Occupation
Environmental technician
Environmental technicians collect and test samples of soil, water, air, and waste, and monitor sites against environmental permits and standards. Field days involve travel, sampling equipment, and site safety gear; office and lab days involve preparation, analysis, and reporting. The value of the work rests on clean sampling technique and an unbroken chain of custody.
Also known as: Environmental field technician · Environmental sampling technician · Environmental monitoring technician · Environmental science technician
Occupation content
Part of Agriculture, animals and environment
What the work involves
- Plan sampling runs and prepare bottles, preservatives, blanks, and calibration standards.
- Collect soil, groundwater, surface water, air, or waste samples following the sampling protocol.
- Calibrate and operate field meters and data loggers and record readings on site.
- Complete chain-of-custody paperwork and ship samples within holding times.
- Run or support laboratory analyses and check results against quality-control criteria.
- Draft monitoring reports and flag exceedances or anomalies to the project scientist.
How people commonly enter
- A college certificate or diploma in environmental technology, chemistry, or applied science.
- A bachelor's degree in environmental science, chemistry, geology, or biology.
- Field-assistant or laboratory-assistant work leading into a technician role with employer training.
- Site-safety and technical certifications gained alongside employment, such as hazardous-materials or confined-space training.
Typical training: Certificate or college diploma
Licensing: Certification common, not usually required
Typical work context
Outdoors · Lab or workshop · Client sites · Involves travel · Team based
Related interests
Investigative (analytical) · Realistic (hands-on)
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 Agriculture, animals and environment.
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 Science and Protection Technicians · United States
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- Canada Job Bank — Career planning and occupation search (Environmental technician) · Canada
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- EU ESCO — Occupations and skills classification · European Union
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Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)
This is broad family-level context for Agriculture, animals and environment in Canada, not a figure for Environmental technician. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.
This is a broad Agriculture, animals and environment 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
Agriculture, animals and environment: education pathways
Some roles in Agriculture, animals and environment 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
Agriculture, animals and environment: 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)