Blogyz has separate emploi guides for eight Quebec cities — Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Drummondville, Granby, Joliette, Rimouski, Saguenay and Valleyfield — plus a guide to part-time work across the province. Each one covers pay, which employers post most often and how to apply locally. This page lines their headline numbers up side by side so you can see where entry-level pay sits against the provincial minimum, which cities pay the most at the professional end, and which industries drive hiring in each place. Every city name links to its full guide.
Quick Answer
Entry and mid-range hourly pay is remarkably flat across regional Quebec — almost every city starts at the provincial minimum wage of $16.60 an hour (in force since May 2026) and tops out between roughly $21 and $27 an hour for experienced non-professional roles. The real differences show up in the professional and management bands and in the dominant industry: manufacturing towns (Drummondville, Granby, Valleyfield, Trois-Rivières) hire heavily for plant and logistics work, Saguenay pays best for aluminum and forestry, and Montreal’s technology, aerospace and finance clusters carry the highest salaried ceilings.
1. Pay by City: Entry-Level Hourly vs. Professional Salaries
| City | Entry / mid-range pay | Professional & management band | Hiring is driven by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal | $42,700–$91,200 a year by sector (warehouse and driving at the low end) | Technology and finance at the top | Aerospace, IT, life sciences — nine major employment clusters |
| Trois-Rivières | $16.60–$27.06 an hour | $60,000–$122,000 a year (engineering, management) | Metal work, logistics, aerospace, healthcare; UQTR public-sector roles |
| Drummondville | $16.60–$23.56 an hour | $65,936–$95,436 a year (production supervisors) | One of Quebec’s four largest factory hubs: plants, food producers, logistics |
| Granby | $16.60–$27.38 an hour | $58,000–$87,000 a year (production supervisors) | 270+ manufacturers, about 9,100 factory jobs: aerospace, vehicles, food, plastics |
| Joliette | $16.60–$21 an hour (retail, trades) | $58,400–$150,000 a year | Manufacturing and healthcare (Lanaudière region) |
| Rimouski | $17.60–$27.10 an hour | $52,300–$125,000 a year | Retail chains, delivery, insurance and financial services, logistics |
| Saguenay | $40,000–$119,000 a year by sector (retail at the low end) | Aluminum and forestry pay the most | Healthcare and social services are the largest employer; leads Quebec in forestry jobs |
| Valleyfield | $16.60–$25 an hour (average about $22.32/hr, $46,435/yr) | $73,840–$114,400 a year (engineering, healthcare) | Manufacturing, healthcare, port logistics |
Figures are taken directly from each city guide, which quote local job-board listings and regional salary data in Canadian dollars. Montreal and Saguenay are reported as annual ranges by sector in their guides rather than hourly bands, so they are shown that way here rather than converted.
2. What the Minimum Wage Floor Means in Practice
Because Quebec’s general minimum wage is $16.60 an hour province-wide, the starting pay in Drummondville, Granby, Joliette, Trois-Rivières and Valleyfield is identical — the low end of every one of those ranges is the legal floor, not a local market rate. The number worth comparing is the top of the non-professional band: Granby ($27.38) and Trois-Rivières ($27.06) and Rimouski ($27.10) reach roughly $10 above minimum for experienced trades, production and logistics staff, while Joliette’s retail-and-trades band stops nearer $21. Rimouski is the only city whose guide reports an entry floor above the minimum ($17.60), reflecting its service and financial-sector mix. The part-time guide covers the same floor for part-time contracts, where retail and service roles sit at $16.60 and licensed or skilled part-time work pays substantially more.
3. Manufacturing Towns vs. Service Cities
The table splits into two kinds of labour market. Drummondville, Granby, Valleyfield and Trois-Rivières are manufacturing economies — Granby alone counts more than 270 manufacturing firms — so the bulk of postings are plant, production, warehouse and logistics roles, and the best-paid local jobs are production supervision and engineering. Rimouski and Joliette lean toward services, retail, healthcare and (in Rimouski) insurance and financial firms. Saguenay is its own case: healthcare and social services employ the most people, but the aluminum smelters and forestry sector pay the most, and the region leads the province in forestry employment. Montreal sits apart with nine distinct employment clusters and the highest salaried ceilings, at the cost of far more competition per posting.
4. How to Apply in Regional Quebec
Three practical points recur across the city guides. First, French is the working language in every one of these markets outside parts of Montreal, and most regional employers post in French only — searching the French job title (préposé, journalier, commis, superviseur de production) surfaces listings an English search misses. Second, the provincial government’s own job bank (Québec emploi) and the federal Job Bank carry a large share of regional postings that never reach the big commercial boards, especially for healthcare and public-sector roles. Third, manufacturing employers in Drummondville, Granby and Valleyfield frequently hire through staffing agencies for production roles, so registering with one or two local agencies is often faster than applying plant by plant. Each city guide lists the specific employers and boards for that market.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Quebec city pays the most?
For salaried professional roles, Montreal, Joliette (up to $150,000 in its professional band) and Rimouski (up to $125,000) show the highest ceilings in the guides; for hourly non-professional work the differences are small, with Granby, Trois-Rivières and Rimouski topping out around $27 an hour.
Is the minimum wage the same in every city?
Yes — Quebec sets one general minimum wage province-wide ($16.60 an hour since May 2026), so the floor is identical in Montreal and in Valleyfield. Only the ceiling and the industry mix change from city to city.
Do I need French to work in these cities?
In practice, yes for almost all regional roles and for most Montreal roles outside a few anglophone employers and international firms. Workplace French requirements have also tightened under provincial language law, so listings increasingly state a required level.
Why does the Joliette guide mention Marseille?
Because “Joliette” is also a district of Marseille in France and searches for the two get mixed up; the Blogyz guide covers Joliette in Quebec’s Lanaudière region only.
For related reading, see the part-time jobs by city comparison and the work from home jobs by country comparison.
Last reviewed September 2026. Figures are taken from the nine linked emploi guides, each of which carries its own review date.
