One employer, one union, and a route you walk in every kind of weather.
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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.
The median pay is about $60,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $48,000 at the lower end to about $70,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
Up to 1 year, on the usual route, and you are paid while you train from the first day.
From nothing up to about $200, depending on the route, 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
$60,000
Lower end
$48,000
Upper end
$70,000
Job Bank's national median is $28.85 an hour, about $60,000 a year full time. The range is unusually narrow because almost every letter carrier in Canada works for one employer on a negotiated wage grid. Among the provinces, Manitoba and Alberta show the highest medians, $30 an hour.
$25.37 an hour
A current Canada Post posting for temporary carriers in Val-d'Or, Quebec, about $53,000 a year full time
New hires are usually temporary or on call, covering other carriers' routes and vacations. Getting a permanent full-time route can take a while.
Roughly, all in
Nothing to $200
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
There is essentially nothing to pay. Training is two weeks to a month, the employer runs it and you are paid while you do it. The only real costs are a criminal record check and, for routes that use a vehicle, holding a driver's licence you may already have. A job with a pension and no cost of entry is unusual, which is why the postings draw so many applicants.
There is no cost of entry here beyond getting yourself to the interview. That is rare for a job that comes with a pension.
Pension
A defined benefit pension, one that pays a set amount every month for life.
Health and dental
Standard once you are permanent.
Union protection
Letter carriers are represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
Overtime
December is the busy season, and overtime is paid on top of the grid.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
No tuition, no exam, no licence. The waiting is the hard part.
Finish some high school
Grade 12 recommended
Job Bank lists some secondary school as the education requirement. A full diploma helps you compete.
Apply when postings open
Weeks to months
Hiring runs in waves, mostly before summer and before Christmas. Almost everyone starts as a temporary or on-call carrier.
Pass the checks
Weeks
A criminal record check, and you have to show you can carry a loaded satchel and walk a route in any weather.
Employer training
2 to 4 weeks
Job Bank says Canada Post provides two weeks to one month of training on sorting, route order, scanners, safety and vehicles.
Work on call, then bid a route
Months to years
You cover other carriers first. Permanent routes are awarded by seniority.
A clean driving record
Many routes use a vehicle.
Physical fitness
Job Bank lists physical fitness as a requirement for some jobs in this group.
Reliability
Mail goes out whether or not you feel like it, and attendance is watched.
A second language
Useful in bigger cities, though not required.
Letter carrier is not a regulated occupation and there is no certificate to earn. What shapes the job instead is that nearly all the work in Canada sits with one employer, Canada Post, under collective agreements with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Pay, route sizes, seniority and hours are set by negotiation rather than by the market. It also means the career has one door: if hiring is frozen in your city, there is no second company to apply to. Rural routes are covered by a separate group of carriers on a different agreement.
Canada Post hires the same way across the country, but in Quebec you need a Class 5 licence from the SAAQ (Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec, the licensing agency) and postings often ask for French.
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
Not strictly required, but a DES (Secondary School Diploma) helps you compete.
Class 5 licence and 3 clean years
From age 16
Postings ask for a valid Class 5 licence and a safe driving record for at least 3 years. In Quebec the Class 5 starts at 16 with a driving course and 12 months as a learner.
French
Before you apply
Quebec postings, such as one in Val-d'Or, list French as essential.
Apply and pass the checks
Weeks to months
You must be able to lift mail up to 22.7 kilograms and carry up to 15.9 kilograms all day, in any weather.
Work on call, then bid a route
Months to years
Most people start on call and temporary. A recent Val-d'Or posting paid $25.37 an hour.
Things you don't need, but that help.
A permanent full-time route
The first real goal, and it is awarded by seniority.
Depot and sorting roles
Inside work on different shifts.
Supervisor
Running a depot or a delivery team.
Driving roles
Larger vehicles and collection routes, with a higher licence class.
Union roles
Shop steward and local officer positions are a real path for some carriers.
Being comfortable around dogs
Dog bites are the classic hazard of the job and the training covers them.
Winter gear you actually like wearing
You will be outside in January, all of January.
Good boots
Carriers walk several kilometres every shift.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Start early at the depot, sort your route into delivery order, load your satchel or vehicle, then head out. Most of the shift is walking, with parcel stops, apartment lobbies and community mailboxes. Parcels have changed the job: there are more of them every year and they are heavy. You finish when the route is finished, which in December can mean a long day. Weather is not a reason to stop. Routes are changing: from October 2026 Canada Post began moving its last 4 million door-to-door addresses to community mailboxes, a switch it expects to take about five years.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Twenty years ago Canada Post delivered 5.5 billion letters a year. By 2025 it was about 2 billion, even though Canada has more homes than ever.
About three quarters of Canadians already get mail at a community, apartment or rural mailbox. In October 2026 the first of the remaining 4 million door-to-door addresses, in Sept-Îles and Winnipeg, switched too.
Job Bank reports that about 95% of Canadian letter carriers receive at least one non-wage benefit such as a pension or insurance. For delivery drivers the figure is about 57%.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Road first, then the rest of the field. See every career in transport.
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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