Graduates · Ontario · 2021 Census
What can you do with a social work degree?
What graduates actually work as, from Statistics Canada, beside what Job Bank says about each job: openings, pay, and what it takes.
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What can you do with a social work degree in Ontario?
In the 2021 Census, the most common jobs among employed Canadians aged 25 to 64 with a bachelor's degree in social work were social workers (51.4%), social and community service workers (8.2%) and therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies (3.4%). This is one of the more direct fields: the single biggest job, social workers, covers 51.4% of these graduates, and the 12 most common jobs together cover 73.7%.
What graduates really do
What jobs do social work graduates in Canada actually have?
Statistics Canada publishes social work on its own only for Canada. The Ontario tables below are the whole public administration and social service professions group, not social work alone.
| Job | Share of graduates | People | Job Bank outlook | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social workersOur guide | 51.4% | 23,485 | Moderate | $38.66/hr |
| Social and community service workers | 8.2% | 3,740 | Moderate | $26.50/hr |
| Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies | 3.4% | 1,565 | Very good | $33.00/hr |
| Managers in social, community and correctional services | 1.9% | 880 | Very good | $48.08/hr |
| Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers | 1.3% | 590 | Moderate | $44.62/hr |
| Early childhood educators and assistantsOur guide | 1.3% | 580 | Good | $22.00/hr |
| Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants | 1.2% | 570 | Moderate | $26.00/hr |
| Administrative officers | 1.2% | 545 | Limited | $29.38/hr |
| Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates | 1.1% | 520 | Good | $24.00/hr |
| Probation and parole officers | 0.9% | 430 | Moderate | $38.97/hr |
| Seniors managers - public and private sector | 0.9% | 420 | No Job Bank outlook | — |
| Administrative assistants | 0.9% | 410 | Moderate | $26.67/hr |
How does it look for other groups?
These are different groups of people, shown separately on purpose: a different place, age group or level of education. Do not read them as one comparison.
| Job | Share of graduates | People | Job Bank outlook | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social workersOur guide | 31.8% | 4,585 | Moderate | $38.66/hr |
| Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers | 6.9% | 990 | Moderate | $44.62/hr |
| Social and community service workers | 6.3% | 910 | Moderate | $26.50/hr |
| Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies | 5% | 725 | Very good | $33.00/hr |
| Health policy researchers, consultants and program officers | 2% | 285 | Moderate | $44.62/hr |
| Administrative officers | 1.8% | 265 | Limited | $29.38/hr |
| Natural and applied science policy researchers, consultants and program officers | 1.8% | 265 | No Job Bank outlook | — |
| Post-secondary teaching and research assistants | 1.4% | 195 | No Job Bank outlook | — |
| Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants | 1.3% | 190 | Moderate | $26.00/hr |
| Economists and economic policy researchers and analysts | 1.2% | 175 | Limited | $51.28/hr |
| Human resources professionalsOur guide | 1.2% | 170 | Limited | $39.90/hr |
| Administrative assistants | 1.2% | 170 | Moderate | $26.67/hr |
| Job | Share of graduates | People | Job Bank outlook | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social and community service workers | 27.2% | 3,550 | Moderate | $26.50/hr |
| Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants | 11.7% | 1,520 | Moderate | $26.00/hr |
| Early childhood educators and assistantsOur guide | 4.9% | 640 | Good | $22.00/hr |
| Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates | 4.3% | 555 | Good | $24.00/hr |
| Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers | 3% | 395 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Other customer and information services representatives | 2.8% | 365 | Very limited | $21.50/hr |
| Administrative officers | 1.6% | 205 | Limited | $29.38/hr |
| Administrative assistants | 1.5% | 195 | Moderate | $26.67/hr |
| Retail and wholesale trade managers | 1.4% | 180 | Moderate | $43.27/hr |
| Receptionists | 1.3% | 170 | Moderate | $20.50/hr |
| General office support workers | 1.3% | 165 | Moderate | $23.08/hr |
| Social workersOur guide | 1.2% | 160 | Moderate | $38.66/hr |
Do those jobs have openings?
Which of those jobs are hiring?
4 of the 12 most common jobs have a good or very good Ontario outlook from Job Bank for 2025 to 2027, together covering 7.7% of these graduates. Outlook is a province-wide forecast of openings against job seekers, not a promise for any one town or employer.
- Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies: Job Bank outlook very good, 3.4% of these graduates.
- Managers in social, community and correctional services: Job Bank outlook very good, 1.9% of these graduates.
- Early childhood educators and assistants: Job Bank outlook good, 1.3% of these graduates.
- Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates: Job Bank outlook good, 1.1% of these graduates.
When the degree is not enough
What does the degree not lead to on its own?
A social work degree from an accredited program is the one in this series that is designed around a regulated title. Registration with the College is a separate step from graduating, and it is required to use the title.
Many roles in this field ask for supervised experience and for registration, so check the posting. A master's degree is also an accepted route to registration.
Routes that need more than the degree
Register with the College as a social worker
The Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers says graduates of an accredited bachelor of social work or master of social work meet its academic requirements for registration. Ontario's career pages say registration with the College is required to practise as a social worker and that the titles are regulated. Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers: students and new graduatesKnow the social service worker route
The College says an approved social service work diploma meets the academic requirements for registration as a social service worker. That is a separate class from social worker, so check which one a job posting asks for. Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers: students and new graduates
Jobs to look at
Careers worth a closer look
Full guides: what the work is really like, who hates it, what it pays, and the route in.
- Social workerHelping people and families get through crises and hard systems, from housing and child safety to mental health and end of life.Career guide
- Early childhood educatorTeaching and caring for young children in child care and early learning settings, where playing, feeding and comforting are all the curriculum.Career guide
- TeacherGetting thirty people who did not choose to be there to learn something, five times a day, and marking it afterwards.Career guide
- Occupational therapistHelping people do the everyday things that matter to them, from dressing and cooking to returning to work, after illness, injury or disability.Career guide
- Recreation and fitness instructorLeading classes, groups and programmes in sport, fitness and recreation, often part-time and often with the hours that other people have free.Career guide
Read this before you rely on it
What the numbers do not show
- The Census is from 2021. Jobs and hiring have moved since. Job Bank's outlook is current to 2025 to 2027.
- It counts employed people and what they do, not whether they wanted that job or use their degree in it. A graduate working as a retail supervisor is counted in the data exactly like one working in their field.
- It is a 25% sample, and Statistics Canada rounds every count to a multiple of five. Small groups are noisy.
- For Ontario the Census publishes bachelor's degree or higher together, so those tables include master's and doctoral graduates.
- Each person is counted once, by their highest credential. A person who finished a diploma and then a degree appears under the degree, not the diploma.
- The 12 jobs shown are the most common, not all of them. The rest of the graduates are spread across hundreds of other jobs.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population, tables 98-10-0403-01 and 98-10-0447-01; Job Bank (Employment and Social Development Canada) Ontario outlooks and wages, linked on each job. We join them by occupation code and change neither.
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