National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 Version 1.0

• 3 - Health occupations
• 33 - Assisting occupations in support of health services
• 331 - Assisting occupations in support of health services
• 3310 - Assisting occupations in support of health services

33101 - Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations

Medical laboratory assistants and workers in related technical occupations perform pre-analysis and pre-testing tasks such as collecting blood and other samples, processing specimens, and preparing special chemicals called reagents for use in testing. They 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.

• Illustrative example(s)

  • medical laboratory aide
  • medical laboratory assistant
  • medical laboratory technician
  • phlebotomist
  • phlebotomy aide

  All examples

• Inclusion(s)

  • blood bank technician
  • renal technician

• Exclusion(s)

  • Biological technologists and technicians (See 22110 Biological technologists and technicians)
  • Chemical technologists and technicians (See 22100 Chemical technologists and technicians)
  • Medical laboratory technologists (See 32120 Medical laboratory technologists)

• Main duties

  This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • Collect, label, 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
  • Prepare chemical reagents to be combined with biological samples for testing
  • Conduct routine laboratory tests and sample analyses
  • Perform quality assurance of testing techniques and record results
  • Clean and maintain medical laboratory and medical laboratory equipment.

• Employment requirements

  • Medical laboratory assistants and related technical workers 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.

• Additional information

  • Some employers may require medical laboratory technicians to have a diploma.
  • Medical laboratory technicians may progress to supervisory or technologist positions with a combination of additional education, training and experience.