Environmental Technician

NOC #22300

  • Environment Primarily outdoor work
  • Education Post-secondary diploma
  • Average salary $58,000 to $108,000

Career profile

Environmental technicians undertake field or laboratory activities to investigate, monitor and remediate sites where the presence of hydrocarbons (e.g., diesel, gasoline, crude oil), salts or metals may have impacted soil, air and/or water quality. They may also undertake similar activities in non-hydrocarbon related sites. They are actively involved at the planning stages of projects by providing environmental information regarding existing soil, air and water quality conditions. This occupation also contributes to surveys and monitoring programs of the environment to identify potential impacts. This role tends to be heavily focused on prevention and abatement.

Environmental technicians carry out field work and operate equipment and devices used in monitoring, prevention control and remediation of environmental conditions. They develop plans to restore conditions under the direction of engineering staff or consultants.

Exploration and production, Offshore, Oil and gas services, Oil sands, Carbon capture, utilization and storage, Emissions reduction, Well site decommissioning, Geothermal

In this occupation activities may include:

  • Understanding and applying the relevant regulatory requirements for site applications
  • Carrying out field work (e.g. groundwater monitoring and soil sampling)
  • Providing technical assistance to operations on environmental issues and activities requiring regulatory consultation
  • Evaluating and selecting technologies to clean up polluted sites, restore polluted air, water, or soil, or rehabilitate degraded ecosystems
  • Staying current on the acts and regulations that govern employee health and safety and environmental protection
  • Detecting, measuring, reporting on-site emissions and conducting processes to reduce leaks and emissions

Education

  • A two-year post-secondary diploma is typically required for a technician role. A post-secondary diploma or degree in environmental, geoscience technology or health and safety may be required by some companies to advance to a technologist role.

Certification

  • Standard and emergency first aid
  • Respirator fit testing
  • Construction Safety Training System (CSTS)
  • Pipeline Construction Safety Training (PCST)
  • H2S Alive®
  • Asbestos safety
  • Fall protection
  • Confined space entry
  • Aerial lift training
  • Transportation of dangerous goods (TDG)
  • Ground disturbance
  • Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
  • Traffic control

Licensing

  • In Quebec, membership in the regulatory body for professional technologists is required to use the title Professional Technologist.
  • To become a Certified Engineering Technician, a period of supervised work experience, usually two years, is required

Nature of work and environment conditions specific to oil and natural gas inlcude:

  • Travel likely required
  • Shiftwork/variable work hours
  • Primarily outdoor work
  • Physical work
  • Safety-sensitive environment
  • Work away from home/in camps

You are proficient in math and can use computers. You stay up to date with current technologies. You have strong critical thinking skills and are a member of a team, so you have excellent communication and strong interpersonal skills.

  • Active listening
  • Document use
  • Public safety and security
  • Collaborative
  • Law and government
  • Quality control analysis
  • Judgment and decision making
  • Complex problem solving
  • Planning and organizing
  • Troubleshooting