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Logistics & operations · Organizing & Managing

Shipper and receiver: what the job actually is

The person who checks what comes in, packs and records what goes out, and keeps a warehouse's paperwork matching its shelves.

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Shipper and receiver: quick facts

Shipper and receiver salary in Ontario: the median pay is $22.68 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is limited. The job usually needs a high school diploma, or several weeks of on-the-job training.

Median pay in Ontario
$22.68 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$17.95 to $30.00 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Limited
People working in it in Ontario
44,550
Usually needs
Usually a high school diploma, or several weeks of on-the-job training

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 14400. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Receiving goods when they arrive, checking them against the paperwork, and recording what is there. Then, going the other way, preparing orders, packing them and loading them out.
  • Most of the job is accuracy. A box that is in the wrong place or on the wrong list is lost for as long as the mistake lasts.
  • Job Bank lists employers such as manufacturing (with leading shares in food, transportation equipment and fabricated metal products), retail and wholesale trade, and warehousing and storage.
  • Job Bank says completion of secondary school is usually required, experience in a related clerical occupation or as a warehouse worker may be required, and a forklift certificate may be required. The occupation is not regulated in Canada.
  • Job Bank rates the outlook as Limited: it says some positions will be lost, though some will open up as people retire.

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. 6:30 — Clock in, check the board for what is arriving and what must go out today.
  2. 7:00 — A truck backs up to the dock. Open the doors, check the seals and the paperwork before anything comes off.
  3. 7:30 — Unload, count and compare to the packing list. Mark damage and shortages before the driver leaves, because afterwards it is your problem.
  4. 9:00 — Enter the delivery into the inventory system and put the goods away in the right location.
  5. 10:00 — Break. Your feet already know it is a floor-and-concrete job.
  6. 10:15 — Pick the morning's orders from the shelves to the list, scanning each item.
  7. 12:00 — Lunch in the break room, with the same people every day.
  8. 12:30 — Pack and label outbound orders, and stage them for the carrier.
  9. 14:30 — A count discrepancy. You re-check the shelf, find the box someone put in the wrong place, and fix the record.
  10. 15:00 — Load the last outbound truck properly, so the order of stops works for the driver.

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 order: a thing in its place, a count that matches, a label that is right.
  • You are careful and you do not mind checking the same thing twice.
  • You want a job you can start without a college programme and learn on the job.
  • You do not mind being on your feet and moving things all day.
  • You like working in a team around a shared target, like getting the truck out on time.
You may hate this if
  • You dislike repetition. Receiving, picking and packing are done again every day.
  • You do not want to work on concrete floors, with noise, forklifts and heavy items around.
  • You are uncomfortable with pressure to hit numbers. In some warehouses, picks per hour are tracked.
  • You want a growing field. Job Bank rates the outlook as Limited and says some jobs will be lost, so moving up may mean moving into supervising or logistics.
  • Early starts, shift work and overtime when a delivery is late are normal in this work.
  • You dislike being blamed for a count mistake that was made upstream.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Finish high school and get a first warehouse or stock job

    Job Bank says completion of secondary school is usually required, and related clerical or warehouse experience may be required. Retail stock rooms and summer warehouse jobs are the usual first step.

  2. Get forklift training if the job needs it

    Job Bank says a forklift certificate may be required. Ontario's guideline for powered lift trucks says a lifting device is only to be operated by a competent person, and that training should include supervised practice in load handling, manoeuvring, travelling, stopping and starting. Your employer is responsible for making sure you are trained, so ask them before paying for a course yourself.

  3. Learn the inventory and shipping systems

    Scanners, warehouse software and shipping documents are the skills that make you faster and move you toward lead or supervisor jobs. They are learned on the job.

  4. Consider where you want to go from there

    Some people move into dispatch, purchasing, supervision or logistics coordinator work, sometimes with a college diploma added. Ask your employer what they promote from.

Where this comes from: Job Bank: Shippers and receivers, requirements in Ontario · Ontario: Guideline for the safe operation and maintenance of powered lift trucks, safety program

The money

Shipper and receiver 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.

$17.95
Low (hourly)
$22.68
Median (hourly)
$30.00
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 14400. 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 — Shipper and receiver 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

Limited2 out of 5 stars

  • Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
  • Several positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are several 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

  • Expansions of warehousing facilities across Ontario
  • Prevalence of e-commerce activities
  • However, the general slowdown in the economy will constrain job prospects

Who hires for it

  • Manufacturing, with leading shares in food, transportation equipment, and fabricated metal product facilities
  • Retail and wholesale trade, mainly at general merchandise stores, machinery, equipment and supplies, and building material wholesalers
  • Warehousing and storage
44,550
people work in this job in Ontario
24%
are women (48% across all jobs)
5%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Shippers and receivers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 14400). 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

  • Get a part-time job in a stock room or a store's receiving area. It is the most direct way into this work.
  • Take business, computers or co-op courses that involve inventory, spreadsheets or logistics.
  • Ask your co-op teacher about a placement in a warehouse or distribution centre.
  • Volunteer at a food bank or community depot and watch how donations are received, counted and shipped. It is the same job in a different building.

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.

Do a careful inventory count and see how it feels

About 60 minutes
  1. Pick a cupboard, shelf or box at home, with permission, and count everything in it. Write down each item and how many there are.
  2. Wait ten minutes, then count again without looking at your first list. Compare the two counts. Where did you differ?
  3. Re-organise the shelf so everything has a labelled place, as a warehouse would, and write a simple list that says where each thing is.
  4. Ask a local shop, or a friend who works in a stock room, what the receiving routine is like, and what mistakes cost them.

What it tells you. If you enjoyed finding the mismatch and tidying until the list was right, shipping and receiving could suit you and a stock-room job is the next step. If counting twice felt tedious and you wanted to stop after the first count, that is a sign that this job's daily accuracy checks would wear on you.

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 do you catch a mistake before it leaves the building?”
  2. “What does the first month teach you that no one tells you?”
  3. “How are you measured, and does that feel fair?”
  4. “Which of the skills, forklift, scanning or paperwork, mattered most for promotion?”
  5. “What is the worst part of a busy day on the dock?”
  6. “What do people in this job go on to do?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Not directly: Job Bank shows very few people in this group are self-employed. But the skills are the base of running a small online shop or a small distribution business, where you keep stock, pack orders and ship them yourself. That is a different job, with its own costs and risks.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a shipper and receiver make in Ontario?

The median pay for a shipper and receiver in Ontario is $22.68 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $17.95 to $30.00 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a shipper and receiver in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as limited for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions. Several positions will become available due to retirements. There are several 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 shipper and receiver in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a high school diploma, or several weeks of on-the-job training. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Finish high school and get a first warehouse or stock job; Get forklift training if the job needs it; Learn the inventory and shipping systems.

Where does a shipper and receiver work in Ontario?

Manufacturing, with leading shares in food, transportation equipment, and fabricated metal product facilities. Retail and wholesale trade, mainly at general merchandise stores, machinery, equipment and supplies, and building material wholesalers. Warehousing and storage. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as a shipper and receiver in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 44,550 people working in this job in Ontario. 24% 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.

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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.