NOC 2021 · 94120 · TEER 4
Sawmill machine operators
Unit group 94120 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Sawmill machine operators operate, monitor and control automated lumbermill equipment to saw timber logs into rough lumber; saw, trim and plane rough lumber into dressed lumber of various sizes; and saw or split shingles and shakes. They are employed in sawmills and planing mills.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- automatic edger operator - sawmill
- block splitter - sawmill
- board sawyer - sawmill
- bolt sawyer - sawmill
- bolterman/woman - sawmill
- canter operator - sawmill
- chip reclaim operator - sawmill
- Chip-N-Saw operator - sawmill
- circular saw operator
- circular saw operator - sawmill
- cut-off saw operator - sawmill
- drag saw operator - sawmill
- edger - sawmill
- edgerman/woman
- edgerman/woman - sawmill
- gang sawyer - sawmill
- head sawyer
- head sawyer - sawmill
- headrig operator - sawmill
- head-saw operator - sawmill
- high-speed stud operator - sawmill
- jumbo operator - sawmill
- log cut-off operator
- log cut-off operator - sawmill
- log cut-off sawyer - sawmill
- log gang saw operator - sawmill
- log gang sawyer - sawmill
- log haul cut-off saw operator - sawmill
- log hoist operator - sawmill
- lumber sizer operator - sawmill
- machine splitter - sawmill
- planer - sawmill
- planer mill machine operator
- planer operator
- planer operator - sawmill
- planerman/woman - sawmill
- resaw operator
- resaw operator - sawmill
- resawyer - sawmill
- ripsaw operator - sawmill
- saw operator - sawmill
- sawdust reclaim operator - sawmill
- sawing machine operator - sawmill
- sawmill machine operator
- sawyer - sawmill
- scrag-saw operator - sawmill
- shake maker
- shake sawyer
- shake sawyer - sawmill
- shake splitter
- shingle cutter
- shingle cutter - sawmill
- shingle maker
- shingle sawyer
- slab saw operator
- slasher operator - sawmill
- slasher saw operator - sawmill
- slasher trim operator - sawmill
- splitter - sawmill
- splitter operator - sawmill
- stave bolt saw operator
- stave bolt sawyer - sawmill
- tilt-hoist operator - sawmill
- timber cut-off sawyer - sawmill
- transfer operator - sawmill
- trim saw operator - sawmill
- trim sawyer - sawmill
- trimmer operator - sawmill
- trimmer tender - sawmill
- trimmerman/woman
- trimmerman/woman - sawmill
- trimming machine operator - sawmill
- trimming machine tender - sawmill
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
$27.35 an hour
Low $19.00, high $37.00
Where it pays most
- Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House · Alberta$38.00
- Athabasca--Grande Prairie--Peace River · Alberta$38.00
- Northeast · British Columbia$35.47
- Cariboo · British Columbia$35.00
- North Coast · British Columbia$34.24
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 | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Prince Edward Island | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nova Scotia | $21.66 | $18.91 – $25.20 | Moderate |
| New Brunswick | $21.21 | $16.00 – $24.60 | Moderate |
| Quebec | $27.00 | $19.00 – $30.00 | Moderate |
| Ontario | $23.72 | $19.70 – $31.41 | Limited |
| Manitoba | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Saskatchewan | $28.76 | $20.70 – $37.05 | Undetermined |
| Alberta | $35.00 | $17.00 – $40.00 | Moderate |
| British Columbia | $32.50 | $25.00 – $37.00 | 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 47 economic regions where Job Bank publishes a wage or a rated outlook, of 72.
| Where | Province | Median hourly | Low to high | Outlook 2025–2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Breton | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| North Shore | Nova Scotia | $22.32 | $19.98 – $26.30 | Moderate |
| Annapolis Valley | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Southern | Nova Scotia | $21.02 | $18.23 – $23.42 | Moderate |
| Campbellton--Miramichi | New Brunswick | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Moncton--Richibucto | New Brunswick | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Saint John--St. Stephen | New Brunswick | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Fredericton--Oromocto | New Brunswick | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Edmundston--Woodstock | New Brunswick | $21.00 | $16.00 – $24.19 | Moderate |
| Gaspésie--Îles-de-la-Madeleine | Quebec | $27.00 | $19.10 – $30.50 | Moderate |
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | Quebec | $24.05 | $19.90 – $27.69 | Limited |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $24.27 | $20.51 – $28.57 | Moderate |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | $26.00 | $21.00 – $28.00 | Moderate |
| Estrie | Quebec | $23.12 | $20.36 – $27.32 | Moderate |
| Centre-du-Québec | Quebec | $22.62 | $19.27 – $26.06 | Moderate |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $22.17 | $18.98 – $24.85 | Moderate |
| Montréal | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Laval | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Lanaudière | Quebec | $23.17 | $18.76 – $29.95 | Undetermined |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $24.46 | $19.68 – $25.51 | Moderate |
| Outaouais | Quebec | $22.32 | $19.35 – $24.97 | Moderate |
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue | Quebec | $26.22 | $22.50 – $33.17 | Moderate |
| Mauricie | Quebec | $24.78 | $21.25 – $31.09 | Moderate |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | $25.31 | $20.98 – $30.18 | Moderate |
| Côte-Nord | Quebec | $27.39 | $22.63 – $34.22 | Moderate |
| Nord-du-Québec | Quebec | $30.00 | $28.11 – $33.26 | Moderate |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $22.40 | $19.35 – $25.89 | Undetermined |
| Kingston--Pembroke | Ontario | $23.91 | $20.15 – $27.36 | Moderate |
| Toronto | Ontario | $23.39 | $19.06 – $29.10 | Moderate |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $22.15 | $18.85 – $26.33 | Moderate |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | $23.81 | $22.14 – $29.33 | Undetermined |
| Stratford--Bruce Peninsula | Ontario | $21.36 | $20.28 – $24.69 | Undetermined |
| Northeast | Ontario | $25.98 | $21.19 – $32.82 | Limited |
| Northwest | Ontario | $27.60 | $24.33 – $37.57 | Limited |
| Prince Albert | Saskatchewan | $29.11 | $21.99 – $36.78 | Undetermined |
| Calgary | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House | Alberta | $38.00 | $35.00 – $40.00 | Moderate |
| Edmonton | Alberta | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Athabasca--Grande Prairie--Peace River | Alberta | $38.00 | $35.00 – $40.00 | Moderate |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | $30.96 | $23.25 – $38.35 | Moderate |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $30.51 | $23.56 – $38.68 | Moderate |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | $33.30 | $25.71 – $40.62 | Moderate |
| Kootenay | British Columbia | $32.76 | $26.09 – $40.78 | Moderate |
| Cariboo | British Columbia | $35.00 | $30.00 – $38.10 | Moderate |
| North Coast | British Columbia | $34.24 | $26.72 – $44.04 | Limited |
| Nechako | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Northeast | British Columbia | $35.47 | $26.22 – $46.05 | 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).
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.