The lawyer who prosecutes crimes for the public. A salary grid, a pension, and a courtroom nearly every day.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
About 8 years in
$140,000
First year on the grid
$90,000
Top of the grid
$230,000
Crowns are paid on a public salary grid that rises with each year of service. In Ontario the grid runs from roughly $90,000 to roughly $230,000. The federal grid runs from $93,000 for a first-year counsel to $228,000 for senior counsel (2025). Smaller provinces run lower at the top. Nobody gets a bonus.
$90,000 to $110,000
First year as an assistant Crown attorney
More than most criminal defence lawyers earn at the start, and it climbs automatically. Some provinces hire new Crowns on contract first, at lower pay, until a permanent spot opens.
About $230,000
Senior Crown counsel in Ontario after roughly 10 to 15 years
Deputy Crown attorneys and regional directors, who run offices, earn more. The federal PPSC (Public Prosecution Service of Canada) grid tops out at $206,000 for working-level counsel and $228,000 for senior counsel (2025).
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a three year undergraduate degree and three years of law school at the cheapest Canadian tuition, plus the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) and licensing fees. The high end is a four year degree and a law school near $35,000 a year. There is no extra cost to become a Crown on top of the ordinary lawyer's licence, and no practice to set up. What the numbers hide is time: Crown offices usually hire lawyers who already have courtroom experience, so the wait costs years rather than dollars.
Same schooling as any lawyer. There is no extra cost to become a Crown, and no practice to set up.
Defined-benefit pension
Provincial Crowns join the public service pension plan. Federal Crowns get the federal one.
Health, dental, paid vacation and parental leave
No clients to find
The cases come to you. No billing, no marketing, no chasing fees.
Job security
Permanent Crowns are rarely laid off.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Become a lawyer, then get hired by a government prosecution service.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Strong marks in English and any writing-heavy course.
Bachelor's degree
3 to 4 years
Any subject. Write the LSAT (law school admission test).
Law school (JD, juris doctor)
3 years
Take criminal law, evidence, criminal procedure and trial advocacy. Do a criminal moot if you can.
Licensing
About 1 year
Article at a Crown attorney's office if you can get in, or at a criminal defence firm. Both count. Then the bar exams.
Get hired
0 to 3 years
Apply to your province's Attorney General or to the PPSC (Public Prosecution Service of Canada). Openings are competitive. Many start on short contracts.
English and writing
Every case has a written brief.
Law and civics
You will spend your career inside the Criminal Code and the Charter of Rights.
Drama or debate
Speaking on your feet in front of a judge is the job.
French
Federal prosecutors and New Brunswick Crowns need it. Bilingual trials happen everywhere.
You need a lawyer's licence from your provincial law society. Then you are an employee. Provincial Crowns prosecute most Criminal Code offences and work for the provincial Attorney General. Federal Crowns at the PPSC (Public Prosecution Service of Canada) handle drug, tax and organized crime cases, and every prosecution in the three territories. Moving provinces means requalifying with that law society and reapplying.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Guns and gangs, sexual assault, homicide teams
Specialized units in big cities. Senior Crowns compete for them.
Appeals
Arguing at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Writing-heavy.
Management
Deputy Crown attorney, then Crown attorney for a region, then ministry roles.
The bench
Many judges were Crowns. After 10 years at the bar you can apply.
Defence experience
Crowns who have defended people are better at spotting weak cases.
A summer or articling term with a Crown office
The best way in. Offices hire people they know.
A criminal law clinic in law school
Thick skin
You will lose cases you should have won and be criticized either way.
The PPSC (Public Prosecution Service of Canada) prosecutes drug offences, tax evasion, terrorism and organized crime. It has offices in every region and handles all criminal prosecutions in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. That means fly-in circuit courts to small communities. Northern postings come with isolation allowances on top of salary.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
8:30 a.m.: read the files for today's bail hearings, some of which arrived overnight. 9:30: bail court, ten matters. Lunch at your desk reviewing disclosure. Afternoon: a guilty plea, a pre-trial meeting with defence counsel, prep for tomorrow's trial, a phone call with a nervous witness. Home by 6 with a file for the evening. Trial days run longer.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Criminal cases are brought in the name of the Crown, so every case is styled R versus the accused. R stood for Regina, the Queen, until 2022. It now stands for Rex, the King.
In 1955 the Supreme Court of Canada wrote that a prosecutor's job is not to get a conviction but to lay the evidence before the court fairly. Crowns are trained to drop cases they should not win.
Since a 2016 Supreme Court of Canada ruling, most cases must finish within 18 months in provincial court or 30 months in superior court. Miss the deadline and the charges are stayed. That ruling drives Crown workloads.
In BC, Quebec and New Brunswick, police must get a prosecutor's approval before charging someone. Everywhere else, police lay the charge and the Crown reviews it afterward.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.