Cabinetmakers (7272)

Occupation targeted under the Workplace Apprenticeship Program

  • Please note that detailed information for each of the occupations under the Workplace Apprenticeship Program is only available in French.
  • Cabinetmaker

Job titles

  • cabinetmaker
  • cabinetmaker apprentice
  • cabinetmaker-instructor (health and social services network)
  • View all job titles

Nature of work

Cabinetmakers use a variety of woods and laminates to construct and repair wooden cabinets, furniture, fixtures and related products. They are employed by furniture manufacturing or repair companies, construction companies and cabinetmaking contractors, or they may be self-employed.

Fields of interest

  • Making or building things, constructing, doing repairs, and performing installations
  • Working for yourself
  • Working in the arts, culture, music, and recreation
  • Working with your hands

Main duties

  • Cabinetmakers perform some or all of the following duties:
  • - Study plans, specifications or drawings of articles to be made, or prepare specifications
  • - Mark outlines or dimensions of parts on wood
  • - Operate woodworking machines, such as power saws, jointers, mortisers and shapers, and use hand tools to cut, shape and form parts and components
  • - Trim joints and fit parts and subassemblies together to form complete unit using glue and clamps and reinforce joints using nails, screws or other fasteners
  • - Sand wooden surfaces and apply veneer, stain or polish to finished products
  • - Repair or restyle wooden furniture, fixtures and related products
  • - May estimate amount, type and cost of materials required.

Employment requirements

  • * Completion of secondary school is usually required.
  • * Completion of a four-year apprenticeship program orA combination of over four years of work experience in the trade and some high school or college courses in cabinetmaking is usually required to be eligible for trade certification.
  • * Trade certification is available, but voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
  • * Interprovincial trade certification (Red Seal) is also available to qualified cabinetmakers.

More information in All of Québec

Employment in 2011 8,000
Skill level Technical
Average annual full-time income in 2005 28,000$
Job prospects-by occupation (2012-2016) Fair
Unemployment rate in 2011 Reasonable