Job prospects Petroleum Engineer in Alberta

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "petroleum engineer" in Alberta or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Alberta

These outlooks were updated on November 29, 2023.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be limited for Petroleum engineers (NOC 21332) in Alberta for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Here are some key facts about Petroleum engineers in Alberta:

• Approximately 11,900 people work in this occupation.
• Petroleum engineers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Oil and gas extraction (NAICS 211): 61%
  • Architectural, engineering and design services (NAICS 5413): 15%
  • Support activities for mining, oil and gas (NAICS 213): 7%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 91% compared to 80% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 9% compared to 20% for all occupations
• 73% of petroleum engineers work all year, while 27% work only part of the year, compared to 61% and 39% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 45 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• 13% of petroleum engineers are self-employed compared to an average of 15% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 82% compared to 53% for all occupations
  • Women: 18% compared to 47% 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 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: n/a
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: less than 5% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 68% compared to 21% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 28% compared to 9% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Alberta by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology