Make Your Job Matter. Become an ‘MLT’
Is life in the Lab for you? Working in medical laboratory science is a fascinating career that combines science and technology with the opportunity to help people.

What they do
Medical laboratory technologists conduct medical laboratory tests, experiments, and analyses to assist in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. They may conduct chemical analyses of body fluids, study blood cells and other tissue, and prepare tissue sections for microscopic examinations.
 
Areas of Specialty
There are thousands of different tests that are performed in specialty areas of the medical laboratory, but MLTs mainly specialize in areas such as clinical chemistry, clinical microbiology, transfusion science, haematology, histotechnology, and cytotechnology. Other specialty areas include immunology, electron microscopy, virology, parasitology and flow cytometry.

Did You Know? The unionization rate of MLTs (66%) is above the average (32%) for all occupations

Where are the jobs?
The highest concentrations (per 10,000 people) of medical laboratory technologists and pathologists' assistants are found in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta while the lowest concentrations are in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

Consider this:

• On the top 20 list of best jobs*
• Professional-level salary
• Excellent job prospects - medical laboratory technologists are in demand
• Well-respected profession
• Interesting and challenging work
• Room for advancement and leadership positions
• Evolving technology means continuous learning

Job Prospects

• Career prospects for MLTs are rated GOOD by the government of Canada because
• demand is increasing due to our growing and aging population, requiring more health services
• new technologies improve the ability to diagnose disease
• governments are increasing funding for health care
• Canadians have health care insurance that covers more services
• foreign recruiters have been hiring Canadian workers/recent graduates because of global shortages
• Professional-level salary - hourly wages are an average of $22.34/hr, 30% above the national average ($16.91), and the rate of wage growth is 25% higher than the national average)
• the unemployment rate (0.6%) is significantly below average (5%)
• More job openings exist than qualified people to fill them
• On the top 20 list of best jobs*

*the 1999 best-seller, Jobs Rated Almanac: the Best and Worst Jobs. Medical laboratory technologists ranked 16th in a list of 250 jobs, and 3rd in the healthcare/medicine/occupational category

What You Need
To work in this field, you must

• have a post-secondary qualification from a Career College, Community College, or University
• be registered by a provincial regulatory body in New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta
• you may need certification by the Canadian Society of Medical Laboratory Science

Where to get it
In order to increase your job prospects, it is recommended that you register with the regulating body in your province, and also become certified by the CSMLS by writing an exam and paying the fee. Training for this career is available from a myriad of private and community colleges, and UC411 lists over 200 of these schools. Click here for a complete list of post-secondary institutions offering training in health professions and medical sciences, or explore training as a Medical Laboratory Assistant if you wish to get trained and working sooner.