Dietitians and nutritionists
Plan and implement nutrition and food service programs. They can work in health care, sports, education, the food industry, or as private consultants.
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Note: The data presented in this profile does not take into account the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and labour market. Consequently, the accuracy of some of the estimates that appear in this profile may be affected.
Full NOC Description
Dietitians and nutritionists plan, implement and oversee nutrition and food service programs. They are employed in a variety of settings including hospitals, home health-care agencies and extended care facilities, community health centres, the food and beverage industry, educational institutions, and government and sports organizations, or they may work as private consultants.
Main Duties
Dietitians and nutritionists perform some or all of the following duties:
- Develop, administer and supervise nutrition and food preparation and service programs in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, company cafeterias or similar settings
- Provide nutrition guidance, label interpretation and consultation services to health professionals, individuals, dietetic interns, community groups, government and the media
- Evaluate nutritional status of individuals and aid in the prevention and/or treatment of inadequate nutrition
- Plan, evaluate and conduct nutrition education programs and develop educational materials for various audiences
- Practice on an individual basis or as a member of an interdisciplinary team to determine nutritional needs of patients and to plan, implement and evaluate normal and therapeutic menus to maintain and enhance general health
- Analyze current scientific nutritional studies, conduct research and evaluate program effectiveness to improve the nutritional value, taste, appearance and preparation of food
- Work within industry in the development, testing and evaluation, and marketing of food and nutrition products or as a company representative supplying product related information to health professionals
- Confer with other health professionals, community groups, government and the media to provide consultation and advice in areas of nutrition interpretation, intervention and policy
- Supervise training of dietetic interns.
Dietitians and nutritionists may specialize in areas such as administrative dietetics, clinical dietetics, community dietetics, public health nutrition or research dietetics.
Also Known As
- administrative dietitian
- clinical dietitian
- community nutritionist
- consultant dietitian
- dietitian
Employment Requirements
- Dietitians require a bachelor's or master's degree in dietetics, nutrition or a related field such as food and nutritional science or biochemistry and A period of supervised practical training.
- Registration with a regulatory body is required in all provinces for dietitians.
- Membership in the national association, Dietitians of Canada, may be required for dietitians to practise.
- Nutritionists usually require similar education and training as dietitians.
- Registration with a regulatory body is required for nutritionists in Nova Scotia, (as a registered dietitian-nutritionist) in New Brunswick, Quebec and Alberta.
- Membership with the national association, Dietitians of Canada, and/or a provincial regulatory body is available for nutritionists who have the same education and practical training as dietitians.
Provincial Regulation
- Provincially Regulated: Yes
- Compulsory: Yes
- Red Seal: No
- Certified Interprovincial Mobility: Yes
Regulation Body
The following graph shows the percentage of men and women working in this occupation in New Brunswick.
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The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick by age group.
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The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick by highest level of education achieved.
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The following graph shows the industry groups in which the largest shares of persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick are employed. Small percentages for all top three industry groups may suggest employment for this occupation is widely distributed amongst many industry groups.
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The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons employed in this occupation in New Brunswick by which economic region they reside in.
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Economic Regions
The following map displays New Brunswick’s five economic regions. An economic region (ER) is a grouping of counties, created as a standard unit for analysis of regional economic activity across Canada.
The following graph shows the median salary of all persons employed in this occupation in each of New Brunswick’s five economic regions.
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Economic Regions
The following map displays New Brunswick’s five economic regions. An economic region (ER) is a grouping of counties, created as a standard unit for analysis of regional economic activity across Canada.
The following represents the median hourly wage of all persons employed in this occupation in each of New Brunswick’s five economic regions.
This following represents the median salary of all persons employed in this occupation compared to the median salary of workers employed in this occupation that work full-time year-round.
This following represents the median salary of persons employed in this occupation across each of the Atlantic Provinces and nationally.
The following represents the number of job openings that are expected to occur in this occupation over the next three and ten years respectively, broken down by openings expected to result from growth (“new jobs”) and openings expected to result from attrition (death and retirements).
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