Respiratory Therapists and Cardiopulmonary Technologists
Job description
Respiratory Therapists have expertise in cardiorespiratory care and anesthesia support. They assess, treat, and care for respiratory and cardiopulmonary disorders. They also provide clinical monitoring during anesthesia and treat problems that affect the cardiorespiratory system.
Cardiopulmonary Technologists assist physicians in making diagnoses. They are also involved in the treatment of cardiopulmonary and respiratory diseases.
This group includes supervisors and trainers.
Environment
- Controlled ambient temperature
- Equipment, machinery, tools
- Hazardous chemical
- Biological agents
- Radiation
- Falling objects
Main tasks
Respiratory Therapists
- Perform ventilatory support, including therapeutic and clinical follow-up and withdrawal management.
- Take samples (blood gas, bronchial secretion samples, etc.).
- Perform diagnostic tests such as respiratory volume assessments.
- Perform clinical monitoring of the condition of persons under anesthesia.
- Mix, administer, and adjust medications or other substances as prescribed.
- Insert an instrument into a peripheral vein or into an artificial opening.
- Participate in health promotion and disease prevention.
- Prescribe medication to help stop smoking.
- Take care of and operate pulmonary or circulatory equipment.
- Perform radial arterial punctures.
Cardiopulmonary Technologists
- Perform or participate in diagnostic tests and provide information and care to patients during these tests.
- Identify the characteristics of patients’ blood.
- Inspect, maintain, calibrate, and test diagnostic and therapeutic equipment.
- Monitor patients’ condition and inform the physician of any change.
- Prepare medications and administer inhalation care and other treatments as prescribed by the cardiologist.
- Help prepare the cardiac catheterization room and assist the cardiologists during the procedure.
- Analyze, program, and control prostheses during surgery.
- Collaborate in research.
Advancement and mobility
- Respiratory Therapists may be granted authorization to perform any of the following four clinical activities:
- Prescribe medications to help stop smoking.
- Manage and operate pulmonary or circulatory extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) equipment.
- Manage and operate an autotransfusion device.
- Perform radial arterial punctures.
Hourly wage
The hourly wage is calculated by averaging wages from 2022 to 2024.- Minimum
- $30.00
- Median
- $38.00
- Maximum
- $45.00
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
Very good
All of Québec
Non available
Total jobs for 2023
All of Québec
4,000
All of Québec
na
Gender distribution
All of Québec
Not available.
- 84.2% Female
- 15.8% Male
Not available.
- 84.2% Female
- 15.8% 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
$80,000
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 621, 622, 62396% of jobs
-
NAICS 611% of jobs
-
NAICS 44, 451% of jobs
-
NAICS 5416, 54171% of jobs
-
NAICS 6241% of jobs
-
Others0% of jobs
All of Québec
Not available.
-
NAICS 621, 622, 62396% of jobs
-
NAICS 611% of jobs
-
NAICS 44, 451% of jobs
-
NAICS 5416, 54171% of jobs
-
NAICS 6241% of jobs
-
Others0% of jobs
Training and requirements
Formation
Most training programs are offered in French only.
College
DCS in techniques d'inhalothérapie
Code : 141A0
Placement rate: 91.3%
6.7% of graduates pursue further studies
Also required
- Experience in the area of specialization required for supervisors and trainers.
Respiratory Therapists
- Membership in the Ordre professionnel des inhalothérapeutes du Québec (OPIQ [Quebec Order of Professional Respiratory Therapists]).
Sometimes required
- Training in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is often required.
- A Class 5 driver’s licence may be required or may be an asset.
Main skills and characteristics
Skills
- Data collection
- Judgment and decision-making
- Solving complex problems
- Active listening
- Result evaluation
- Critical thought
- Information processing
- Oral expression
- Active learning
- Reading comprehension
- Service oriented
- Social perception
- Coordination
- Mathematics
- Teaching
- Written expression
- Time management
- Learning strategies
- Quality control analysis
- Science
- Monitoring operations
Abilities
- Oral comprehension
- Verbal skills
- Written comprehension
- Inductive reasoning
- Awareness of issues
- Speech clarity
- Written expression
- Information organization
- Deductive reasoning
- Near vision
- Perception speed
- Speech recognition
- Selective attention
- Digital dexterity
- Manual dexterity
- Classification
- Limb coordination
- Control accuracy
- Processing flexibility
- Hand-arm stability
- Distance vision
Knowledge and attributes
- Capacity to establish and maintain interpersonal relations
- Critical thinking
- Autonomy
- Sense of responsibility
- Spoken and written bilingualism (French and English)
- Capacity to work in a team
- Rigour
- Capacity for synthesis
- Respect others
- Sense of observation
- Knowledge of medicine or dentistry
Interests
- Carry out research
- Assist and advise
- Conduct tests and trials, control processes
- Teach or educate
- Assist or care for people
Personality profiles (RIASEC)
- Investigative
- People with this profile prefer relying on theoretical knowledge before acting. They like observation, analysis and problem solving.
- Realistic
- People with this profile prefer carrying out concrete tasks and being physically involved in what they do.
- 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 32103
Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
Job titles
- Perfusionists
- Respiratory therapist
- Anesthesia assistant
- Respiratory therapy supervisor
- Respiratory therapy chief
- Respiratory technician
- Chief perfusionist
- Chief respiratory technologist
- Respiratory therapy clinical instructor
- Cardiovascular perfusion clinical instructor
- Clinical perfusion clinical instructor
- Cardiovascular perfusion instructor
- Cardiopulmonary technology instructor
- Cardiovascular perfusionist
- Clinical perfusionist
- Certified clinical perfusionist (ccp)
- Registered respiratory care practitioner
- Respiratory care practitioner
- Cardiopulmonary technology supervisor
- Cardiovascular perfusion supervisor
- Clinical perfusion supervisor
- Cardiopulmonary technician
- Extracorporal technician
- Oxygen therapy technician
- Pulmonary function technologist
- Anesthesia technologist
- Extracorporal circulation technologist
- Inhalation technologist
- Perfusion technologist
- Cardiovascular perfusion technologist
- Polysomnographic technologist
- Cardiopulmonary technologist
- Respiratory technologist
- Registered respiratory therapist (rrt)
Skill type
Health
Last update: January 29, 2026
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