Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations

Overview

Medical laboratory assistants and workers in related technical occupations perform pre-analysis and pre-testing tasks such as collecting blood and other samples, processing specimens, and preparing special chemicals called reagents for use in testing. They conduct routine medical laboratory tests and set up, clean and maintain medical laboratory equipment. They are employed in medical laboratories in hospitals, clinics, research facilities, post-secondary educational institutions and government research laboratories.

Also known as:

blood bank technician
clinical laboratory technician
community health technician - medical laboratory
histology technician
medical laboratory aide

Median salary

The median salary for this job across Ontario is $54,600

Average hourly wage

Low $17.62

Medium $26.25

High $36.00

Low
The low wage, in most cases, corresponds to the 10th percentile. For example, if the low wage is $12.00/hour, this means that 10% of the workers in the occupation earn $12.00/hour or less.

Medium
The median wage is the indicator of the prevailing wage for each occupation. The median wage is the middle point of the wage distribution, when wages are arranged in numerical order.

High
The high wage, in most cases, corresponds to the 90th percentile. For example, if the high wage is $40.00/hour, this means that 90% of the workers in the occupation earn $40.00/hour or less.

Education and training pathways

To be qualified for this job, completion of a medical laboratory science program is required.

Secondary school or equivalency

An Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent is required. If you haven’t completed the required credits, you can earn them through Adult learning programs.

College or university programs

Medical laboratory assistants and related technical workers require completion of a college certificate program in medical laboratory science.

Educational pathways are provided for informational purposes only. Links are included for programs at publicly assisted postsecondary institutions. They may not be inclusive of all relevant programs available in Ontario.

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Other education or certifications

Required registration

Certification by the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science is usually required by employers.

Micro-credentials

Consider obtaining micro-credentials to gain skills and knowledge relevant to your career. Micro-credentials are rapid training programs that can help you get the skills that employers need.

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Relevant organizations

Career data by region

See median salary and historical job postings of this career profile based on Economic Region.

Totals for economic regions may be less than total online job postings for the province due to exclusion of postings without reliable information.

Economic Region	Median salary ($)	Historical job postings
Ottawa	55,900	106
Kingston-Pembroke	59,300	64
Muskoka-Kawarthas	57,300	43
Toronto	52,000	559
Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie	53,700	101
Hamilton-Niagara Peninsula	56,200	87
London	58,500	46
Windsor-Sarnia	51,800	42
Stratford-Bruce Peninsula	56,000	21
Northeast	59,800	45
Northwest	58,600	59

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About the data

Information on this page is sourced from the National Occupational Classification (NOC), which is Canada’s national system for describing occupations.

NOC Code: NOC 33101

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Ontario’s labour market information website is developed for use as a resource to help people explore career options. The job outlooks for each occupation use projections of future job openings and should be interpreted with caution. Shifts in the rate of economic growth, technological developments, business restructuring, or changes in government policies can all affect the future growth prospects or skill requirements of the labour market.

Job outlooks have been developed for Ontario as a whole, and may not reflect the situation in each local labour market. The number and type of employers, the occupational make-up of the workforce, and other local economic conditions all contribute to the employment prospects for an occupation in a given community.

The accuracy of the information presented for in-demand skills and knowledge and other sections based on job posting data depends, in part, on whether jobs are categorized into the correct occupational groups. In some cases, job postings may be incorrectly attributed to an occupational grouping and the data should be interpreted with caution

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