NOC 2021 · 83101 · TEER 3
Oil and gas well drillers, servicers, testers and related workers
Unit group 83101 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Oil and gas well drillers and well servicers control the operation of drilling and hoisting equipment on drilling and service rigs, and direct the activities of the rig crew under supervision of the rig manager. Oil and gas well loggers, testers and related workers operate specialized mechanical or electronic equipment, tools or instruments to provide services in conjunction with well drilling, completion or servicing. They are employed by drilling and well service contractors, petroleum producing companies and well logging or testing companies.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- assistant driller - offshore drilling rig
- assistant driller - oil and gas well drilling
- coring operator - oil field services
- directional driller - oil and gas drilling
- directional drilling operator
- directional drilling operator - oil and gas drilling
- downhole tool operator
- downhole tool operator - oil and gas drilling
- drill stem tester
- drill stem tester - oil and gas drilling
- driller - offshore drilling rig
- driller - oil and gas drilling
- electric line operator
- electric line operator - oil field services
- e-line operator - oil field services
- fishing tool operator - oil field services
- gas tester - oil field services
- gun perforator - oil field services
- hydrocarbon mud logger - oil field services
- logging and perforating operator
- logging and perforating operator - oil field services
- offshore driller - oil and gas
- oil well perforator
- production testing operator - oil and gas well drilling
- rig technician - driller
- service rig operator
- service rig operator - oil field services
- sidewall core sampler - oil field services
- slickline operator
- slickline operator - oil field services
- well puller - oil field services
- well testing operator
- well testing operator - oil and gas drilling
- wireline operator
- wireline operator - oil field services
- wireline operator trainee
- workover rig operator - oil field services
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
$47.12 an hour
Low $26.37, high $70.00
Where it pays most
- Lower Mainland · British Columbia$50.07
- Edmonton · Alberta$48.50
- Vancouver Island and Coast · British Columbia$47.41
- Lethbridge--Medicine Hat · Alberta$46.70
- Camrose--Drumheller · Alberta$46.00
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 | $35.00 | $28.75 – $60.00 | Very good |
| Prince Edward Island | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nova Scotia | $36.81 | $22.16 – $71.84 | Very limited |
| New Brunswick | $34.73 | $21.87 – $52.36 | Undetermined |
| Quebec | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Ontario | $34.34 | $21.00 – $44.00 | Very limited |
| Manitoba | $35.77 | $32.00 – $52.00 | Moderate |
| Saskatchewan | $42.00 | $34.50 – $57.00 | Good |
| Alberta | $48.50 | $25.00 – $70.00 | Moderate |
| British Columbia | $43.00 | $25.00 – $70.97 | 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 23 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 | $36.86 | $28.75 – $62.50 | Very good |
| Saint John--St. Stephen | New Brunswick | $39.32 | $23.63 – $70.91 | Undetermined |
| Toronto | Ontario | $33.31 | $19.92 – $42.46 | Very limited |
| Southwest | Manitoba | $37.65 | $33.65 – $53.00 | Moderate |
| Regina--Moose Mountain | Saskatchewan | $42.00 | $34.50 – $57.00 | Moderate |
| Swift Current--Moose Jaw | Saskatchewan | $42.00 | $28.21 – $59.00 | Good |
| Saskatoon--Biggar | Saskatchewan | $41.00 | $34.50 – $50.00 | Good |
| Yorkton--Melville | Saskatchewan | Not published | Not published | Good |
| Prince Albert | Saskatchewan | $42.00 | $34.50 – $57.00 | Good |
| Northern | Saskatchewan | Not published | Not published | Good |
| Lethbridge--Medicine Hat | Alberta | $46.70 | $28.00 – $60.00 | Moderate |
| Camrose--Drumheller | Alberta | $46.00 | $28.00 – $56.00 | Moderate |
| Calgary | Alberta | $38.89 | $25.63 – $62.66 | Moderate |
| Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House | Alberta | $41.67 | $27.56 – $60.00 | Moderate |
| Red Deer | Alberta | $40.00 | $21.15 – $56.00 | Moderate |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $48.50 | $25.00 – $70.00 | Moderate |
| Athabasca--Grande Prairie--Peace River | Alberta | $41.67 | $27.56 – $60.00 | Moderate |
| Wood Buffalo--Cold Lake | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | $47.41 | $28.88 – $78.81 | Limited |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $50.07 | Not published | Limited |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | $45.57 | $28.16 – $77.50 | Limited |
| Kootenay | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Northeast | British Columbia | $44.42 | $32.19 – $62.44 | 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) · 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.