Originally published on the CVFit blog.
I'm Momin, founder of CVFit in Ottawa. I build a tool that tailors a resume to a specific job using only work you have actually done. Federal IT hiring is where that rule matters most — posters are precise about what counts as proof.
Full disclosure: this is my product area. The facts below come from the Government of Canada's digital careers page, the TBS–PIPSC collective agreement, and real IT-02 posters.
CVFit is independent. We're not affiliated with the Government of Canada, the Public Service Commission or the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS).
What IT-02 means
On the Government of Canada's digital careers page, IT-02 is the analyst level. Analysts "provide technical services, advice, analysis, and research in their field of expertise to support service delivery to clients and stakeholders." Unlike IT-01 technicians, who are mainly found in three streams, IT analysts appear in all eight IT work streams.
A few naming notes that trip people up:
- IT-02 replaced CS-02. The old Computer Systems (CS) group was renamed Information Technology (IT). Pay mapping stayed the same — a CS-02 rate maps to IT-02 — even though you'll still see CS language on older documents and some third-party job boards.
- The job title on the poster is not the classification. You might see "IT Analyst, Software Solutions," "IT Analyst, Infrastructure Operations," or a department-specific title. The classification code (IT-02) is what sets the pay band and the level of work expected.
- Analyst does not mean "junior by default." IT-02 is the main working level for many federal developers, administrators and specialists. IT-01 is the more common true entry point; IT-03 is where team-lead and senior-advisor tracks split.
IT-02 pay
Pay for the IT group comes from Appendix A of the agreement between the Treasury Board and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), group code 303. As of November 3, 2026, the latest published rates are the ones effective December 22, 2024 (the final scheduled increase under the agreement that expired December 21, 2025).
| Level | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| IT-01 | $69,361 | $89,382 |
| IT-02 | $85,854 | $105,080 |
| IT-03 | $101,343 | $125,914 |
What that means in practice:
- IT-02 sits between technician and team-lead / technical-advisor pay. Moving from the top of IT-01 into IT-02 is a real step up; moving from the top of IT-02 into IT-03 is another.
- Where you land in the range is usually a step, which advances with time in the level (the agreement sets a twelve-month increment period for IT-01 through IT-05), not only with prior outside experience.
- These are core public administration rates. Separate agencies and Crown corporations can use different pay plans for similar-sounding work — always check that employer's own page.
- Bargaining for a new agreement is underway, so confirm the live numbers on the IT group agreement page before you set expectations.
IT-02 vs IT-01 vs IT-03
Using the official role summaries on the digital careers page:
| IT-01 (Technician) | IT-02 (Analyst) | IT-03 (Team Lead / Technical Advisor) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Technical support for developing, implementing, integrating and maintaining service delivery | Technical services, advice, analysis and research in a field of expertise | Either supervising a team, or giving specialized technical advice without managing people |
| Streams | Mainly Infrastructure Operations, Security, Software Solutions | All eight streams | All eight streams |
| Typical fork | Common early-career / support entry | Main individual-contributor working level for many specialties | "Do I manage people, or stay deep technical?" |
The practical test when you read a poster: does the work stop at delivering and supporting a solution, or does it expect you to advise, analyze and research as part of the job? If the poster reads like ownership of analysis and recommendations — not only ticket work or tightly scripted build tasks — you're usually looking at IT-02 or above. If it also expects you to supervise people or act as the specialized advisor for other teams, look at IT-03.
What IT-02 work looks like by stream
The digital careers page lists eight standardized streams. The stream descriptions below are the official responsibilities for that work — an IT-02 in that stream is the analyst doing that work at the "services, advice, analysis and research" level:
- IT Business Line Advisory Services — specialized IT guidance; working with clients or suppliers so IT resources support business objectives (business analysis, client portfolio management, supplier relationship management and related functions).
- IT Database Management — data models and databases: design, capacity planning, performance and tuning, security and recovery.
- IT Enterprise Architecture — departmental IT architecture direction; research into emerging technologies; helping define the future state of IT against business needs.
- IT Infrastructure Operations — networks, mainframes, servers, storage; help-desk support; in smaller organizations, also the client and supplier interface.
- IT Planning and Reporting — IT planning guidance; strategic plans, policies, standards and governance processes aligned with business objectives.
- IT Project Portfolio Management — full-time work on large formal projects or portfolios that need rigorous IT project management; project management services for major IT initiatives.
- IT Security — availability, integrity and confidentiality of infrastructure, applications and data; security applications, strategies, policies, processes and risk frameworks.
- IT Software Solutions — developing and maintaining custom, proprietary or commercial applications; systems design and development, business analysis, programming, configuration, testing and implementation.
If you're a developer searching "IT-02 jobs," Software Solutions is usually the match. If your background is networking, endpoints or platforms, start with Infrastructure Operations. Security-cleared work is not the same as the IT Security stream — the stream is for people whose job is security work itself.
Education and experience on real IT-02 posters
Education (the group minimum)
The minimum education standard for the IT group, on both the digital careers page and the TBS qualification standards, is:
Graduation from a two-year program of study from a recognized post-secondary institution with acceptable specialization in computer science, information technology, information management or another specialty relevant to the position to be staffed.
Posters usually repeat that wording, then add grandfathering notes for long-serving IT/CS incumbents, and often a manager's discretion note: an acceptable combination of education, training and/or experience may replace the credential for that specific position only, and must be reassessed for other jobs.
Experience (what changes from poster to poster)
Experience criteria are where IT-02 posters diverge. Two patterns show up often:
1. Stream-specific skills, sometimes without a "years" definition.
A 2025 Department of National Defence inventory for IT Analyst, IT Software Solutions (IT-02; pay listed as $85,854 to $105,080; closing 16 December 2025 on the regional posters) asked candidates to show, among other things:
- experience developing software solutions on technology platforms (examples named included C#, React, Oracle Apex, or other platforms as applicable)
- experience with system development life cycles (examples named included Waterfall, V-Model, iterative)
Those experience lines were essential at application. Competencies and the ability to analyze and document technical problems were flagged for assessment later. The same inventory also required Secret security clearance as a condition of employment.
2. "Significant" and "recent" experience, with the poster defining both.
An RCMP IT Analyst (IT-02) inventory (poster 2286769; closing 12 August 2025; pay listed as $85,854 to $105,080) used definitions like:
- Recent — experience normally acquired within the last five years (that poster's definition)
- Significant — depth and breadth normally associated with performing the duties continuously for about two years (that poster's definition)
and asked for recent or significant experience across infrastructure delivery, technical documentation, endpoint/peripheral support, analysis and design from requirements, and technical research. Other posters define the same words differently — for example, "significant" as three or more years, or "recent" as within the last two. Always use the definitions on the poster in front of you, not a generic industry meaning.
Two application habits that matter at IT-02 as much as at any other level, from the PSC's how-to-apply guidance and Treasury Board's understanding-the-application-process page:
- Prove each essential experience line with what, when, where and how — not a yes/no or a paste of your job description.
- Prefer the poster's exact keywords over synonyms.
How to show IT-02-level experience on a résumé
Federal screening wants evidence at the analyst level: you didn't only execute a ticket — you analyzed, advised or researched inside your stream. A practical way to rewrite a bullet:
Before (too thin for an IT-02 experience screen):
Developed web applications and worked with databases.
After (illustrative — not a real candidate):
From March 2023 to Present, as a Software Developer at Example Org, designed and implemented REST features in C# for an internal case-management app used by 40 staff; wrote the technical design notes from business requirements, pair-reviewed pull requests, and reduced a weekly reporting query from ~90 seconds to under 10 seconds by changing the SQL and indexing.
That second version gives the screening board the organization, title, dates, the analyst-shaped work (design from requirements, not only coding), and a concrete result — the same three beats Treasury Board asks for on experience criteria.
If you're working through a live poster, paste it into CVFit's match tool to see which essential lines already have quote-backed evidence on your CV and which still need a stronger example. For the screening-question write-up itself (STAR, "I" not "we," AI rules on the poster), see our guide to answering Government of Canada screening questions.
FAQ
Is IT-02 the same as CS-02?
For pay and level, yes — CS-02 mapped to IT-02 when the occupational group was renamed. Use the classification on the current poster.
Is IT-02 entry level?
Often no. IT-01 is the more common technician / early entry level. IT-02 is the main analyst working level across streams. Some people do enter at IT-02 with enough outside experience; the poster decides.
What does an IT-02 make?
Under the latest published TBS/PIPSC rates (effective December 22, 2024), the IT-02 annual range is $85,854 to $105,080 in the core public administration. Confirm on the current agreement page, because bargaining may change the numbers.
IT-02 vs IT-03 — how do I choose which posters to apply to?
If the work is hands-on analysis and delivery in your specialty, start with IT-02. If the poster expects you to supervise a team or act as the specialized technical advisor for others, look at IT-03. Applying to both is common when your experience sits near the boundary — just tailor each application to that poster's essential qualifications.
Does CVFit list IT-02 openings?
No. Federal IT-02 roles are posted on GC Jobs. CVFit indexes private-sector tech jobs in Ottawa and can help you check your résumé against a poster's essential qualifications once you've found one.
Paste an IT-02 posting and your résumé into CVFit to see your match score and gaps against the essential qualifications. Every match is backed by a quote from your CV. Check your match now → — 1 month of Pro free, no credit card.
Read the original post on CVFit: IT-02 Jobs: Pay and How to Qualify
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