Logos, websites, packaging, apps. A portfolio matters more than a diploma.
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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.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$65,000
Junior
$42,000
Senior or art director
$110,000
Job Bank's national median works out to about $65,000 a year. Product and UX (user experience) designers at tech companies earn well above this range, often $90,000 to $150,000. Print and agency design pays less.
$42,000 to $52,000
Junior designer at an agency or small company
Internships are common and sometimes unpaid. Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal have the most jobs.
$85,000 to $140,000
UX (user experience) and product designers at tech companies
The biggest pay jump in this field is moving from graphic design to designing software interfaces.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is teaching yourself with online courses that run from free to a few hundred dollars and paying for a year of design software while you build a portfolio. Clients and employers hire on the portfolio, not the paper, so this route is real. The high end is a four year university design degree at $12,000 a year with software on top. A two or three year college diploma at $4,000 to $8,000 a year sits in the middle and is the most common choice. A capable computer is not counted here because most people already own one, but if yours cannot run design software, budget $2,000 to $4,000 for a machine.
Salary
Agencies, in-house teams, tech companies.
Freelance
Hourly rates vary widely with experience. Many designers freelance at least part time.
Contract
Common in tech, often well paid but without benefits.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Learn the tools, build a portfolio, get hired on the portfolio.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Art, media arts and any computer courses. Start a portfolio now.
Design program
2 to 4 years
A 2 to 3 year college diploma (Sheridan, Seneca, Humber, Capilano, Red River) or a 4-year degree (OCAD University, Emily Carr, NSCAD University, York). Portfolio review is part of admission.
Internships and freelance
During school
Real client work while in school. This is what employers look at.
Portfolio and first job
After graduation
A strong online portfolio of 8 to 12 projects gets interviews. The diploma gets you through the door; the work gets you hired.
Visual arts
Drawing, composition, colour.
Media arts or communication technology
Software and video.
English
Design is communication.
Business or marketing
Design serves business goals.
Anyone can call themselves a graphic designer. Ontario has a voluntary RGD (Registered Graphic Designer) certification through the Association of Registered Graphic Designers, which some government contracts require. Quebec has a similar designation (the SDGQ). Neither is needed for most jobs.
Things you don't need, but that help.
UX (user experience) and product design
Figma, user research, prototyping. The highest-paid branch of design.
Motion design
After Effects and animation. Short supply.
Front-end code
HTML and CSS (the languages web pages are built with) and some JavaScript. Designers who can build are rare and valuable.
Brand strategy
Moving from making things to deciding what to make.
RGD (Registered Graphic Designer) certification
Asked for on some Ontario public-sector work. Needs about 7 years of combined education and experience, an online test and a case-study presentation.
Design competitions and awards
Applied Arts, the ADCC (Advertising and Design Club of Canada), RGD Awards.
Personal projects
Posters, zines, an app concept. Shows taste and initiative.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Briefs from clients or a marketing team, then concepting and making: layouts, logos, social graphics, web pages, packaging. Rounds of feedback and revisions. Presenting work and defending decisions. At an agency, several clients a day. In-house, one brand deeply. Product designers spend more time in research and prototyping tools.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
The maple leaf flag was chosen in 1964 from thousands of submissions. Its final form was refined by designer Jacques Saint-Cyr and art director George Bist.
The RGD (Registered Graphic Designer) designation was created by an act of the Ontario legislature in the 1990s, making it one of the few legally recognized design titles in the world.
Sheridan College's Bachelor of Illustration and design programs have produced a large share of Canada's working designers and animators, including many at Pixar and Disney.
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.