Salaries by occupation in Canada: finding the right figures

Where can you find the salary for an occupation in Canada?

The most complete public source is Job Bank’s wage search tool (opens in a new tab). For each occupation, it gives a low, median and high wage in your region, your province and Canada as a whole. This guide explains how to find the right occupation, read the three values and avoid the traps, with three examples and a worksheet to fill in.

According to its questions and answers on wages (opens in a new tab) (French page modified January 8, 2026), the tool covers the 516 occupations of the 2021 National Occupational Classification (NOC), at the national, provincial, territorial and economic region levels. The low wage is, in most cases, the 10th percentile; the median is the midpoint of the distribution, considered the typical wage; the high wage is, in most cases, the 90th percentile.

The main source is Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey, supplemented by Employment Insurance and 2021 Census data, among others. Two full years of data are used, and wages are updated once a year, usually in the fall.

What do a few common occupations earn?

Here are three examples from Job Bank. They are hourly wages paid, reference period 2023-2024, updated November 19, 2025: they do not reflect more recent increases.

For computer software engineers, the same page shows a median of $53.60 in Quebec and $56.49 in Canada: the gap between region, province and country is often telling. Always check the page for your own occupation and region rather than these examples, which only illustrate how to read the data.

How do you find the right occupation code?

Wages are organized by NOC occupation, not by job title. Yet the same title often covers very different jobs: an "analyst" may work in IT, finance or human resources. Look up your occupation by its main duties, not just its title.

The National Occupational Classification (opens in a new tab) describes each occupation, its main duties and its employment requirements. Check that the description matches the job you are targeting before you rely on a wage. If your job sits between two occupations, look at both and note the gap.

Paid or offered wages: why do the figures differ?

Job Bank data describes wages paid to people in jobs, not wages offered in postings. Statistics Canada measures the two separately, and the figures are not directly comparable:

The two measures do not cover the same jobs: one describes positions to fill, the other people already in jobs, with their seniority. Both are averages across all occupations, not seasonally adjusted. They give you a picture of the market, but they do not replace the wage for a specific occupation in your region.

What are the limits of this data?

Job Bank’s methodology lists several cautions to keep in mind before you quote a figure:

• Neither experience nor benefits are taken into account: a median wage does not tell you what a beginner or a very experienced person earns.
• These are wages paid, not wages offered.
• It is not a trend tool: the methodology advises against comparing years with one another.
• Some regions are less well covered: the sample is not representative for the three territories or for some remote regions. When data is missing, wages from another region, the province or the country are used as an approximation.

So keep a range rather than a single figure, and cross-check it with recent postings that show a wage for the same job in the same city.

Do job postings have to show the salary?

It depends on the province. In Ontario, since January 1, 2026, employers with 25 or more employees must include the expected compensation or a range (opens in a new tab) in publicly advertised jobs, with a spread of no more than $50,000 a year, except for jobs paying more than $200,000 a year.

In British Columbia, the Pay Transparency Act requires all employers with employees in the province, except federally regulated ones, to include the expected wage or a range in public job postings. According to the Government of British Columbia (opens in a new tab) (page updated February 24, 2026), "$20 - $25 per hour" complies, while "competitive wage" or "up to $30 per hour" does not. Applicants can still ask for a salary outside the advertised range.

Elsewhere, including Quebec, check your province’s rules with the body responsible for employment standards. Even where it is not required, many postings show a range: write it down.

How do you use this data in your search?

Before you apply, fill in one worksheet per target occupation. It tells you at once whether an offer is below market, and you arrive prepared for the salary expectations question.

Postulio’s job alerts show the salary when the posting includes it, which speeds up the recent postings column. If you are changing careers, compare the wages of your former and new occupation in the same region: our career change resume guide explains how to present the change. When an offer comes, our salary negotiation guide helps you turn these figures into a defensible range.

How can Postulio help?

Job alerts draw on Canadian postings and let you filter by salary range. The Premium plan adds one session with a person a month, for example a mock interview to practise the salary expectations question. Postulio does not set any salary and does not guarantee an interview or an offer.

Sources

• Job Bank, wage search (opens in a new tab) — low, median and high wages by occupation and region.
• Job Bank, questions and answers on wages (opens in a new tab) — sources, 516 occupations in the 2021 NOC, percentiles, annual update, cautions (French page modified January 8, 2026).
• Job Bank, orderly wages, Montréal region (opens in a new tab) — NOC 33102, 2023-2024 reference period (updated November 19, 2025).
• Job Bank, accounting technician wages near Québec City (opens in a new tab) — NOC 12200, 2023-2024 reference period (updated November 19, 2025).
• Job Bank, computer software engineer wages, Montréal region (opens in a new tab) — NOC 21231, 2023-2024 reference period, Quebec and Canada comparison (updated November 19, 2025).
• Employment and Social Development Canada, National Occupational Classification (opens in a new tab) — occupation descriptions, main duties and employment requirements.
• Statistics Canada, The Daily, Job vacancies, second quarter 2026 (opens in a new tab) — average offered hourly wage. Statistics Canada Open Licence.
• Statistics Canada, The Daily, Labour Force Survey, September 2026 (opens in a new tab) — average hourly wage of employees. Statistics Canada Open Licence.
• Government of Ontario, requirements related to publicly advertised jobs (opens in a new tab) — compensation to include in postings.
• Government of British Columbia, wage or salary information on job postings (opens in a new tab) — covered employers, compliant and non-compliant examples (page updated February 24, 2026).