Elementary or high school. A pension, summers off, and a salary grid that doubles over ten years.
Click through it
Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Mid-grid
$85,000
Year 1
$52,000
Top of grid
$105,000
Public school teachers are paid on a fixed grid by years of experience and qualifications. You reach the top in about 10 years. Alberta and Ontario grids are among the highest; the Maritimes are lower. Job Bank's national median works out to about $95,000 a year for high school teachers and $90,000 for elementary, which lands mid-grid.
$50,000 to $60,000
Full-time contract, first year
Many new teachers start on the supply list or long-term occasional contracts, which pay per day and can mean a lean first few years.
$100,000 to $110,000
After about 10 years, with maximum qualifications
Additional qualifications and a master's degree move you to a higher column on the grid.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a three year bachelor's degree at a cheaper university followed by a one year teacher education program outside Ontario, plus the 140 registration fee. The high end is a four year degree at 10,000 a year and the two year Ontario Bachelor of Education at 12,000 a year. A concurrent program that combines both degrees in five years usually lands between the two. Once you are working, expect about 200 a year in college membership fees for as long as you teach.
Concurrent programs combine both degrees in 5 years.
Defined-benefit pension
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is one of the largest pension funds in the world.
Summers, March break, Christmas
About 12 weeks a year when school is out.
Health, dental and generous sick leave
Strong union protection
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A degree in something, then a degree in teaching.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Any path. For high school teaching, focus on the subjects you want to teach.
Bachelor's degree
3 to 4 years
For elementary, any subject. For secondary, you need enough courses in two teachable subjects, for example math and physics, or English and history.
Bachelor of Education (B.Ed)
1 to 2 years
Ontario requires 2 years. Most other provinces are 1 to 2 years. Includes practicum placements in real classrooms.
Provincial certification
A few weeks
Register with your provincial regulator, for example the Ontario College of Teachers or the BC Teacher Regulation Branch.
Supply list, then a contract
Varies
Most new teachers supply-teach first. Time to a permanent contract varies from months to years depending on region and subject.
Whatever you want to teach
Math and science teachers are in shortest supply.
French
French immersion teachers are hired fast in every province.
English
You will write a lot of report cards.
You need a teaching certificate from your province to teach in a public school. Certificates transfer between provinces under the national labour mobility agreement, sometimes with conditions. Private schools are not always required to hire certified teachers, but most do.
Things you don't need, but that help.
French as a second language qualification
The single most in-demand qualification.
Special education additional qualification
High demand everywhere.
Master of Education
Moves you to the top salary column and is required for principal roles.
Math, physics, chemistry or tech-ed teachables
Shortage subjects.
Experience with kids before the education degree (B.Ed)
Camps, tutoring, coaching. Programs ask for it.
Coaching a sport or running a club
Principals notice.
Willingness to move north
Remote and Indigenous communities hire quickly and often pay a northern allowance.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Arrive before the kids. Teach 5 or 6 periods, or one class all day in elementary. Supervise recess or lunch. After the bell: marking, planning, parent emails, meetings, coaching. The school day is 6 hours, the work day is closer to 9 or 10 during the year, then quieter in summer.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has owned stakes in airports, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Cadillac Fairview malls. It manages about $300 billion.
It went from one year to two, which cut the number of new teachers roughly in half and ended a long-standing glut of graduates.
Every province reports a shortage of French immersion teachers. Bilingual education grads often get contracts before graduating.
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.