Animal Care Workers
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Job description
These individuals feed, handle, train, and groom animals. They assist veterinarians, breeders, and animal health technologists and technicians. They are self-employed or work for:
- Animal grooming establishments
- Pet shops
- Veterinary clinics and hospitals
- Animal shelters
- Kennels for breeding and keeping animals
- Zoological gardens
- Training school laboratories
Environment
- Controlled ambient temperature
- Climatic conditions
- Biological agents
- Odours
- Nontoxic dust
Main tasks
- Prepare food and feed animals at scheduled times.
- Clean and disinfect cages, pens, and surroundings.
- Bathe, care for, and shear animals.
- Assist veterinarians and animal health technologists and technicians in vaccinating and treating animals.
- Assist animal producers in handling animals.
- Assist scientists and researchers in conducting laboratory experiments on animals.
- Observe and document animal behaviour.
- Train dogs to obey orders and perform certain behaviours.
Advancement and mobility
- Additional training leads to higher positions.
Hourly wage
The hourly wage is calculated by averaging wages from 2022 to 2024.- Minimum
- $16.10
- Median
- $18.00
- Maximum
- $25.00
Job prospects for 2024-2028
Les 2 champs de sélection ci-dessous vous permettent de comparer 2 régions. Les données des régions seront automatiquement mises à jour à la sélection. Par défaut, la province de Québec est sélectionnée pour la première région.
Job prospects for 2024-2028
Job prospects
All of Québec
Non available
Limited
Good
Very good
Good
All of Québec
Non available
Limited
Good
Very good
Non available
Total jobs for 2023
All of Québec
4,500
All of Québec
na
Gender distribution
All of Québec
Not available.
- 78.6% Female
- 21.4% Male
Not available.
- 78.6% Female
- 21.4% Male
Job types
All of Québec
Not available.
- Full time
- Part time
Not available.
- Full time
- Part time
Yearly wage on 2020
All of Québec
$29,600
All of Québec
Other characteristics
All of Québec
- Non traditional for men
- None
All of Québec
- Non traditional for men
- None
Sectors of activity
All of Québec
Not available.
-
NAICS 8147% of jobs
-
NAICS 111, 112, 114, 1151, 115213% of jobs
-
NAICS 5418, 541911% of jobs
-
NAICS 44, 4510% of jobs
-
NAICS 5416, 54174% of jobs
-
Others15% of jobs
All of Québec
Not available.
-
NAICS 8147% of jobs
-
NAICS 111, 112, 114, 1151, 115213% of jobs
-
NAICS 5418, 541911% of jobs
-
NAICS 44, 4510% of jobs
-
NAICS 5416, 54174% of jobs
-
Others15% of jobs
Training and requirements
Formation
Most training programs are offered in French only.
Secondary
College
DCS in animal Health Technology
Code : 145A0
Placement rate: 87.4%
11.3% of graduates pursue further studies
Sometimes required
- Training in animal supervision and care, grooming, or dog training is usually required.
- A Class 5 river’s licence is often required.
Main skills and characteristics
Skills
- Data collection
- Active listening
- Result evaluation
- Service oriented
- Reading comprehension
- Oral expression
- Judgment and decision-making
Abilities
- Awareness of issues
- Verbal skills
- Oral comprehension
- Static muscle power
- Information organization
- Deductive reasoning
- Inductive reasoning
- Speech recognition
- Hand-arm stability
- Near vision
Knowledge and attributes
- Autonomy
- Sense of responsibility
- Knowledge of customer and personalized services
- Capacity to work in a team
- Versatility
- Sense of initiative
- Attention to detail
- Intermediate knowledge of the English language
- Commitment to quality
- Patience
Interests
- Work manually
- Work in contact with nature and animals
Personality profiles (RIASEC)
- Realistic
- People with this profile prefer carrying out concrete tasks and being physically involved in what they do.
- Conventional
- People with this profile prefer specific, well-defined tasks. They like to respect the order of things and follow established rules.
- Social
- People with this profile prefer to be in contact with others, in particular to entertain, help or teach them.
Official name of the NOC 65220
Pet groomers and animal care workers
Job titles
- Laboratory animal attendant
- Animal attendant
- Pet shop attendant
- Animal health care assistant
- Veterinary attendant
- Horse hot-walker
- Animal trainer (except horses or marine mammals)
- Dog trainer
- Aquarist
- Dog master trainer
- Pet-sitter
- Receiving barn custodian
- Zoo attendant
- Dog handler
- Certified dog master
- Pet master groomer
- Groom - horse race track
- Pound attendant
- Kennel attendant
- Pound animal attendant
- Zoo animal attendant
- Animal care worker (except farm)
- Laboratory animal care worker
- Animal attendants supervisor
- Animal groomer (except horses)
- Pet groomer
- Dog groomer
Skill type
Sales and service
Last update: January 29, 2026
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