Secondary school teachers prepare and teach academic, technical, vocational or specialized subjects at public and private secondary schools.

To be a teacher, you must have a bachelor's degree in education and a provincial/territorial teaching certificate.

To be a teacher of academic subjects, you often need a bachelor's degree in the arts or sciences before obtaining your degree in education.

To be a teacher of vocational or technical subjects, you usually need specialized training or experience in your field before obtaining your bachelor's degree in education.

To be a school department head, you must have several years' teaching experience.

With additional training, or as a result of specialization during your bachelor's degree studies, you may specialize your teacher training in special education, or English/French-as-a-second-language.

With experience, you may move up the ranks to become a vice-principal or another senior administrator in the educational system.

Most recent entrants have an undergraduate university degree, and almost 1 in 4 has a graduate degree.