
Medical laboratory technicians and pathologists' assistants
Conduct routine medical laboratory tests and set up, clean and maintain medical laboratory equipment; assist at autopsies and examinations of surgical specimens.
On This Page
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
Medical laboratory technicians conduct routine medical laboratory tests and set up, clean and maintain medical laboratory equipment. They are employed in medical laboratories in hospitals, clinics, research facilities, post-secondary educational institutions and government research laboratories. Pathologists' assistants assist at autopsies and examinations of surgical specimens or perform autopsies under a pathologist's supervision. They are usually employed in hospitals and universities.
Main Duties
Medical laboratory technicians perform some or all of the following duties:
- Collect, sort and prepare blood, tissue and other samples from patients
- Log and validate patient samples and prepare them for testing
- Set up medical laboratory equipment
- Conduct routine laboratory tests and sample analyses
- Perform quality assurance of testing techniques
- Clean and maintain medical laboratory and medical laboratory equipment.
Pathologists' assistants perform some or all of the following duties:
- Prepare for autopsies by obtaining patients' medical records and arranging for radiographic examinations
- Prepare, assist with or perform autopsies and surgical specimen examinations under pathologists' supervision
- Dissect, examine, weigh, photograph and X-ray organs and specimens, collect tissue samples for chemical analysis and record findings
- Discard specimens according to established safety procedures
- Clean and maintain instruments, equipment and supplies
- Develop and maintain processes for laboratory quality control
- May prepare bodies for release to funeral homes following completion of autopsies
- May supervise and train junior resident pathologists and morgue attendants.
Also Known As
- medical laboratory assistant
- medical laboratory technician
- pathology assistant
- phlebotomist
- phlebotomy aide
Employment Requirements
- Medical laboratory technicians/assistants require completion of a college certificate program in medical laboratory science.
- Certification by the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science is usually required by employers for medical laboratory technicians/assistants.
- Combined laboratory and X-ray technicians require completion of a combined laboratory X-ray technology program.
- Pathologists' assistants require some post-secondary courses or a university degree in life sciences and Specialized on-the-job training.
- Certification by the American Society for Clinical Pathology - Board of Certification or Pathologists' Assistant Certification Examination is usually required by employers.
Provincial Regulation
Not Provincially Regulated
The following graph shows the percentage of men and women working in this occupation in New Brunswick.
Data legend
The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick by age group.
Data legend
The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick by highest level of education achieved.
Data legend
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.
Data legend
The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons employed in this occupation in New Brunswick by which economic region they reside in.
Data legend

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.
Data legend

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).
Share this page
No endorsement of any products or services is expressed or implied.