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
Social Media Coordinator
- 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.
Give me more data, please
Was that not enough? Are you excited by all this data and want more?
Here are some more resources:
- Our own 2020 pay transparency spreadsheet for communications and marketing professionals
- Data from Statistics Canada on employee wages by occupation and updated monthly
- Recruitment agency Robart Half’s 2020 Salary Guide for Canada
- Recruitment agency Randstad’s 2020 Salary Guide for Canada