Job prospects Natural Sciences Professor - University in Québec

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "natural sciences professor - university" in Québec or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Québec

The recent trends from the past 3 years were updated on July 25, 2025. The job outlooks over the next 3 years were updated on December 10, 2025.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be Moderate for university professors and lecturers (NOC 41200) in Quebec for the 2025-2027 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few 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.

Employment in this occupation depends on government investments in education, public and private funding for university research and the number of university students.

The increase in registrations is mainly due to the volume of students from the school system in Québec, as the contribution of international students is decreasing because of lower intake caps. In addition, the freeze on government investments is forcing universities to contend with limited financial resources.

Meanwhile, the growing demand for skilled labour and the automation of some university jobs through artificial intelligence could deter some young people from pursuing university studies and push them towards shorter vocational or technical training, which is better adapted to employer needs. In addition, the higher cost of living is forcing some people to enter the labour market before they receive their diploma, which could curb university registrations. However, this trend could be mitigated by economic uncertainty and rising youth unemployment, which encourage students to extend their studies.

Despite these challenges, satellite campuses are experiencing rapid expansion, facilitating access to university studies outside major centers. However, the growth of distance teaching is changing the skills required to teach and can reduce the demand for this occupation due to the increased size of groups, which is a phenomenon that could be amplified by budget cuts.

Here are some key facts about university professors and lecturers in Quebec:

• Approximately 18,650 people work in this occupation.
• University professors and lecturers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Universities (NAICS 6113): more than 95%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 87% compared to 82% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 13% compared to 18% for all occupations
• 76% of university professors and lecturers work all year, while 24% work only part of the year, compared to 62% and 38% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 47 weeks compared to 43 weeks for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 57% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 42% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: n/a
  • high school diploma or equivalent: less than 5% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: n/a
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: n/a
  • bachelor's degree: 5% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 94% compared to 11% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Québec by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

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