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Business & entrepreneurship · Organizing & Managing

Administrative assistant: what the job actually is

The person who keeps an office running: calendars, documents, supplies, people and the dozen things nobody else knows how to do.

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Administrative assistant: quick facts

Administrative assistant salary in Ontario: the median pay is $26.67 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate. The job usually needs a shorter college programme or apprenticeship, or over six months of on-the-job training.

Median pay in Ontario
$26.67 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$19.00 to $37.95 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
77,350
Usually needs
Usually a shorter college programme or apprenticeship, or over six months of on-the-job training

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 13110. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Keeping an office or a team running: managing calendars and email, preparing documents, handling requests from many people at once, and knowing where things are.
  • The work depends heavily on who you support and where. A medical clinic, a school board, a law firm, a construction company and a small business each need something different.
  • It is an unregulated job. Job Bank says no licence or certification is required, so the entry route is training, experience and being reliably good at it.
  • Job Bank lists the training as a one or two-year college programme for administrative assistants or secretaries, or previous clerical experience, on top of high school.
  • Software changes a lot of what the job is. Scheduling, document tools and communication systems matter, and AI tools are part of the conversation in offices now, though we cannot yet say what that does to hiring.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 8:15 — In early. Read the overnight email and decide what is urgent before anyone arrives.
  2. 8:45 — Review the manager's calendar for the day. Two meetings overlap and one of them has no room.
  3. 9:30 — Prepare a document for a meeting that starts in ten minutes. The numbers were sent in the wrong format.
  4. 10:30 — A visitor arrives early. You greet them, find the person they are meeting and get them a coffee.
  5. 11:30 — Book travel, which involves three people's preferences and one that cannot be moved.
  6. 12:30 — Lunch, interrupted by a question only you know the answer to.
  7. 13:30 — Update the filing system, shared drive or database, quietly fixing something that has been wrong for months.
  8. 15:00 — Take minutes in a meeting, then write them up clearly so the people who spoke over each other can agree on what was said.
  9. 16:30 — Prepare tomorrow's schedule and check that nothing is missing.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You like being the person who knows how things work and where everything is.
  • You can juggle many small requests without losing track of any of them.
  • You are good with people on the phone and at the desk, including the ones who are stressed.
  • You like tidy systems, accurate documents and the quiet satisfaction of a problem that never reached anyone else.
  • You want a job you can start with a one- or two-year college programme and take into many industries.
You may hate this if
  • You do not like being interrupted. The job is mostly interruptions.
  • You want recognition. Good administrative work is invisible: when it works, nobody notices.
  • You dislike supporting someone else's priorities. You are often the one managing another person's problems.
  • You hate repetitive tasks and detail checking, which make up a large share of the work.
  • You want to lead a team or run projects quickly. The job can be a stepping stone, but not every office has a ladder.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Finish high school

    Job Bank lists secondary school completion as the base. English, business and computer courses help, along with anything that builds typing, writing and organisation.

  2. Take a college programme, or gain clerical experience

    Job Bank's Ontario requirements page for this group says the entry is a one- or two-year college or other programme for administrative assistants or secretaries, or previous clerical experience. Look at Ontario college office administration programmes and compare lengths and placements.

  3. No licence applies

    Job Bank says this occupation is not regulated in Canada. You can start working without a licence from any regulator, though some employers want specific software skills or industry knowledge such as medical or legal terminology.

  4. Grow from there

    Some people move toward executive assistant, office manager, event or human resources work. Ask in any workplace you visit what the next job looks like.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Administrative assistants requirements in Ontario · Job Bank — Administrative assistants wages in Ontario

The money

Administrative assistant salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$19.00
Low (hourly)
$26.67
Median (hourly)
$37.95
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 13110. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.

Source: Job Bank — Administrative assistant wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Moderate3 out of 5 stars

  • Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
  • Several positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

What is changing in this work

  • Ongoing need for administration and office assistance across businesses and departments will support work in this occupation
  • There may be some opportunities for virtual assistants to support multiple clients
  • Greater use of technology may temper job growth and change some job functions

Who hires for it

  • Employed across all industries with the leading shares in educational services, public administration, and health care
77,350
people work in this job in Ontario
93%
are women (48% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Administrative assistants job prospects in Ontario (NOC 13110). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Take business, computer and English courses, and get quick and accurate at typing and basic spreadsheets.
  • Take on an organising job in a club or team: scheduling, minutes, a budget, a mailing list. It is the same work at small scale.
  • Ask about co-op in an office. A few weeks in one tells you more than a brochure.
  • Learn how to write a clear email in three sentences, then practise it daily.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Run one person's week on paper and see if the juggling suits you

About 60 minutes
  1. Pick a real person with a busy week, such as a parent, coach or teacher, and ask if they would share a rough list of what they have on this week. Do not take any private details.
  2. Build a one-page schedule from the list, resolving every clash, adding travel time and flagging anything missing.
  3. Write a three-sentence email that confirms the plan and asks for the one thing you need to finish it.
  4. Note how you felt when two things clashed and neither could move.

What it tells you. If you liked untangling the clashes and the satisfaction of a clean plan, the core of the job suits you. If sorting out other people's priorities felt like a chore, or you found yourself wanting to make the decisions instead, an assistant role may frustrate you and a different job may fit.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “What does a normal day actually look like, and what is never in the job description?”
  2. “Which software do you use most, and how did you learn it?”
  3. “What do you do when two people each say their request is urgent?”
  4. “How did you get your first role, and what did you do in your first year?”
  5. “Where have people in this role gone next?”
  6. “What do you wish you had been told before you started?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes. Some people work as freelance or virtual assistants for several small clients at once. You need steady clients, clear prices and a way to invoice, and a few years of office experience first makes it far easier.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does an administrative assistant make in Ontario?

The median pay for an administrative assistant in Ontario is $26.67 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $19.00 to $37.95 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for an administrative assistant in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as moderate for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment growth will lead to a few new positions. Several positions will become available due to retirements. There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become an administrative assistant in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a shorter college programme or apprenticeship, or over six months of on-the-job training. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Finish high school; Take a college programme, or gain clerical experience; No licence applies.

Where does an administrative assistant work in Ontario?

Employed across all industries with the leading shares in educational services, public administration, and health care. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as an administrative assistant in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 77,350 people working in this job in Ontario. 93% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

Start from yourself, not from the job.

Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.

Try Future Finder — freeAll jobs

Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.