How much does a graphic designer earn in Canada?
It is essential to know how much does a graphic designer earn in Canada if you want to move to this country or if you already live in Canada, but you would like to know for sure if what you are being paid is what you are entitled to. For this I have consulted multiple sources such as Indeed, Glassdoor, talent.com, Payscale or Salary Explorer.
The median salary for a graphic designer in Canada is $3,972 – $4,137 / month; that of someone starting an internship is around $2,900 / month and that of a good senior designer, between $5,716 – $6,310 / month.
In Canada, graphic designers are integrated into various industries, sectors and projects, so salaries can vary. To this we must add other factors such as years of professional experience, the quality of your portfolio or if you work for a company or are freelance.
How much do graphic designers make per month and per year in Canada
As soon as a graphic designer moves from the internship to being hired in Canada, his first salary is higher than the general minimum wage, which varies according to the jurisdiction, between $11.7 / hour of New Brunswick and British Columbia’s $15.20 / hour, based on Government of Canada. If you take into account that the Canadian workday is 40 hours, they would equal about $1,872 – $2,432 / month.
The following table shows an estimate of the monthly and annual salary -in 14 pays- that a designer can expect based on his experience.
| Experience | Monthly salary | Annual salary |
| 0-2 years | $2,900 / month | $33,150 / year |
| 2-5 years | $3,972 / month | $47,664 / year |
| 5 – 10 years | $4,137 / month | $49,643 / year |
| 10-15 years | $5,716 / month | $68,591 / year |
| 15-20 years | $6,310 / month | $75,720 / year |
Are there salary differences between genders?
According to a survey by Salary Explorer, in Canada male graphic designers earn approximately 5% more than women.
Is the salary of a graphic designer in Canada good?
In the early years, if you don’t supplement your graphic designer salary with freelance work or competition prizes, it will be difficult for you to be financially independent. This is also true in other countries like the United States, Mexico, Argentina, but as we will see below, the situation can improve in a short time.
According Statistics Canada, the Canadian National Statistical Office, the median annual spending per individual household in Canada is $49,203 / year. British Columbia has the highest median annual household spending at $102,091 and the Atlantic Region the lowest, at $79,459.
This means that junior designers with less than 2 years of experience have to control their spending quite a bit, since they do not earn more than $33,150 / year. But let’s see how the situation changes in later years.
The salary of a Canadian designer increases by approximately 11% every 15 months.
After the first two years, the income of professional graphic designers is 63% higher than the professional minimum wage and almost equals the annual expenditure per individual household, so if you live as a couple or share an apartment with friends or family, you can start to live more comfortably.
How much do junior graphic designers make in Canada
Between 0 and 2 years of experience
As we have seen before, graphic designers usually do not exceed $2,900 / month in the first two years, but companies usually offer restaurant vouchers and other amenities from the beginning, which makes this period more bearable.
Between 2 and 5 years
With 2 to 5 years of experience, your salary can increase by up to 36% and earn $3,972 / month or $47,664 / year. In general, these salary increases are usually due to the designer receiving offers from other agencies, studios or companies.
Designers with between 5 and 10 years of experience
After the first 5 years the salary usually increases by 48% more, and you can earn $4,137 / month or $49,643 / year in 12 payments, which is 70% more than the minimum interprofessional salary. During this period there are also designers who already usually receive performance bonuses and other extras that are added to their salary.
After 10 years of experience, your salary in Canada should be at least double the salary you started working with.
The bonuses received depend on whether the designer or the company achieves its objective (usually annual), and its value depends on the prior negotiation between the two parties. As for the fringe benefits, it can be a number of things, like health insurance, gym subscriptions, daycare discounts, or even company stock.
How much do good senior graphic designers make in Canada
Senior designers account to about 25% of all graphic designers. Although there are no clear boundaries to define a senior, they are usually professionals with over 10 years of experience.
Designers with 10 to 20 years of experience
The additional fees and bonuses agreed during this period tend to increase proportionally, but in addition, many professionals receive extra income from conferences, awards and courses that they teach outside of their working hours.
With more than 20 years of experience
The salary of a senior graphic designer would be more than 52% above the median annual salary in Canada ($49,651 / year) and more than 2.5 times above the minimum interprofessional salary (between $22,464 and $29,184 depending on the state), with values between $66,000 – $75,720 / year according to the sources consulted.
Designers with more than 20 years of experience and above all, a good portfolio and a good reputation in the industry, can reach salaries of more than $75,720 / year in addition to the extras, bonuses and professional offers outside their work.
How much do freelance graphic designers make in Canada
Freelance graphic designers have different ways of billing their work. They may even have different billing rates to accommodate different orders.
For example, sometimes they can bill by the hour, other times by piece or project and sometimes for long periods of time such as a week or a month, in which they usually move to the offices of an agency, client or design studio (if they don’t work remotely).
In any case, if you decide to be a freelancer, it is important that you take into account all the costs you have and the benefit you want to obtain, when determining your prices.
Charging by the hour
Since customers generally do not accept this billing method, it has become increasingly obsolete. This is because some designers are very fast, but others need more time to do their jobs effectively.
The problem is that if the client doesn’t know the designer, they don’t want to risk project costs skyrocketing simply because the designer needs more time than expected. If you want to charge by the hour, you can calculate the price of the hour based on the income that a graphic designer in Canada receives for a month according to their level of experience and then divide that value by the number of workable hours for that month.
For example, a designer with 4 years of experience could take as a starting point the $24.8 / hr that he would earn based on the $3,972 / month salary that corresponds to someone with his experience in Canada and then calculate how much he should add for the expenses of his activity, the desired profit and the fact that he does not receive 14 payments a year.
Charging for periods of time
To charge for specific periods of time, it is quite useful to start from the monthly salary of a graphic designer of the same level of experience and determine a price for the days contracted.
For example, if we have 9 years of experience and are called to work in a studio for 10 days, we will calculate the salary per month of a designer with that experience ($4,137 / month), and then we will divide it by the number of days in the month (30). Then we multiply the result ($137.9) by the number of days we are going to work (10). The result will be 1,379 Canadian dollars for 10 days, but on this value we must also calculate the benefits, activity expenses, etc.
Charge by parts or by projects
You can determine your price by project or part in different ways. You can choose to invoice according to the time required to execute the project or part and the costs that it may cause you, or you can choose to set the price based on the value that the part represents for the client
In the first case, as I show in the example above, it is easy to calculate. Remember that it is not easy to estimate the time required to complete a project, so consider adding a 15% or even 30% margin of error in the calculation, if the cost to the client does not go up too much.
If you decide to charge for the value that the project represents for the client, you can obtain greater benefits, but you must also calculate that the value includes the cost and the time that you will invest in the project.
Your prices will always be judged by the client based on your portfolio, your experience and the trust you transmit. For this reason, the same price can be expensive or cheap for a client, depending on who presents it.
