Quebecers considering of a profession change, or simply scrolling job boards greater than they’d care to confess, have loads of choices proper now.
New figures from the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) present roughly 28,600 positions sitting open throughout the ten most in-demand occupations within the province as of the primary quarter of 2026.
These 10 jobs alone account for about 26% of each vacant place in Quebec, and the well being and social companies sector does a lot of the heavy lifting. Round 13,800 of the openings province-wide fall beneath that umbrella, or roughly 13% of all of the roles ready to be crammed.
Nursing tops the listing, however the demand reaches nicely past hospitals and clinics, into eating places, retail flooring, daycares and the open highway.
Listed below are the ten occupations with probably the most openings in Quebec within the first quarter of 2026, ranked by variety of vacancies.
- Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses: 4,922
- Meals counter attendants, kitchen helpers and associated help employees: 4,909
- Nurse aides, orderlies and affected person service associates: 4,261
- Retail salespersons: 2,763
- Early childhood educators and assistants: 2,743
- Transport truck drivers: 2,211
- Social and neighborhood service staff: 1,882
- Administrative assistants: 1,722
- Retailer shelf stockers, clerks and order fillers: 1,635
- Cooks: 1,553
Just a few of those do not ask for a college diploma, or in some circumstances, a lot formal education in any respect, particularly the retail and food service jobs additional down the listing.
Concerning the pay
Then there’s the cash. The common hourly wage being provided for these openings sits at $29.15. For anybody not maintaining monitor, that is a good bit under the $36.49 that Quebec workers earn on average. The hole is not as stark because it first seems to be, although, since job postings are likely to listing entry-level charges whereas that broader common consists of individuals with years of expertise behind them.
The place you look issues too. Amongst Quebec’s areas, Montreal got here in close to the highest for common provided wages, above the provincewide quantity, so the identical job will pay otherwise relying on the place you find yourself taking it.
Which jobs are secure from AI
The ISQ additionally measured how uncovered every of those jobs is to synthetic intelligence. A bit of over half of the ten are thought of minimally uncovered, amongst them nurse aides, truck drivers, shelf stockers and cooks, the sort of hands-on work that is arduous handy off to a machine.
You then’ve received the roles AI is poised to the touch in a giant means, however as a helper slightly than a alternative. Nurses and early childhood educators are included in that class, since expertise would possibly change how they work with out threatening whether or not they work.
The group to truly fear about is the final one: jobs instantly in AI’s path. Retail salespeople, social and neighborhood service staff, and administrative assistants are the names that come up there.
With tens of 1000’s of roles going unfilled throughout the province, Quebec employers are clearly nonetheless hiring, and loads of that demand is in fields you may stroll into with out a diploma.
This story was impressed by the article “Voici le top 10 des emplois avec le plus de postes à combler au Québec en 2026” which was initially printed on Narcity.