Job prospects Information Technology (IT) Support Technician in Ontario

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as an "information technology (IT) support technician" in Ontario or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Ontario

These outlooks were updated on November 29, 2023.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be moderate for User support technicians (NOC 22221) in Ontario for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

What Types of Employers Are Out There

• All major sectors of the economy, but the leading share is in computer systems design and related services
• Telecommunication carriers
• Business support services, including call centres
• Public administration, especially the federal government

What are the Main Trends Affecting Employment

• Digital changes occurring in many business operations
• The growing share of households owning electronic devices, should lead to opportunities to provide technical support
• Some opportunities expected from third-party providers of help desk support, including cloud-based services

What Skills Do I Need To Succeed

• User support technicians provide various levels of assistance, from the basic Tier 1 help desk function, to the more advanced Tier 3 level, which may affect the skill requirements of advertised positions
• Two voluntary skilled trades are associated with this occupation in Ontario, namely, Information Technology (IT): Contact Centre Technical Support Agent, and Hardware Technician.

Here are some key facts about User support technicians in Ontario:

• Approximately 50,000 people work in this occupation.
• User support technicians mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Computer systems design services (NAICS 5415): 28%
  • Information and cultural industries (NAICS 51): 10%
  • Management and administrative services (NAICS 55, 56): 9%
  • Monetary Authorities - central bank and securities, commodity contracts and other intermediation and related activities (NAICS 521, 522, 523): 7%
  • Federal government public administration (NAICS 911): 7%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 91% compared to 81% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 9% compared to 19% for all occupations
• 75% of user support technicians work all year, while 25% work only part of the year, compared to 63% and 37% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 45 weeks compared to 43 weeks for all occupations.
• Less than 5% of user support technicians are self-employed compared to an average of 15% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 71% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 28% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: less than 5% compared to 9% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 19% compared to 25% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: less than 5% compared to 8% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 34% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 31% compared to 24% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 11% compared to 13% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Ontario by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as an "information technology (IT) support technician" User support technicians (NOC 22221) or across Canada.

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