Career Outlook

NUTRITION PRACTITIONER CAREER OUTLOOK

Service Canada classifies dietitians and nutrition practitioners under the same career category, and notes that “in recent years, the number of dietitians and nutrition practitioners has increased sharply. This increase may be explained by the aging of the population, growing public concern about healthy eating, increased government spending in the health sector, and the exacerbation of health problems due to obesity and the growing use of the services of dietitians to prevent and treat health problems. Given that these trends should continue, the number of dietitians and nutrition practitioners should increase sharply over the next few years.”

The average annual growth rate in 2012–2016 was 2.7%, over 3 times greater than the average growth rate anticipated by all occupations. 

According to the Government of Canada Job Bank, AB Dieticians have the highest pay, of all other provinces. Dieticians’ Canadian average pay is $43.72/hr, whereas the average hourly pay in AB is $44.93/hr. With nutrition practitioners being more unregulated, and many of them being self-employed, doing contract work, and/or working in a great diversity of areas, their average salaries' information is not as easy to compile. That said, many nutrition practitioners charge around $70-100/hour for coaching and consultation appointments when they are booking clients in for services. 

Potential career paths for graduates of the Applied Nutrition Science Diploma program include: