NOC 2021 · 72500 · TEER 2
Crane operators
Unit group 72500 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Crane operators operate cranes or draglines to lift, move, position or place machinery, equipment and other large objects at construction or industrial sites, ports, railway yards, surface mines and other similar locations. They are employed by construction, industrial, mining, cargo handling and railway companies. Apprentices are also included in this unit group.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- apprentice mobile crane operator
- boat crane operator
- boom crane operator
- boom truck crane operator
- boom truck hoist operator
- bridge crane operator
- cantilever crane operator
- cinder crane operator
- climbing crane operator
- construction crane operator
- crane and hoisting equipment operator
- crane hoist operator
- crane operator
- crane operator apprentice
- crawler crane operator
- demolition crane operator
- dragline crane operator
- drilling rig crane operator
- electric crane operator
- electric dragline operator
- electric gantry crane operator
- electric monorail crane operator
- floating crane operator
- gantry crane operator
- hoist operator - foundry
- hoist operator (except underground mining)
- hot metal crane operator
- jib crane operator
- ladle crane operator
- locomotive crane operator
- locomotive craneman/woman
- mechanical hoist operator
- mobile crane apprentice operator
- mobile crane operator
- monorail crane operator
- overhead crane operator
- pile driving crane operator
- power crane operator
- rail crane operator
- railway car puller - crane
- ship crane operator
- skip operator
- tower crane operator
- tractor crane operator
- truck crane operator
- walking bridge crane operator
- wrecking crane operator
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
$42.77 an hour
Low $26.50, high $52.19
Where it pays most
- Vancouver Island and Coast · British Columbia$47.16
- Thompson--Okanagan · British Columbia$46.26
- Windsor--Sarnia · Ontario$45.50
- Edmonton · Alberta$45.27
- Lethbridge--Medicine Hat · Alberta$45.00
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 | $39.63 | $26.00 – $52.00 | Moderate |
| Prince Edward Island | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nova Scotia | $41.20 | $25.00 – $50.00 | Good |
| New Brunswick | $35.00 | $23.81 – $50.60 | Moderate |
| Quebec | $43.01 | $30.11 – $47.00 | Limited |
| Ontario | $40.48 | $24.50 – $53.94 | Moderate |
| Manitoba | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Saskatchewan | $44.31 | $27.00 – $53.76 | Good |
| Alberta | $45.00 | $29.70 – $51.68 | Limited |
| British Columbia | $43.00 | $27.00 – $55.00 | 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 57 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 | $39.00 | $27.00 – $49.47 | Moderate |
| South Coast--Burin Peninsula | Newfoundland and Labrador | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| West Coast--Northern Peninsula--Labrador | Newfoundland and Labrador | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Notre Dame--Central Bonavista Bay | Newfoundland and Labrador | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Cape Breton | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| North Shore | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Annapolis Valley | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Southern | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Halifax | Nova Scotia | $41.20 | $25.00 – $50.00 | Good |
| Moncton--Richibucto | New Brunswick | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Saint John--St. Stephen | New Brunswick | $35.00 | $23.81 – $50.60 | Moderate |
| Fredericton--Oromocto | New Brunswick | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $43.01 | $30.72 – $45.00 | Limited |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | $43.39 | $29.00 – $46.69 | Limited |
| Centre-du-Québec | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $43.00 | $33.18 – $45.00 | Limited |
| Montréal | Quebec | $43.00 | $24.50 – $47.07 | Limited |
| Laval | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Lanaudière | Quebec | $43.01 | $31.02 – $47.04 | Limited |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $43.00 | $28.90 – $46.00 | Very limited |
| Outaouais | Quebec | $43.01 | $30.11 – $47.00 | Very limited |
| Mauricie | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | $43.89 | $39.66 – $48.00 | Very limited |
| Côte-Nord | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Nord-du-Québec | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $37.75 | $25.00 – $51.00 | Moderate |
| Kingston--Pembroke | Ontario | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Muskoka--Kawarthas | Ontario | $40.48 | $24.50 – $53.94 | Moderate |
| Toronto | Ontario | $41.22 | $23.15 – $55.94 | Moderate |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $40.48 | $24.50 – $53.94 | Moderate |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | $33.84 | $25.00 – $52.16 | Moderate |
| London | Ontario | $40.74 | $23.16 – $53.19 | Moderate |
| Windsor--Sarnia | Ontario | $45.50 | $25.25 – $53.19 | Moderate |
| Stratford--Bruce Peninsula | Ontario | $40.48 | $24.50 – $53.94 | Moderate |
| Northeast | Ontario | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Northwest | Ontario | $40.48 | $24.50 – $53.94 | Undetermined |
| Southeast | Manitoba | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Interlake | Manitoba | Not published | Not published | Good |
| Regina--Moose Mountain | Saskatchewan | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Prince Albert | Saskatchewan | $44.31 | $27.00 – $53.76 | Undetermined |
| Lethbridge--Medicine Hat | Alberta | $45.00 | $29.70 – $51.68 | Limited |
| Camrose--Drumheller | Alberta | $45.00 | $29.70 – $51.68 | Undetermined |
| Calgary | Alberta | $42.60 | $26.00 – $54.30 | Limited |
| Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Red Deer | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $45.27 | $29.00 – $51.25 | Limited |
| Athabasca--Grande Prairie--Peace River | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Wood Buffalo--Cold Lake | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Very limited |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | $47.16 | $28.00 – $56.60 | Limited |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $38.00 | $26.00 – $53.17 | Limited |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | $46.26 | $30.00 – $56.00 | Limited |
| Kootenay | British Columbia | $43.00 | $27.00 – $55.00 | Limited |
| Cariboo | British Columbia | $43.00 | $27.00 – $55.00 | Undetermined |
| 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.