Hiring, pay, policies and the hard conversations. A degree, an exam, and a designation that carries weight.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
Programs in the fields this career usually comes through. Each has its own page: what it takes to get in, the courses you need and what it costs.
The median pay is about $85,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $54,000 at the lower end to about $124,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
2 to 5 years after high school, on the usual route.
$9,000 to $49,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
No. There is no licence to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$85,000
Lower end
$54,000
Upper end
$124,000
Job Bank's national median is $40.87 an hour, about $85,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The figures cover the whole human resources professionals group. HR (human resources) managers and directors are counted in a separate group and are not in this range.
$58.00 an hour
The median in the Northwest Territories, about $121,000 a year, the highest in Canada
Among the provinces, British Columbia is highest at $43.27 and Prince Edward Island lowest at $33.65. Most people start as an HR (human resources) coordinator or assistant.
Roughly, all in
$9,000 to $49,000
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a two year college HR (human resources) diploma at the cheapest domestic rate, plus the designation exam fees and a first year of association membership. The high end is a four year university degree at the top of the tuition range with the same designation costs on top. Many employers pay the designation exams and the membership dues once you are hired, so the real bill often lands well under the high figure. The dues repeat every year for as long as you hold the designation.
Roughly $9,000 to $49,000 in all. Many employers pay the designation fees once you are hired.
Pension
Defined-benefit plans in government, hospitals and universities.
Health and dental
You will know the plan better than anyone, because you administer it.
Hybrid work
Common, though hiring and investigations are often in person.
Paid professional development
Employers often cover designation fees and conferences.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A degree or diploma, a knowledge exam, then experience to earn the full designation.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
English, business and any course with writing and presenting.
Post-secondary
2 to 4 years
A 4-year degree in HR (human resources), business or psychology, or a 2-year college diploma. Graduates of other degrees often add a 1-year graduate certificate in HR management.
Knowledge exam
After graduation
In Ontario, the CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional) knowledge exam through HRPA (Human Resources Professionals Association) plus an Ontario employment law exam. In the rest of Canada, the National Knowledge Exam through CPHR (Chartered Professionals in Human Resources) Canada's provincial bodies. Outside Ontario, graduates of accredited programs may be able to skip it.
Coordinator to generalist
2 to 4 years
Onboarding, benefits, records, recruiting support. Then broader files: performance, policy, employee relations.
Full designation
About 3 years of experience
The CHRL (Certified Human Resources Leader) in Ontario or CPHR (Chartered Professional in Human Resources) elsewhere adds an experience requirement and, in Ontario, a second exam.
English
Policies, letters, investigation reports.
Business
Payroll, budgets, how organizations run.
Law
Employment standards, human rights, privacy.
Psychology or social science
Why people behave the way they do at work.
You do not need a licence to work in HR (human resources) anywhere in Canada. In Ontario, though, the HRPA (Human Resources Professionals Association) is a regulator under provincial law: it grants the CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional), CHRL (Certified Human Resources Leader) and CHRE (Certified Human Resources Executive) titles, and it can discipline members. Elsewhere, CPHR (Chartered Professionals in Human Resources) Canada's member associations grant the CPHR designation, and Quebec has its own CRHA (certified human resources counsellor) title: tap Quebec route to add it. The titles do not transfer automatically between Ontario and the rest of Canada.
Ontario
York, Ontario Tech and the University of Ottawa have HR (human resources) degrees, and Fanshawe, Algonquin and Durham colleges grant HR bachelor's degrees. Seneca, Conestoga, Mohawk and Niagara run HR diplomas.
Quebec
HEC Montréal (the business school attached to Université de Montréal) in French, and Concordia and Bishop's in English.
West
Mount Royal University, the University of Lethbridge, Thompson Rivers University and UNBC (the University of Northern British Columbia).
Atlantic
Saint Mary's and Dalhousie in Halifax, University of New Brunswick.
Quebec has a professional order for HR (human resources) that controls the CRHA (certified human resources counsellor) title. Some French-language degrees lead straight to it, others go through an exam.
Finish Secondary V, then CEGEP
2 years
A 2 year DEC (Diploma of College Studies) at a CEGEP (public college). The Social Science commerce profile, with Calculus and Linear Algebra, suits business schools.
Bachelor's degree, 90 credits
3 years
Listed degrees at Laval, Université de Montréal, HEC Montréal (Montreal's business school), Sherbrooke and the Université du Québec network give direct access to the title. All are in French.
Or another degree, then an exam
With 30 HR credits, such as Concordia's Human Resource Management major in English, or 90 credits plus 1 to 3 years of HR experience, the order sends you to its equivalence exam.
Equivalence exam, if required
3 to 8 months
4 hours: written case questions worth 80% and multiple choice worth 20%. 60% to pass. Held each spring and fall. Over 10 years of experience, you can submit a portfolio instead.
Ethics course, French, then the title
2 to 4 weeks
A 75 minute online ethics course at no cost and proof of French (a Quebec high school diploma counts). Pay the yearly fee and you can use the title CRHA.
The Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (the Quebec order of certified human resources counsellors) holds the title, not the job. Only members can call themselves CRHA, and using the title without being registered can bring a fine of $2,500 to $62,500. If you are a member in good standing of the HR (human resources) order in another province, passed the National Knowledge Exam, have 90 university credits and show French, you can transfer directly. From Ontario only the CHRL (Certified Human Resources Leader) and CHRE (Certified Human Resources Executive) count. The rules for the exam route change on 31 August 2027.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Compensation and benefits
Pay grids, bonuses, pension plans. Number-heavy work.
Labour relations
Negotiating and managing union contracts. Central in unionized industries.
HR (human resources) analytics
Turnover, engagement and pay data. Needs spreadsheet and some statistics skills.
Talent acquisition
Leading recruiting for a company. Overlaps with the recruiter career.
Co-op placement
Many HR (human resources) degrees and diplomas offer co-op. It is how most coordinators get hired.
French
Required in Quebec and for many federal government jobs.
Payroll certification
The National Payroll Institute's certification is a quick add-on for small-company HR roles.
Master's degree
In industrial relations or HR management. Helps for director and public-sector roles.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Morning inbox: a manager asking how to handle a late employee, a benefits question, a job offer to draft. An interview panel for an open role. A meeting on the new vacation policy. After lunch, an investigation interview about a harassment complaint, taken carefully, with notes. Updating the HR (human resources) system with a promotion and a leave. Late in the day, sitting with a manager while they deliver a termination. It is a people job, but a lot of it is documents.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
In Quebec, using the CRHA (certified human resources counsellor) title without being a member of the order can bring a fine of $2,500 to $62,500. Anyone can still do the work.
Ontario's CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional) takes two exams: a 175-question knowledge exam and a 110-question exam on Ontario employment law, all multiple choice.
CPHR (Chartered Professionals in Human Resources) Canada, the body behind the CPHR designation, says it represents about 31,000 members across nine provinces and three territories. Ontario has its own association.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
People and operations first, then the rest of the field. See every career in business and money.
Last checked October 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. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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