In Ontario, a licensed legal professional who argues in small claims court, traffic court and tribunals. Elsewhere, a support role.
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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 $69,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $45,000 at the lower end to about $109,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
2 to 3 years after high school, on the usual route.
$10,000 to $14,500 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
It depends where you work. You need a licence, certificate or registration in Ontario. Elsewhere there is none 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
$69,000
Lower end
$45,000
Upper end
$109,000
Job Bank's median for paralegals across Canada is $33.05 an hour, about $69,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The lower end ($21.63) and upper end ($52.19) are the bottom and top of the wage range for everyone in the group, which includes law clerks.
$39.58 an hour
The median in British Columbia, about $82,000 a year
Alberta is next at $33.65, and Ontario's median is $33. Paralegals are licensed in Ontario; in most of Canada paralegal is an unlicensed support job.
$50,000
The most you can sue for in Ontario Small Claims Court since October 1, 2025, up from $35,000
That is the court where licensed paralegals do much of their work. In your own practice, volume drives income: a traffic ticket practice needs many files. Government and municipal prosecutor jobs pay steady salaries.
Roughly, all in
$10,000 to $14,500
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a two year Ontario college paralegal diploma at the cheaper end, the licensing exam and application, your first year of law society fees and basic books. The high end is the same program at a higher tuition college with a laptop and more fees. Law society dues are annual for as long as you are licensed, and you need your own insurance if you practise on your own rather than for a firm. This is by far the cheapest route into a licensed legal career: law school and the degree before it run about $57,000 to $148,000 in tuition alone.
Roughly $10,000 to $14,500 in total. Compare about $57,000 to $148,000 in tuition for a degree and law school.
A licence that lets you appear in court
In Ontario. Most other provinces have no paralegal licence, so paralegals there work under a lawyer.
Your own business is realistic
Many paralegals go solo within a few years.
Government jobs
Provincial offences offices, tribunals and municipalities hire licensed paralegals, with pensions.
Short, cheap training
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Two years of college, one exam, then a licence. Ontario only.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Any stream. English marks matter for admission.
Accredited paralegal program
2 years
A 2-year college diploma, or a 4-year degree, at a program approved by the Law Society of Ontario. Includes a field placement of about 120 hours.
Licensing exam
A few months
One multiple-choice exam set by the Law Society of Ontario, plus a good character check.
Licensed
Ongoing
You can open a practice or take a job. Annual fees and continuing education keep the licence.
Outside Ontario
1 to 3 years
A 1 or 2-year paralegal or legal assistant diploma, then work under a lawyer. In Quebec it is a 3 year college program instead: tap Quebec route to see it. No licence exists.
English and writing
Pleadings, letters and submissions.
Law and civics
The provincial offences and small claims systems.
Business and accounting
Small claims and tenancy cases are about money owed.
Public speaking or drama
You will argue in front of a judge or adjudicator.
Ontario has regulated paralegals through the Law Society of Ontario since 2007. A licensed paralegal can represent clients in Small Claims Court (claims up to $50,000 since October 2025), provincial offences court (traffic and bylaw tickets), some minor criminal matters, and tribunals such as the Landlord and Tenant Board. Everywhere else in Canada, paralegal means an assistant working under a lawyer, with no licence and no right to appear in court. British Columbia passed a law in 2024 to create regulated paralegals, but it is not in force. The Ontario licence does not transfer.
Ontario colleges
Seneca, Humber, Sheridan, Durham, Fanshawe, Algonquin and Mohawk all run accredited 2-year diplomas.
Humber Polytechnic
Also offers a 4-year paralegal degree.
Outside Ontario
Legal assistant and paralegal diplomas at public colleges in every province, for example Nova Scotia Community College. No licence at the end.
Quebec has no licensed paralegals like Ontario's. The job is technicien juridique (legal technician), trained in a 3 year college program, and you work under lawyers and notaries.
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
Secondary IV math (Cultural, Social and Technical) is the only course you need. Strong French helps, since most programs teach in French.
Paralegal Technology DEC (Diploma of College Studies, 310.C0)
3 years
3 years at a CEGEP (public college) such as Collège Ahuntsic or Cégep Garneau, in French. Collège O'Sullivan in Montreal also teaches it in English.
15 week internship
15 weeks
525 hours in your last term at a law firm, notary's office, court office or company legal department.
Work under a lawyer or notary
After graduating
You research, draft and manage files. You cannot give legal opinions to clients or represent them in court. That is reserved for lawyers.
The same DEC (Diploma of College Studies) is the required diploma for a huissier de justice (court bailiff), a licensed profession that serves court papers and enforces judgments. You apply to the Chambre des huissiers de justice du Québec (the Quebec order of bailiffs) by the third Friday of May, take its course in June, do an internship under a bailiff and pass its professional exam. Fees are $500 to apply and $2,000 for the program, plus tax.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Your own practice
Traffic tickets, small claims, landlord and tenant. Low overhead, lots of files.
Provincial or municipal prosecutor
Cities and the province hire licensed paralegals to prosecute traffic and bylaw offences.
Immigration consultant
A separate federal licence. Some paralegals add it.
Family law
Ontario has been expanding what paralegals may do in family matters through a new family legal services licence.
A part-time job at a law office while in school
French or another language
Clients at tribunals often need service in their own language.
Comfort with confrontation
You will argue against lawyers and lose sometimes.
Basic bookkeeping
Trust accounting rules apply to your own practice.
A paralegal diploma is not a shortcut into law school, which needs a university degree and the LSAT (law school admission test). But paralegals who go on to law school arrive knowing how a courtroom works, and some schools value that experience.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
9 a.m.: traffic court, three clients, negotiate two tickets down with the prosecutor. 11: back at the office, draft a small claims statement of claim for a contractor who was not paid. Afternoon: a Landlord and Tenant Board hearing by video. Phone calls, filings, a new client consultation. Solo practitioners spend evenings on billing and marketing.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
In 2007 Ontario became the first place in Canada to regulate paralegals as licensed, independent legal professionals.
Job Bank counted about 36,000 paralegals and related workers in Canada in 2023, and rates the outlook moderate in most provinces.
Provincial offences court, where traffic and bylaw tickets are fought, is one of the courts where Ontario's licensed paralegals can represent clients.
Licensed paralegals elect their own representatives to the governing board of the Law Society of Ontario, the same body that governs lawyers.
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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