Job prospects Natural Sciences Professor - University in Québec

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "natural sciences professor - university" in Québec or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Québec

These outlooks were updated on November 29, 2023.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be very good for University professors and lecturers (NOC 41200) in Quebec for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
• Several positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Employment in this occupation depends on student enrolment, government investments in education, and public and private funding for university research.

According to the projections of the Ministère de l'Éducation, an increase in the number of students is anticipated in the medium term. Growth is expected to come from the combined effect of a significant increase in the number of international students, as well as a moderate increase in the number of Quebecers enrolling in undergraduate studies.

The labour shortage in the job market in general creates an environment conducive to students dropping out of school. Major investments in education are planned over the next few years to encourage graduation, student retention and worker requalification.

Measures are also intended to promote student mobility, by attracting students from other regions of Quebec outside major urban centres or from abroad.

The precarious employment status of lecturers is, however, an important issue for members of this profession. Lecturers are also referred to as part-time or contract teachers, and the amount of undergraduate teaching that they do compared to incumbents has been increasing in recent years.

The availability of university education with non-traditional teaching methods (entirely distance or hybrid) continues to grow. In addition to changing the technical and pedagogical qualifications required of teachers, this could have a negative impact on the number of teachers, as these courses have more students per group than in-person courses.

While the employment outlook for this occupation is very good at the provincial level, it will be moderate in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

Here are some key facts about University professors and lecturers in Quebec:

• Approximately 14,850 people work in this occupation.
• University professors and lecturers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Universities (NAICS 6113): more than 95%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 87% compared to 82% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 13% compared to 18% for all occupations
• 76% of university professors and lecturers work all year, while 24% work only part of the year, compared to 62% and 38% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 47 weeks compared to 43 weeks for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 57% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 42% compared to 48% 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 19% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: n/a
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: n/a
  • bachelor's degree: 5% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 94% compared to 11% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Québec by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

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