Public sector pay is published. That is the single most useful fact about it, and most candidates never use it.
The code is the pay
A federal advertisement carries a classification such as EC-05. It means:
- EC — the Economics and Social Science Services group
- 05 — the level within that group
Each group has a collective agreement, and each agreement contains a table of annual rates by level and step. If you know the code, you know the range, whether or not the advertisement quotes it.
The groups you will meet most often
| Code | Group | Typical work |
|---|---|---|
CR | Clerical and Regulatory | Administrative and clerical support |
AS | Administrative Services | Programme and office administration |
PM | Programme Administration | Programme delivery, case work, inspection |
EC | Economics and Social Science Services | Policy, research, analysis, evaluation |
IT | Information Technology | Development, infrastructure, security |
FI | Financial Management | Accounting, budgeting, financial analysis |
NU | Nursing | Federal nursing roles |
EX | Executive | Director level and above |
Steps within a level
Within a level there are usually several steps, and movement between them is normally annual and automatic rather than performance-negotiated. A posting that quotes $88,618 to $101,999 is quoting step one to the top step of that level. Most external appointments start at step one.
Provinces do it differently, and so do unions
Provincial governments publish their own grids, and hospital and municipal roles are usually governed by a collective agreement with a named union — CUPE, OPSEU, HSAA, SEIU. The agreement is public in almost every case, and the wage grid is an appendix to it.
Retroactive pay is real
Collective agreements expire and are renegotiated late, sometimes years late. When one settles, increases are typically applied retroactively to the expiry date. A published grid may therefore be behind the actual rate, which is why every figure in our salary reference carries the date it was retrieved and a link to where it came from.
This guide was last checked against its sources on September 4, 2026. Hiring rules, pay grids and licensing requirements change — where a figure or a process matters to a decision, confirm it with the employer or the body that publishes it.
← All guides