The average IT manager salary in Canada is $100,000-$140,000 per year. This guide breaks down IT management pay by province, company size, and specialization.
Table of Contents
IT Manager Salary by Province
Province
IT Manager
IT Director
VP/CTO
Ontario
$120,000
$160,000
$220,000
British Columbia
$115,000
$155,000
$210,000
Alberta
$118,000
$158,000
$215,000
Quebec
$105,000
$140,000
$190,000
Saskatchewan
$100,000
$135,000
$180,000
Manitoba
$98,000
$132,000
$175,000
Nova Scotia
$92,000
$125,000
$165,000
New Brunswick
$88,000
$120,000
$160,000
Newfoundland
$95,000
$128,000
$170,000
PEI
$85,000
$115,000
$155,000
Salary by Experience Level
Level
Salary Range
Team Lead/Supervisor
$85,000-$110,000
IT Manager
$100,000-$140,000
Senior IT Manager
$130,000-$165,000
IT Director
$150,000-$200,000
VP of IT
$180,000-$270,000
CIO/CTO
$220,000-$400,000+
Salary by Company Size
Company Size
IT Manager Salary
Small (< 100)
$90,000-$115,000
Mid-size (100-500)
$105,000-$135,000
Large (500-5000)
$120,000-$155,000
Enterprise (5000+)
$135,000-$170,000
Salary by Specialization
Specialization
Salary Range
Infrastructure/Operations
$105,000-$145,000
Security (CISO path)
$130,000-$200,000
Applications/Development
$115,000-$155,000
Cloud/DevOps
$120,000-$165,000
Data/Analytics
$115,000-$160,000
Enterprise Architecture
$140,000-$190,000
Service Desk/Support
$85,000-$115,000
Project/Program Management
$110,000-$150,000
Salary by Industry
Industry
IT Manager Salary
Technology
$125,000-$170,000
Finance/Banking
$120,000-$165,000
Healthcare
$110,000-$150,000
Government
$100,000-$140,000
Manufacturing
$105,000-$140,000
Retail
$100,000-$135,000
Non-profit
$85,000-$115,000
Take-Home Pay (Ontario Example)
Gross Salary
Annual Take-Home
Monthly Net
$115,000
$81,500
$6,790
$145,000
$98,000
$8,165
$190,000
$121,000
$10,085
Bonus & Total Compensation
Level
Base
Bonus
Total Comp
IT Manager
$120,000
10-15%
$132,000-$138,000
IT Director
$165,000
15-25%
$190,000-$206,000
VP of IT
$220,000
25-40%
$275,000-$308,000
CIO
$280,000
30-50%+
$364,000-$420,000
Certifications That Help
Certification
Salary Impact
ITIL
+5-10%
PMP
+5-10%
CISSP (Security)
+10-20%
AWS/Azure/GCP
+5-15%
CCNA/CCNP
+5-10%
MBA
+10-20%
Career Path
Stage
Timeline
Salary
IT Specialist
Years 0-5
$65,000-$90,000
Team Lead
Years 5-8
$90,000-$110,000
IT Manager
Years 8-12
$115,000-$140,000
IT Director
Years 12-18
$160,000-$200,000
VP/CIO
Years 18+
$220,000+
Is IT Management a Good Career in Canada?
Pros:
High demand across all industries
Strong salaries
Clear executive path (CIO/CTO)
Remote work options
Less hands-on coding
Business + technology blend
Cons:
On-call for outages
Budget/vendor management stress
Rapid technology changes
People management challenges
Often blamed for IT problems
Bridge between business and tech