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Finance & accounting · Leading & Selling

Investment dealer: what the job actually is

Buying and selling securities for clients and advising them, in a job where licensing is strict and the pay depends on the business you bring in.

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Investment dealer: quick facts

Investment dealer salary in Ontario: the median pay is $43.59 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate. The job usually needs a university degree.

Median pay in Ontario
$43.59 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$22.00 to $84.61 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
16,100
Usually needs
Usually a university degree

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 11103. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Helping clients buy and sell stocks, bonds and other investments, advising them on what to hold, and keeping up with markets and rules. You are trusted with other people's money.
  • Job Bank's group is securities agents, investment dealers and brokers, and the page's titles include brokers and commodity traders. The figures here are for that wider group, not for one firm or one type of work.
  • Job Bank says this is a regulated occupation in Ontario and names the Ontario Securities Commission as a regulatory body. It says licensure by the provincial securities commission or a recognised self-regulatory organisation is required.
  • Job Bank says a bachelor's or master's degree in economics, business or another discipline is usually required, along with industry investment and sales training programmes.
  • Job Bank shows a high share of self-employment in this group compared with all workers. How you are paid depends on the firm, and ask about it directly. The wage shown on this page is Job Bank's group figure and may not match any single employer.
  • Job Bank's Ontario outlook says employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions, with a moderate number from retirements. Read the rating on this page.

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. 7:30 — Read the overnight news and the markets before anyone calls. A client's holding has dropped.
  2. 8:30 — Phone the client. They are worried. You explain what happened, what you know and what you do not.
  3. 9:30 — Review a client's portfolio against what they said they wanted. Part of it no longer fits.
  4. 10:30 — Compliance paperwork. Every recommendation needs a record of why it was suitable for that client.
  5. 12:00 — Lunch with a prospective client, who has been referred by an existing one.
  6. 14:00 — Place and confirm trades, double-checking the details of each.
  7. 15:30 — A client wants to do something you think is a mistake. You say so, and record that you did.
  8. 16:30 — Call people who might become clients. Most say no.
  9. 17:30 — Read research for tomorrow.

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 are interested in markets, companies and how money works, and you read about them without being asked.
  • You can explain complicated things plainly to worried people.
  • You are comfortable being measured by results and by how much business you bring in.
  • You are happy to follow strict rules and keep careful records.
You may hate this if
  • You dislike selling. Building a client list, asking for business and being turned down are central to the work.
  • You do not want your income tied to markets and clients. Job Bank shows more self-employment here than in the average job, and pay structures vary by firm.
  • You do not want to carry other people's worries. When a market falls, you are the one they call.
  • You hate paperwork and compliance. The rules are strict, and recording and justifying advice is part of every day.
  • You want a secure job. Job Bank says employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions in this group.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Get a degree or diploma

    Job Bank says a bachelor's or master's degree in economics, business or another discipline is usually required. Ontario universities list business and economics programmes on ontariouniversitiesinfo.ca. Check ontariocolleges.ca for college business and finance programmes too.

  2. Know the licensing rules

    Job Bank says licensure by the provincial securities commission or a recognised self-regulatory organisation is required, and that the Ontario Securities Commission is the named body. CIRO's own pages blocked our automated reader, so we could not read its current proficiency rules. Check with CIRO directly before planning around any exam.

  3. Be careful with the Canadian Securities Course

    The Canadian Securities Institute says the Canadian Securities Course is aimed at people seeking positions in Canadian financial services. It also says that, effective January 1, 2026, the course is no longer acceptable for CIRO approval with an investment dealer. So check with the firm and CIRO which exams your path needs before paying for one.

  4. Join a firm and train

    Job Bank lists industry investment and sales training programmes. Ask any firm how long, who pays for exams, and how new advisors build a client list.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Securities agents, investment dealers and brokers (NOC 11103), requirements · Canadian Securities Institute — Canadian Securities Course · Ontario Universities Info — program search

The money

Investment dealer 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.

$22.00
Low (hourly)
$43.59
Median (hourly)
$84.61
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 11103. 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 — Investment dealer 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 decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
  • A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are a small 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.

16,100
people work in this job in Ontario
30%
are women (48% across all jobs)
35%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Securities agents, investment dealers and brokers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 11103). 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 maths, economics and business courses, and read the business section of a newspaper or news site for a month.
  • Join an investment or business club if your school has one, or start a paper-trading game with friends using pretend money.
  • Practise explaining one financial idea, such as interest or risk, to a family member in plain words.
  • Look at Ontario university business and economics programmes and note the entry courses.

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.

Pick a pretend portfolio and explain it to a sceptic

About 90 minutes
  1. Choose five well-known companies and write one sentence each about why you would own it. Do not buy anything; this is pretend.
  2. Write down, for each, the thing that could make it fall and how you would explain that to a client who had trusted you.
  3. After a week, check what happened to each and write what you would say to the client.
  4. Explain your list to a parent or friend, and ask them what worried them.

What it tells you. If you enjoyed researching, forming a view and defending it, and the idea of explaining a loss did not put you off, the advisory side may suit you. If you found it stressful to be judged on a guess, or uncomfortable to talk about money and risk with someone, the real job asks that every day, with other people's savings.

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. “How are you paid, and how does it change in a bad year?”
  2. “How did you get your first clients?”
  3. “What is the licensing and training process, and who paid for it?”
  4. “What is the hardest conversation you have with clients?”
  5. “What do you check before you recommend something?”
  6. “What would you tell someone who is thinking about this career?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Partly. Job Bank shows a high share of self-employment in this group compared with the average. Working on your own still needs the licensing Job Bank describes, and clients take years to build. Read the rules for registration before you plan around it.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does an investment dealer make in Ontario?

The median pay for an investment dealer in Ontario is $43.59 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $22.00 to $84.61 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for an investment dealer in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as moderate for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions. A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements. There are a small 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 investment dealer in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a university degree. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Get a degree or diploma; Know the licensing rules; Be careful with the Canadian Securities Course.

How many people work as an investment dealer in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 16,100 people working in this job in Ontario. 30% 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

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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.