoon colourist
- animation artist
- animation layout designer
- animator - animated films
- art layout designer
- artistic illustrator
- assistant animator - animated films
- background artist
- bank note designer
- biological illustrator
- business forms designer
- calligrapher
- calligraphic artist
- caricaturist
- cartoon film artist
- cartoonist
- cartoonist sketch
- catalogue illustrator
- cell animator
- character animator
- colour artist - cartoons
- colourist - cartoons
- commercial artist
- commercial design artist
- commercial designer
- communication designer
- computer animator
- computer graphics specialist
- concept artist
- content creator - graphic design
- content director
- content strategist
- cover designer
- cover page illustrator
- cybergraphic designer
- digital animator - artist
- editorial cartoonist
- fashion illustrator
- flash designer
- form layout designer
- forms designer
- game designer
- graphic artist
- graphic arts room supervisor
- graphic design and illustration animator
- graphic designer
- graphic designer - multimedia
- graphic designer - multimedia, interactive or new media
- graphic designer and layout artist
- illustrator
- illustrator and graphic designer
- interactive media designer
- Internet graphic designer
- layout artist
- layout designer
- level designer
- litho artist
- medical illustrator
- motion graphic designer
- multimedia design specialist
- multimedia designer
- multimedia illustrator
- multimedia instructional designer and scriptor
- multimedia products designer
- multimedia products designer-ideaman/woman
- new media graphics designer
- newspaper illustrator
- package designer
- page designer
- paper securities designer
- pictographist
- political caricaturist
- political cartoonist
- poster artist
- registered graphic designer (RGD)
- scientific illustrator
- sign designer
- sports cartoonist
- storyboard artist
- technical animator
- technical artist
- texture artist
- title artist
- user experience designer
- visual graphic designer
- wallpaper colourist
- wallpaper designer
- Web designer - graphic design
- Web graphic designer
- Web page designer
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
$31.25 an hour
Low $20.00, high $52.88
Where it pays most
- Lower Mainland · British Columbia$36.00
- Vancouver Island and Coast · British Columbia$35.00
- Ottawa · Ontario$33.65
- Toronto · Ontario$33.65
- Northeast · Ontario$32.71
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 | $25.00 | $19.23 – $38.75 | Limited |
| Prince Edward Island | $26.39 | $19.37 – $34.05 | Limited |
| Nova Scotia | $28.85 | $21.15 – $45.64 | Limited |
| New Brunswick | $27.77 | $19.82 – $44.43 | Limited |
| Quebec | $30.00 | $20.00 – $51.28 | Very limited |
| Ontario | $32.69 | $21.00 – $52.88 | Very limited |
| Manitoba | $25.64 | $18.00 – $38.57 | Limited |
| Saskatchewan | $23.00 | $18.00 – $34.62 | Moderate |
| Alberta | $26.30 | $18.00 – $45.19 | Limited |
| British Columbia | $35.00 | $24.04 – $57.69 | Limited |
| Yukon Territory | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Northwest Territories | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nunavut | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
By economic region
The 59 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 | $27.44 | $20.27 – $38.77 | Limited |
| 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 |
| Halifax | Nova Scotia | $28.85 | $21.15 – $45.64 | Limited |
| Campbellton--Miramichi | New Brunswick | $26.31 | $21.66 – $36.70 | Undetermined |
| Moncton--Richibucto | New Brunswick | $29.67 | $21.46 – $34.67 | Limited |
| Saint John--St. Stephen | New Brunswick | $26.62 | $21.69 – $35.51 | Limited |
| Fredericton--Oromocto | New Brunswick | $25.75 | $21.48 – $36.22 | Limited |
| Edmundston--Woodstock | New Brunswick | $24.52 | $21.52 – $35.48 | Undetermined |
| Gaspésie--Îles-de-la-Madeleine | Quebec | $26.37 | $21.27 – $34.42 | Very limited |
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | Quebec | $26.37 | $21.91 – $35.46 | Limited |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $27.00 | $20.00 – $42.98 | Very limited |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | $30.00 | $20.00 – $51.28 | Limited |
| Estrie | Quebec | $26.00 | $22.80 – $46.15 | Limited |
| Centre-du-Québec | Quebec | $27.91 | $21.57 – $38.82 | Moderate |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $25.00 | $18.00 – $48.00 | Very limited |
| Montréal | Quebec | $32.69 | $20.00 – $62.56 | Very limited |
| Laval | Quebec | $29.30 | $22.25 – $40.53 | Very limited |
| Lanaudière | Quebec | $28.79 | $21.55 – $40.05 | Limited |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $29.23 | $22.14 – $40.63 | Limited |
| Outaouais | Quebec | $31.08 | $23.00 – $46.15 | Limited |
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Mauricie | Quebec | $27.72 | $21.49 – $37.63 | Very limited |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | $27.28 | $20.48 – $35.88 | Limited |
| Côte-Nord | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Nord-du-Québec | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $33.65 | $22.00 – $60.10 | Very limited |
| Kingston--Pembroke | Ontario | $30.77 | $18.57 – $46.15 | Very limited |
| Muskoka--Kawarthas | Ontario | $32.69 | $21.00 – $52.88 | Moderate |
| Toronto | Ontario | $33.65 | $21.00 – $53.37 | Very limited |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $30.59 | $20.34 – $45.07 | Very limited |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | Not published | Not published | Very limited |
| London | Ontario | $28.46 | $21.18 – $40.40 | Very limited |
| Windsor--Sarnia | Ontario | $28.00 | $18.50 – $40.14 | Limited |
| Stratford--Bruce Peninsula | Ontario | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Northeast | Ontario | $32.71 | $18.00 – $60.00 | Very limited |
| Northwest | Ontario | $27.56 | $22.55 – $38.56 | Moderate |
| Southeast | Manitoba | $25.15 | $19.92 – $34.77 | Moderate |
| South Central | Manitoba | $27.03 | $22.61 – $36.85 | Undetermined |
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | $26.44 | $18.00 – $38.57 | Limited |
| Regina--Moose Mountain | Saskatchewan | $22.00 | $18.00 – $40.00 | Moderate |
| Swift Current--Moose Jaw | Saskatchewan | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Saskatoon--Biggar | Saskatchewan | $24.38 | $18.98 – $31.48 | Moderate |
| Prince Albert | Saskatchewan | $23.57 | $19.75 – $33.37 | Undetermined |
| Lethbridge--Medicine Hat | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Camrose--Drumheller | Alberta | $26.42 | $22.83 – $36.16 | Limited |
| Calgary | Alberta | $30.00 | $20.00 – $43.27 | Limited |
| Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House | Alberta | $27.05 | $21.65 – $37.56 | Limited |
| Red Deer | Alberta | $26.10 | $20.56 – $35.84 | Limited |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $27.41 | $20.81 – $44.97 | Limited |
| Athabasca--Grande Prairie--Peace River | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Wood Buffalo--Cold Lake | Alberta | $28.04 | $23.35 – $38.56 | Undetermined |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | $35.00 | $24.04 – $57.69 | Moderate |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $36.00 | $25.60 – $57.69 | Very limited |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | $31.00 | $21.61 – $47.00 | Moderate |
| Kootenay | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Cariboo | British Columbia | $30.77 | $22.59 – $42.05 | Undetermined |
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.