Occupation
Environmental engineer
Environmental engineers design systems that treat water and waste, control emissions, remediate contaminated land, and keep operations within environmental permits. The role blends technical design with regulatory work and field investigation.
Also known as: Environmental protection engineer · Pollution control engineer
Occupation content
Part of Engineering and technical design
What the work involves
- Design or upgrade treatment, containment, and emission-control systems.
- Collect and interpret sampling data from sites, discharges, or monitoring equipment.
- Prepare permit applications, impact assessments, and compliance reports for regulators.
- Model contaminant transport, hydraulic behaviour, or emissions to support design choices.
- Advise operations teams on spill response, waste handling, and monitoring requirements.
- Inspect sites and verify that installed controls perform as designed.
How people commonly enter
- An accredited bachelor's degree in environmental, civil, or chemical engineering.
- A postgraduate environmental engineering degree taken after a related engineering or science degree.
- An environmental technology diploma followed by a bridging route into the engineering stream.
- A graduate engineer position with a consultancy, utility, or regulatory body.
Typical training: Bachelor's degree
Licensing: Regulated in most jurisdictions — confirm the current requirement with the regulator in your province, state, or country.
Typical work context
Team based · Outdoors · Client sites · Desk based · Involves travel · Varied work
Related interests
Investigative (analytical) · Realistic (hands-on) · Social (helping)
Related aptitude preparation
These are preparation links only. They do not measure eligibility for this occupation and no score here qualifies or disqualifies anyone.
Skills to practise
Practice suites
Related learning
Family-level learning links for Engineering and technical design.
Official sources
Labour-market facts such as pay and employment projections are not reproduced here. Open an official source below for figures, with its own geography and reference period.
- US BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Environmental engineers · United States
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- O*NET OnLine — occupation search: environmental engineer · United States
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- Employment and Social Development Canada — National Occupational Classification (NOC) · Canada
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Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)
This is broad family-level context for Engineering and technical design in Canada, not a figure for Environmental engineer. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.
This is a broad Engineering and technical design family. Explore the official profile for the chosen occupation; entry education and training can differ within the family.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Engineering and technical design: education pathways
Some roles in Engineering and technical design may be regulated. Confirm whether the specific role requires registration, certification, or a jurisdiction-specific licence.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Engineering and technical design: licensing
Find jobs
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- Search Canada Job Bank · Canada
- Search USAJOBS · United States federal
- Search EURES · European Union / EEA
- Search Indeed · International (choose location on Indeed)