Entry-level salaries in Canada's biggest cities

This article was updated on August 2022 with new data.

After graduating, I had no idea how much entry-level salaries were for my profession. Nowadays, you can easily look up salary information on Indeed, Glassdoor and LinkedIn. These platforms have asked users to report their incomes, and with that information, these sites have established industry averages by city.

There are two reasons why knowing salary information is important:

You will adjust your expectations to match the reality
You can negotiate if an employer doesn’t offer you the industry average

In a 2017 report, the Conference Board of Canada found that the average starting salary for Canadians holding a bachelor’s degree was $54,295. That is way, way below what most entry-level professionals in our industry are being paid.

The cost of living is going up every year, and so are tuition costs. Your first job is probably going to be the lowest-paying job you’ll ever have but it shouldn’t swindle you. It should at least match industry standards (even if those standards are unfair).

We’re going to look at salaries for the following job titles:

Communications Coordinator
Marketing Coordinator
Social Media Coordinator

In the seven biggest cities in Canada:

Toronto
Montreal
Vancouver
Calgary
Edmonton
Ottawa
Winnipeg

Entry-level salaries in Canada’s biggest cities

The data reported below comes from LinkedIn’s salary tool. Their tool is newer than Glassdoor’s and Indeed’s so it has less user-reported data. However, it provides better data points and the ability to filter for more specific job titles. Cross-checking the numbers also showed their numbers did not differ widely from the other sites.

These were the results for entry-level salaries with the following job titles and cities:

Communications Coordinator

Toronto – $50,000/year
Montreal – $45,000/year
Vancouver – $52,000/year
Calgary – $55,000/year
Edmonton – $56,900/year
Ottawa – $50,000/year
Winnipeg – $47,800/year

Marketing Coordinator

Toronto – $47,500/year
Montreal – $47,000/year
Vancouver – $46,500/year
Calgary – $50,000/year
Edmonton – $50,000/year
Ottawa – $45,000/year
Winnipeg – $42,900/year

Toronto – $45,000/year
Montreal – $41,300/year
Vancouver – $44,000/year
Calgary – N/A
Edmonton – N/A
Ottawa – $44,500/year
Winnipeg – N/A

Pay differences according to cities

After looking at these numbers, you may be wondering where the disparities between cities come from. Don’t pack your bags and move anywhere just yet!

There are a few considerations to keep in mind:

The cost of living is a consideration many companies make when they set salaries. Just look at Facebook’s controversial move to adjust salaries based on where their employees live.
A competitive job market (there are more qualified professionals than there are jobs available) can drive salaries lower because companies know they can find someone qualified without offering a high salary.
In cities where there are many types of companies, the salary average can be lower because, typically, smaller and mid-sized companies will pay less while large companies will pay more.
Consider what kind of industries are commonly found within a particular city. For example, Ottawa will have many public-sector employees who are typically paid above average, thus resulting in a higher overall salary average.

Which industries pay more

Even though the job title and responsibilities are the same, entry-level salaries will vary by industry type too. Some industries are making billions every day while others are just not making that kind of money. So, they’re not paying their employees at the higher end of the pay scale. Also, some industries are more dominant in certain cities and not others.

Let’s look at this city by city using LinkedIn’s existing data. These are the industries that popped up after searching the job titles used above. (Unfortunately, data is not yet available for Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa.)

Toronto

Public administration
Finance
Education
Real estate
Retail

Montréal

Manufacturing
Construction
Consumer goods
Software and IT services
Education

Vancouver

Design
Real estate
Transportation and logistics
Public administration
Education

Calgary

Energy and mining
Manufacturing
Construction
Software and IT services
Real estate

Helpful salary tools

When you’re preparing for an interview, you should research the company thoroughly. That includes looking at how much they pay their employees. Use Indeed’s salary tool because they’ve collected a lot of salary data from various Canadian companies.

If you’re already working but wondering if you’re being paid fairly, then check out Indeed’s Salary Calculator. You can compare your current salary to others with the same title in your city.