Quick answer: According to the OECD's Education at a Glance 2025 (published September 2025, reference year 2023), a Canadian primary teacher with 15 years of experience and typical qualifications reportedly earned the equivalent of USD PPP 86,432, placing Canada 4th among approximately 40 countries with comparable data. Canadian primary students receive 921 compulsory instruction hours per year, compared with an OECD average of 804. The USD PPP figure is a standardized purchasing-power equivalent, not a nominal salary in Canadian dollars.

Last updated: June 24, 2026

Every autumn, the OECD publishes Education at a Glance, the international benchmark for education systems. The 2025 edition, released in September 2025 with 2023 as the primary reference year, covers 38 OECD members and several partner economies. For Canadian education professionals, two indicators stand out: Canada's rank for teacher compensation and the number of instruction hours facing students.

4th globally for teacher salary: what this figure actually means

Indicator D3 of EAG 2025 ("How much are teachers and school heads paid?") reports, according to the data, the following salary levels for Canada, expressed in US dollars at purchasing power parity (USD PPP) for a teacher with 15 years of experience and typical qualifications:

  • Primary: approximately USD PPP 86,432 (4th out of 40)
  • Lower secondary: approximately USD PPP 87,285 (4th out of 40)

Three important clarifications are required before interpreting these figures.

USD PPP is not Canadian dollars. Purchasing power parity is a statistical conversion that allows salary comparisons across countries while accounting for cost-of-living differences. It does not reflect the amount on a teacher's paycheque in Quebec or Alberta. For nominal CAD figures, provincial collective agreements and Statistics Canada's PCEIP tables remain the reference sources.

The "4th out of 40" rank covers countries with comparable data. The OECD does not have sufficiently comparable data for all its members in this specific indicator. The rank applies to the sample of countries actually represented in the 2025 edition, not all OECD members.

This is a national statutory salary, not a provincial average. Canada shows significant provincial variation. The national average masks substantial differences between provinces such as Alberta (historically among the highest) and others with different collective agreement structures.

921 instruction hours at primary: more than the OECD average

The second figure of note for Canada in EAG 2025 comes from Indicator D1 ("How much time do students spend in the classroom?"). According to the reported data:

  • Primary: 921 compulsory instruction hours per year (OECD average: 804)
  • Lower secondary: 924 hours per year (OECD average: 909)

This means Canadian primary students spend approximately 117 more hours in the classroom per year than the OECD average. That is a substantial gap.

For teachers, these additional hours do not represent only instruction time. They come with proportional administrative obligations: lesson planning for more hours, family communication about more curriculum content, and assessment records spanning a longer annual period.

The combination: a nuanced picture of teacher pressure in Canada

Taken together, these two indicators paint a nuanced picture of the Canadian teaching situation. Canada ranks well on international compensation, but teachers face a higher volume of instructional hours than peers in most other OECD systems.

TALIS 2024 research (covered in our article on administrative burden) adds an important dimension: in several countries including Canada, administrative load is identified by teachers themselves as the leading factor in work-related stress and intention to leave the profession. The primary obstacle to retention is not the salary level; it is how time is being used.

EAG 2025 data supports this reading: a country that ranks 4th globally for compensation but records 14% more obligatory instruction hours than the OECD average at the primary level presents a profile where the retention lever is not pay, but the quality of time use.

How to use this data in a professional conversation

In union or school board discussions about retention, EAG 2025 data allows a precise argument:

Canada is internationally competitive on compensation. If the goal is to improve professional conditions, the focus should therefore be on administrative load, family communication quality, and preparation time available — not primarily on salary grids.

To anchor this argument with sources that hold up to scrutiny:

These source citations are difficult to challenge procedurally and signal that you understand the data's scope and limitations.

The connection to school-family communication

One of the administrative tasks teachers most consistently flag is family communication: responding to parent messages, writing updates, coordinating information between school and home. With 921 instruction hours per year, the volume of content that needs to be communicated to families is proportionally higher in Canada than in most other OECD systems.

Tools that structure this communication efficiently allow teachers to redirect more time to their core instructional role. LinoClass is built so that weekly family summaries take a few minutes rather than tens of minutes per week. See how it works on the features page.

Canadian teachers face more classroom hours than the OECD average. LinoClass helps manage family communication without adding to the workload.

See the features

Frequently asked questions

What is the OECD Education at a Glance?

Education at a Glance (EAG) is the OECD's flagship annual publication on education systems. The 2025 edition, published in September 2025 with 2023 as the main reference year, provides comparable data across OECD member countries and partner economies. It covers teacher salaries (Indicator D3), instruction hours (Indicator D1), per-student expenditure, and graduation rates, among other indicators.

Does Canada's 4th-out-of-40 ranking cover all OECD countries?

No. The ranking in EAG 2025 covers countries and economies for which comparable data were available for Indicator D3, approximately 40 in total. The OECD has 38 members, but EAG also includes partner economies. Conversely, some members do not provide all data. The "4th out of 40" rank applies to the sample of countries with sufficient data, not necessarily all members.

Why are salaries expressed in USD PPP rather than Canadian dollars?

The OECD converts salaries to US dollars at purchasing power parity (PPP) to enable meaningful international comparisons. This conversion accounts for differences in cost of living across countries. A salary expressed in USD PPP does not represent what a teacher receives on their paycheque in Canadian dollars — it is a standardized purchasing-power equivalent. For nominal CAD figures, provincial collective agreements and Statistics Canada's PCEIP tables are the appropriate sources.

If Canada ranks 4th globally on teacher pay, why does retention remain a challenge?

Salary is one of several factors in the decision to stay in or leave the profession. EAG 2025 shows that Canadian primary students receive an average of 921 compulsory instruction hours per year, compared with an OECD average of 804. This higher instructional load, combined with the administrative responsibilities documented in TALIS 2024 research, suggests that the primary lever for retention relates to how time is spent rather than compensation levels.

Do EAG 2025 data apply equally to all Canadian provinces?

No. EAG presents a Canadian national average. Teacher salaries vary significantly across provinces depending on collective agreements. Province-level comparable data are available in Statistics Canada's PCEIP tables. The national average also masks substantial variation: some Canadian provinces might rank higher or lower than 4th if data were presented separately.

Last updated: June 24, 2026

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