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School principal: what the job actually is

Running a school: the staff, the students, the families, the rules, and every problem that does not fit anyone else's job.

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School principal: quick facts

School principal salary in Ontario: the median pay is $57.14 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is good.

Median pay in Ontario
$57.14 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$35.71 to $72.19 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Good
People working in it in Ontario
13,450
Usually needs
Management

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 40021. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Leading a school: responsible for the teachers and other staff, the students' learning and safety, the budget, and the relationship with families and the school board.
  • Job Bank's group covers principals and administrators of elementary and secondary education, so vice-principals are in the same group.
  • You get here as a teacher first. Job Bank says a bachelor's degree in education is required, a master's degree may be, and several years' experience as a senior teacher or department head are necessary.
  • Much of the day is unplanned. A conflict, a safety concern, a parent at the front desk, a staff shortage, and a meeting you scheduled all want you at the same time.
  • You are expected to lead teaching and learning and also handle the building, the schedules and the crises. Those two jobs fight for the same hours.

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. 7:15 — Arrive before the buses. Greet students at the door, check on the building, and read the overnight messages.
  2. 8:00 — A supply teacher has not arrived. Rearrange cover for two classes.
  3. 8:45 — Meet a parent worried about their child. Listen first, then explain what the school can and cannot do.
  4. 9:45 — Walk the halls and visit classrooms. This is meant to be the main job and it is the first thing that gets squeezed.
  5. 11:00 — Deal with a student conflict, hearing each side separately.
  6. 12:00 — Lunch duty and a quick chat with the custodian about a leak.
  7. 13:00 — Meeting with staff about a new initiative from the board. Translate it into what Monday looks like.
  8. 14:30 — Budget and scheduling for next year, in a spreadsheet with a deadline.
  9. 15:30 — Dismissal supervision, then a phone call that cannot wait.
  10. 17:00 — Staff meeting or evening event. A principal's day does not end at the final bell.

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 liked teaching and wanted to shape a whole school rather than one classroom.
  • You stay calm in a crisis and can make a decision with incomplete information.
  • You can listen to an upset parent without getting defensive, and still hold a line.
  • You like building a staff team and helping other teachers improve.
  • You are fine with a job that is part leader, part administrator, part counsellor and part building manager.
You may hate this if
  • You love teaching and would miss it. Principals are in classrooms far less than teachers, and some miss it badly.
  • You hate conflict and complaints. A lot of the job is the problem nobody else could settle.
  • You do not want evenings, early mornings and events. The job extends past the school day.
  • You want a quick route. It takes years of teaching, further qualifications and a training programme before you can apply.
  • You cannot carry responsibility for the safety of hundreds of children and staff. It sits with you, and it is heavy.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Become a certified Ontario teacher first

    The Ontario College of Teachers says teaching in Ontario's publicly funded schools needs a postsecondary degree of at least three years, a four-semester teacher education programme, and an application to the College. Job Bank's page for principals says a bachelor's degree in education and a teacher's certificate are required.

  2. Teach for several years and take on leadership

    Job Bank says several years of experience as a senior teacher or department head are necessary. The Ontario Principals' Council says five years of verified classroom teaching experience is a PQP prerequisite.

  3. Gather the additional qualifications

    The Ontario Principals' Council lists the PQP prerequisites as being a member of the College in good standing, an acceptable postsecondary degree, qualifications in three divisions with one Intermediate, and one further qualification, which is two Specialist AQs, a Specialist AQ plus half a master's degree, or a full master's or doctorate with 30 or more graduate credits.

  4. Complete the Principal's Qualification Program

    The Ontario Principals' Council says the PQP has two parts of 125 hours each and a Leadership Inquiry Practicum of a minimum of 50 hours, to be completed within three years of finishing Part 1. Job Bank says a principal's certificate may be required.

  5. Apply through a school board

    Boards hire their own principals and vice-principals. Job Bank lists the Ontario College of Teachers as the regulator, so your standing with the College matters throughout.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Requirements for school principals and administrators in Ontario · Ontario College of Teachers — Requirements to become a teacher · Ontario Principals' Council — Principal's Qualification Program

The money

School principal 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.

$35.71
Low (hourly)
$57.14
Median (hourly)
$72.19
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 40021. 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 — School principal 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

Good4 out of 5 stars

  • Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
  • Several 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.

13,450
people work in this job in Ontario
65%
are women (48% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — School principals and administrators of elementary and secondary education job prospects in Ontario (NOC 40021). 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

  • Join student council, a peer mentoring programme or a team where you have to organise people. Notice what it is like to lead people who are also your friends.
  • Ask your own principal or vice-principal for fifteen minutes about what their job involves, and what they did before.
  • Volunteer to help younger students, with reading buddies or running a lunchtime activity, to see whether you like teaching at all.
  • Take courses in the subjects you might teach, since the route begins with a degree and teacher education.

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.

Interview a principal or vice-principal about their worst day

About 45 minutes
  1. Ask your school office for ten minutes with a vice-principal or principal, or ask a teacher to introduce you. Tell them you are exploring careers.
  2. Ask what they taught, how long before they became an administrator, and what a day looks like that you would not guess.
  3. Ask what they miss about teaching and what surprised them most about the job.
  4. Write down which of their answers made you want the job more and which made you want it less.

What it tells you. If their hardest stories made you curious about how you would handle them, leadership in education is worth continuing toward through teaching. If the answers made you want to stay in a classroom, that is useful: teaching is a good career without leadership. If you wanted neither, school leadership is not your route.

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 many years did you teach before you became a vice-principal?”
  2. “What did the qualification programme change about how you work?”
  3. “What fraction of your day is planned and what is interruption?”
  4. “What do you miss about teaching?”
  5. “What is the hardest decision you have had to make this year?”
  6. “What would you say to someone deciding between staying a teacher and becoming an administrator?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Not as a principal in a publicly funded school, since those are hired by school boards. A principal's skills can lead to running a private school or an education consultancy later, but that is a different career with its own rules, so ask people who have done it.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a school principal make in Ontario?

The median pay for a school principal in Ontario is $57.14 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $35.71 to $72.19 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a school principal in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as good 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 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 a school principal in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work is classed as a management occupation. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Become a certified Ontario teacher first; Teach for several years and take on leadership; Gather the additional qualifications.

How many people work as a school principal in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 13,450 people working in this job in Ontario. 65% 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.