The organized person every lawyer depends on. A year of college, then steady office work in any city.
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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 $57,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $39,000 at the lower end to about $87,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
1 to 2 years after high school, on the usual route.
$4,000 to $16,000 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
$57,000
Lower end
$39,000
Upper end
$87,000
Job Bank's national median is $27.47 an hour, about $57,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The lower end ($18.75) and upper end ($41.72) are the bottom and top of the wage range for everyone in the group.
$37.51 an hour
The median in Nunavut, about $78,000 a year
Alberta has the highest median of the provinces, $32. Prince Edward Island has the lowest, $22.
$33.05 an hour
Job Bank's median for law clerks, about $69,000 a year
Law clerks do more of the drafting and run files under a lawyer. Many start as legal assistants and add law clerk courses.
Roughly, all in
$4,000 to $16,000
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a short public college certificate of about eight months. The high end is a two year diploma at a higher tuition college. Private career colleges charge considerably more for the same certificate, so compare carefully and check that the program includes a real placement. There is no licence fee and no exam at the end.
Private career colleges charge more. Check that a program includes a real placement.
Health and dental at most firms
Pension
Government and large-firm jobs; small firms often have none.
Paid overtime or time off after trials
Stable, city-based work
Every city with a courthouse has law offices hiring.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A short college program, then learn the firm's way of doing things.
High school diploma
Grade 12
English, keyboarding and business courses. Many programs test your typing speed.
Legal assistant program
8 months to 2 years
A college certificate or diploma in legal administration. Vancouver Community College runs a 25-week certificate; Ontario and Alberta colleges run 1 and 2-year diplomas. You learn court forms, legal terms, billing and document software.
Placement
2 to 6 weeks
Most programs end with a few weeks in a real law office. Many students are hired from it.
First job
After graduation
Junior assistant supporting one or two lawyers. Firms train you on their systems.
English
Every document must be perfect.
Keyboarding or business technology
Programs want about 50 words a minute coming in; employers like 80.
Law
Learn the vocabulary early.
Accounting
Trust accounting and billing are part of the job.
Anyone can be hired as a legal assistant anywhere in Canada; the college diploma is what employers look for. In Quebec the regulated job nearby is a different one, official court stenographer, licensed through the Barreau du Québec, the province's law society. In Ontario, the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario offers courses and membership for assistants who want to move up to law clerk work, but it is optional.
In Quebec the usual route runs through a vocational centre, not a college: a secretarial DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies), then a short legal specialization.
Finish Secondary V, or start earlier
Age 16 or older
A high school diploma gets you in. So does being 16 with Secondary IV credits in language of instruction, second language and math.
DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies) in Secretarial Studies (5857)
About 15 months
1,485 hours. In English at Shadd, St. Pius X Career Centre, Pearson Adult and Career Centre, West Island Career Centre and others.
ASP (Attestation of Vocational Specialization) in Secretarial Studies Legal (5873)
450 hours
450 hours that build on the DEP for work in law and notary offices. In English at Shadd in Montreal, Cestar College in Longueuil and Collège Supérieur de Sherbrooke. In French: Secrétariat juridique (5373).
First job
After graduating
Legal assistant or legal secretary at a law firm, notary's office or company legal department.
Legal assistants need no licence. The regulated job nearby is official stenographer (court reporter), who must pass the exam of a committee of the Barreau du Québec (the Quebec bar) and swear an oath. If you want more legal work, the 3 year Paralegal Technology DEC (Diploma of College Studies) at a CEGEP (public college) leads to legal technician jobs.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Litigation
Court deadlines, filings, trial prep. The busiest.
Corporate and securities
Minute books, filings, big-firm work.
Real estate
Closings, title searches, high volume.
Law clerk
Take on more of the legal drafting. In Ontario the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario runs the courses.
French
Federal courts, Ottawa and Montreal firms.
Software skills
Document management and electronic filing systems.
Discretion
You will see confidential things every day.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Open the lawyer's calendar and email, then draft and format letters, affidavits and contracts, file documents with the court online, book examinations and meetings, chase signatures, enter billable time and send invoices. Litigation days are deadline-driven: a filing due at 5pm sets the pace. Corporate days are quieter and more about precision.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Alberta's career guide says employers prefer legal assistants who type about 80 words a minute.
The Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario has run courses and exams for law clerks since 1968. It is a common next step for legal assistants who want more drafting work.
Job Bank counted about 54,900 legal assistants working in Canada in 2023, and 34% of them were 50 or older, so retirements open jobs every year.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Courts and legal support first, then the rest of the field. See every career in law and public safety.
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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