Elementary or high school. A pension, summers off, and a salary grid that climbs for about ten years.
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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 $90,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $55,000 at the lower end to about $118,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
4 to 6 years after high school, on the usual route.
$29,000 to $64,500 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
Yes. It is a regulated job, so you need a licence or registration before you can work.
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
$90,000
Lower end
$55,000
Upper end
$118,000
Job Bank's national figures for elementary school and kindergarten teachers, 2023 to 2024: a median of $43.27 an hour, about $90,000 a year at 40 hours a week, with a lower end of $26.67 and an upper end of $56.59 an hour. For secondary school teachers the median is $45.67 an hour, about $95,000. Public school teachers are paid on a grid by years of experience and qualifications, and each province or board sets its own.
$66,574 a year
Step 1, Category 5, on the New Westminster, BC (British Columbia) grid from July 1, 2025
One published grid, as an example; other boards and provinces pay differently. 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.
$103,392 a year
Step 10, the top step, Category 5, on the same New Westminster grid
More university training moves you to a higher category. Category 6 on the same grid tops out at $112,762.
Roughly, all in
$29,000 to $64,500
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, plus the 140 registration fee. Ontario programs take two years today, and from May 2027 most move to about 12 months, three terms in a row. The high end is a four year degree at 10,000 a year and one of the two year programs some Ontario universities still run, 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.
A defined-benefit pension
One that pays a set amount every month for life. In Ontario it is the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
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.
Outside Quebec: a degree in something, then a degree in teaching. Quebec has its own route: tap Quebec route to add it.
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
In Ontario it takes two years today. For students starting from May 2027, most Ontario programs move to about 12 months, three terms in a row, though some still wait for their university's approval and a few, such as Lakehead's, still list two years. Most other provinces take 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 (British Columbia) 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 often hard to find.
French
French immersion teachers are in demand in many provinces.
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.
In Quebec the teaching degree is the whole university program: one 4 year Bachelor of Education after CEGEP (public college), not a degree followed by a separate education year.
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
Any stream gets you into CEGEP (public college). Take the strongest courses you can in the subjects you want to teach.
Pre-university DEC (Diploma of College Studies)
2 years
A 2 year program at a CEGEP (public college). No tuition for full-time Quebec residents, though colleges charge small fees.
Bachelor of Education
4 years
120 credits over 4 years, with time in schools every year. In English at McGill, Concordia and Bishop's. In French at most other Quebec universities.
Pass the language test
During the degree
English universities use the EETC (English Exam for Teacher Certification). French universities use a written French test (TECFÉE). You need it for the licence.
Get your teaching diploma
After graduating
Your university recommends you to the Ministère de l'Éducation (Quebec's education ministry), which issues the diploma. It is permanent.
Get hired
Varies
Many start as substitutes. You do not need a licence to substitute teach in a subject related to your studies. A student with a job offer can teach on a provisional licence.
If you hold a bachelor's degree in a subject taught in Quebec schools, you can qualify with a qualifying master's in teaching instead of a second bachelor's. At McGill it is the Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning, 45 credits, about 16 months full time, in English language arts, math, science and technology, social sciences, or a second language. Teachers already working without a licence, on a letter of tolerance, can take a 30 credit graduate diploma instead, which leads to a probationary permit.
Quebec resident rate for 2026 to 2027 at Université de Montréal. Universities add their own fees on top of tuition.
Things you don't need, but that help.
French as a second language qualification
In demand wherever French immersion runs.
Special education additional qualification
High demand everywhere.
Master of Education
Usually moves you up a pay category. In Ontario it is one of the ways to meet the entry rules for principal training.
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 wholly owns Cadillac Fairview, the company behind the Toronto Eaton Centre, Pacific Centre in Vancouver and Toronto's TD (Toronto-Dominion Bank) Centre. The plan had $303.2 billion in net assets at June 30, 2026.
On September 1, 2015 it doubled from two terms to four, and the classroom practicum went from 40 days to 80. Most programs starting from May 2027 are back to about 12 months, three terms in a row.
Elementary teachers in the Northwest Territories have a median of $61.06 an hour, the highest in Canada. In New Brunswick it is $37.98.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Teaching first, then the rest of the field. See every career in education.
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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