Forestry pay vs. the other resource-industry niches

For forestry specifically, see our own pay page for day rates and hourly figures by role (faller, skidder operator, processor operator, mill worker, and more), and /planting-pay/ for how per-tree piece-rate pay works -- this page is about how forestry as a whole stacks up against the other camp and resource-industry niches. Government of Canada Job Bank wage reports publish a low, median, and high hourly wage per occupation, drawn from Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey and Employment Insurance survey data. The table below picks the closest matching occupation for each niche and links directly to that report. Figures aren't a perfect 1:1 comparison across niches -- occupations, skill requirements, and certification demands differ -- but they're the same independent government source applied the same way to all seven.

Reference period for all rows: 2023-2024 data, updated by Job Bank on November 19, 2025. The pipeline row uses an Alberta-specific figure (where pipeline construction work is concentrated); every other row is a national Canada-wide figure -- the exact geography is noted in each occupation name and linked source. The forestry row uses skidder operator as the closest available Job Bank occupation -- it does not represent fallers, mill workers, or tree planters, none of which Job Bank tracks as a separate occupation.

Piece-rate pay and hourly pay aren't the same kind of number, and forcing one into the other would mislead rather than inform. Tree planters are paid per tree planted, priced by the contractor per block based on terrain and difficulty -- not by the hour. A planter's daily and seasonal earnings depend heavily on pace, experience, and the specific ground they're planting, in a way a single hourly figure can't capture honestly. See /planting-pay/ for real 2026 per-tree rates from two Canadian camps, typical season length, and rookie-vs-experienced daily tree counts, sourced separately.

What about ice road trucking?

Ice road trucking is a distinct seasonal niche, not a subset of the year-round figures above. It's concentrated into a short winter season (roughly January-March), commonly paid per load or per trip rather than an annual hourly wage, and Job Bank doesn't publish a separate occupation code for it. Rather than force a number that doesn't exist, see Ice Road Guide's own pay page for how ice road pay actually works.

Each of these sister sites covers its own niche in the same working-class, sourced style as this site: Long-Haul Trucking Guide (long-haul trucking), Oil Sands Jobs Guide (oil sands), Underground Mining Guide (mining), Pipeline Work Guide (pipeline), Offshore Oil Guide (offshore), Commercial Fishing Guide (commercial fishing), and Ice Road Guide (ice road trucking).

Sources

• Job Bank -- Operator, Skidder - Logging (NOC 84110 group), Canada -- closest available occupation, not forestry-wide — accessed 2026-09-08, wages updated November 19, 2025.
• Job Bank -- Long Haul Truck Driver (NOC 73300), Canada — accessed 2026-09-08, wages updated November 19, 2025.
• Job Bank -- Heavy Equipment Operator (NOC 73400), Canada — accessed 2026-09-08, wages updated November 19, 2025.
• Job Bank -- Miner (NOC 83100), Canada — accessed 2026-09-08, wages updated November 19, 2025.
• Job Bank -- Pipefitter (NOC 72301), Alberta — accessed 2026-09-08, wages updated November 19, 2025.
• Job Bank -- Well Testing Operator (NOC 83101 group), Canada -- closest available occupation, not offshore-specific — accessed 2026-09-08, wages updated November 19, 2025.
• Job Bank -- Fisherman/woman (NOC 83121), Canada — accessed 2026-09-08, wages updated November 19, 2025.