Keep an office running: supplies, schedules, records, people and the hundred small problems a 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.
Typical
$60,000
Entry level
$44,000
Office manager, large office
$92,000
Job Bank's national median is $29 an hour, about $60,000 a year full time. Running a big office for a law firm, engineering company or government branch pays at the top. A two-person dental office pays near the bottom.
$44,000 to $50,000
Office assistant or junior administrator
Pay is highest in Alberta, the Ottawa area and big-city head offices. Retail and small clinics pay less.
$75,000 to $92,000
Running an office of 50 or more people, often with staff reporting to you
At this level you handle budgets, hiring of support staff, leases and vendors. Some construction and engineering firms pay more than this for a strong office manager.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a one year office administration certificate at a public college, which is enough to get hired at many small companies. The high end is a two year diploma plus a software certification exam or two. A four year business degree is another route and costs several times more, but most of these jobs do not ask for one, so it is not what the high figure represents. This is one of the cheapest entries on the site, and employers often pay for software courses once you are hired.
One of the cheapest paths on this site. A 1-year certificate is enough to get hired at many small companies.
Health and dental
Standard at medium and large employers. Small offices vary.
Pension
In government, school boards, hospitals and universities, which are big employers of administrators.
Regular hours
Mostly 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. Rare in a lot of other careers.
Room to grow
Office administrators often move into human resources, bookkeeping or operations.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Short schooling, quick hiring, then you learn the specific office.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Job Bank says secondary school is required. English, business and computer courses help most.
Certificate or diploma
1 to 2 years
A 1-year Office Administration, General certificate or a 2-year diploma at a college. You learn Word, Excel, bookkeeping basics, records and customer service. Many programs include a placement.
First job
Right after school
Receptionist, office assistant or administrative assistant. Small companies hire fast.
Office administrator or manager
2 to 5 years
After 2 to 5 years you run the office: supplies, vendors, schedules, onboarding, sometimes budgets and staff. Job Bank notes some employers want a business degree or project management training for the senior roles.
English
Emails, letters and notices. Clear writing is the core skill.
Computer studies or business technology
Office software, spreadsheets, databases.
Math
Petty cash, invoices, budgets.
Accounting, if offered
Many small offices want the administrator to do basic bookkeeping too.
Job Bank confirms this occupation is not regulated in Canada. No licence, no registration, no exam. Employers hire on experience, software skills and how you handle people. That also means there is no protected title: office administrator, office coordinator, office manager and administrative officer all describe roughly the same work.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Bookkeeping and payroll
An administrator who can run the books for a small company is worth thousands more a year. The PCP (Payroll Compliance Professional) designation is one route.
Human resources basics
Onboarding, benefits enrolment, vacation tracking. Many small companies have no HR (human resources) person, so the administrator does it.
Project management training
Job Bank notes some employers ask for it. Opens the door to coordinator jobs.
Medical or legal office specialization
Clinics and law firms have their own software and rules and pay a premium for people who know them.
Fast, accurate typing
Still tested at interviews.
A second language
French for federal and Quebec jobs, others for immigrant-serving offices.
Customer service experience
Retail or restaurant work counts. Half the job is dealing with people who are stressed.
First aid and fire warden training
Office administrators often become the building's safety contact.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Open the office, check the shared inbox and voicemail. Greet visitors and couriers. Order printer toner and coffee, call the landlord about the broken door. Set up a new hire's desk and accounts. Enter invoices, chase a late payment, file records. Book the boardroom for three meetings that all want 2 pm. Update the staff schedule. Small emergencies all day: a locked-out employee, a lost package, a printer jam ten minutes before a client arrives.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Job Bank counts about 238,500 people working as office administrators and administrative officers across Canada in 2023. It is one of the largest occupations in the country.
Ontario colleges design the 1-year Office Administration, General certificate so graduates can move straight into year two of the Executive diploma. You can stop after a year, work, and come back later.
In many workplaces the office administrator keeps the first aid kit, runs the fire drill, tracks who is in the building and calls 911 when something goes wrong. It is a bigger responsibility than the job title suggests.
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.