Buyer: pay in Quebec and Greater Montreal
A buyer purchases the materials, parts and services a plant or distribution centre needs in order to produce and ship. Around Montreal, the role sits in the factories and warehouses of Montreal, Laval, the Montérégie and the Laurentides. This page covers the duties, the schedule, the training and wages by region.
- Quebec median
- $35/h
- Range
- $24 – $54/h
- Montreal
- $36.20/h
Guichet-Emplois (Job Bank), edition 2025 · CNP 12102
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Buyer pay, region by region
| Region | Low | Median | High | vs Quebec | Offered in postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All of Quebec | $24 | $35 | $54 | — | — |
| Montérégie | $24.78 | $36.06 | $63 | +3% | $34.62 (11) |
| Montréal | $24.60 | $36.20 | $50.77 | +3% | $35 (36) |
| Laval | $24.77 | $34.65 | $55.04 | −1% | — (0) |
| Lanaudière | $24.80 | $34.36 | $47.62 | −2% | — (1) |
| Laurentides | $25.20 | $34.32 | $49.96 | −2% | — (3) |
The table covers NOC 12102, “Procurement and purchasing agents”. It pools the plant buyer with procurement agents in public administration, construction and wholesale trade. It excludes the retail and wholesale buyer (NOC 62101) and the purchasing clerk (NOC 14403) — two roles that job postings also call “buyer”.
Low, median and high wages published by Job Bank (NOC 12102), and pay offered in Greater Montreal job postings (6 months, February to August 2026); in brackets, the number of hourly postings — under ten, no median is shown.
Quebec median by file edition: 2023: $32/h · 2024: $32.30/h · 2025: $35/h.
What the job postings say
Of 146 postings on Job Bank in Greater Montreal (6 months, February to August 2026), 1% mention a night shift, 3% an evening shift and 1% weekends.
Buyers work days, Monday to Friday, from an office attached to the plant or the distribution centre rather than a distant head office: you need to be able to walk to the receiving dock and to the line. Job Bank puts the typical week at thirty-five to forty hours, indoors, seated most of the time. What moves is not the shift but the calendar: month-end, fiscal year-end, the annual inventory count and a supplier going short all stretch the day. When the plant runs three shifts the buyer still works days, but the evening lead calls that phone when a part is missing.
What a buyer does
- Issue purchase orders from MRP requirements and purchase requisitions coming off the floor
- Request quotes, compare price, lead time and terms, then recommend a supplier
- Negotiate purchasing terms: quantities, delivery dates, payment terms, annual agreements
- Chase late suppliers and confirm every delivery date back to production and planning
- Maintain reorder points, min/max levels and safety stock in the ERP
- Settle receiving discrepancies: short shipments, off-spec parts, returns, credit notes
- Match invoices against the purchase order and the receiving slip before payment
- Find a second source when a sole supplier, a lead time or a price becomes a risk to the line
- Track supplier performance: on-time delivery, quality at receiving, price variances
- Work with engineering and production on part changes, substitutions and end-of-life runs
Requirements, cards and certifications
- College diploma or bachelor's degree in business management, commerce or economics — the schooling the National Occupational Classification attaches to group 12102
- Prior experience as a purchasing clerk or administrative clerk, which the same classification gives as the usual way in
- Command of an ERP or MRP across the full cycle: requisition, purchase order, receiving, invoice
- Able to read a bill of materials, a drawing or a spec sheet for whatever the plant buys
- Excel past the basics: pivot tables, quote comparisons, supplier lead-time tracking
- Working written French or English, since many parts suppliers sit outside Quebec
- For specialized goods or services, a credential in that discipline — the classification names engineering
Training
The National Occupational Classification ties group 12102 to a college diploma or a bachelor's degree in business management, commerce or economics; for specialized goods and services it adds a credential in the relevant discipline, engineering for instance. There is no DEP — Quebec's vocational diploma — in procurement: Inforoute FPT, the province's training directory, lists no vocational program under that word, only college ones. The long route is the DEC Gestion des opérations et de la chaîne logistique (410.A1), a three-year college diploma in operations and supply chain management; Cégep André-Laurendeau is the only French-language cégep on the island of Montreal that offers it. The short route, for people already working, is an AEC — a college attestation: Gestion de l'approvisionnement at Cégep de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, 1,185 hours in hybrid format, or Gestion des approvisionnements et planification de la production (EJN.14) at Collège Lionel-Groulx in Sainte-Thérèse, 1,125 hours including a 180-hour supervised placement. Supply Chain Canada then grants the SCMP designation, which some employers ask for or sponsor on the job.
Career path
An experienced buyer becomes a senior buyer, then a procurement lead, then a purchasing director — the classification treats that last step as its own group, NOC 10012, where you plan, direct and evaluate a whole department. Others move into production planning, inventory management, or sourcing analysis, what the classification calls a strategic sourcing analyst. The SCMP designation and business English carry weight at that level, because the suppliers and the contracts run outside Quebec.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a buyer make in Quebec?
The table above gives the Quebec median and the median for each Greater Montreal region, drawn from Job Bank data. Buyers and procurement agents fall into the same occupation, NOC 12102, so the table does not separate them. Where a region has no figure of its own, the cell stays empty rather than repeating the provincial median.
What is the difference between a buyer and a procurement agent?
The buyer picks the supplier and commits the company; the procurement agent watches the market, the risks and the sources. The National Occupational Classification puts both in group 12102 but describes their functions separately: market-risk assessment, forecasting and sourcing on one side; tendering, negotiating, awarding and contract follow-up on the other. In a small plant, one person does both.
What does an industrial buyer do?
Issues purchase orders, requests quotes, compares price, lead time and terms, negotiates, then chases suppliers until the goods land. Job Bank adds assessing the plant's requirements, writing specifications, awarding contracts and monitoring how they are performed. In a factory you also own the reorder points and every discrepancy found at receiving.
What drives a buyer's pay up or down?
Region, sector, and what the person actually buys. A plant parts buyer, a services buyer and a public-sector contract agent do not sit at the same point on the scale. The table above shows the low, the median and the high end for the occupation as a whole, and the note under it spells out what that occupation pools together.
What education do you need to become a buyer in Quebec?
A college diploma or a bachelor's degree in business management, commerce or economics, per the National Occupational Classification. Around Montreal, the DEC Gestion des opérations et de la chaîne logistique (410.A1) runs at Cégep André-Laurendeau; on the shorter AEC track, Cégep de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu offers Gestion de l'approvisionnement in hybrid format.
Is there a DEP in procurement in Quebec?
No. Inforoute FPT, the provincial training directory, lists no DEP or ASP — the vocational-level diplomas — under procurement; everything carrying that name is college level, either an AEC or a DEC. A DEP in another field, plus time at receiving or in the stockroom, is still a common start toward a purchasing clerk role.
What is the difference between a buyer and a purchasing clerk?
The clerk executes, the buyer decides. The classification separates them plainly: the purchasing clerk, NOC 14403, checks requisitions, gets prices, prepares purchase orders and follows deliveries; the buyer, NOC 12102, selects the supplier, negotiates the terms and commits the company. The clerk role is a common stepping stone to the buyer role.
Is an industrial buyer the same as a retail buyer?
No, and the classification says so. The retail and wholesale buyer is NOC 62101: that person buys merchandise for resale and follows trade shows and trends. The plant buyer, NOC 12102, buys materials, parts and services the company consumes or transforms. This page describes the second one.
Do public-sector procurement agents do the same job as a plant buyer?
They share occupation NOC 12102, but not the rules. Public-sector agents work through public tenders and tightly framed contracts; Public Services and Procurement Canada acts as the federal government's central purchaser. In a plant, the buyer decides faster, with far less formality, and lives with the consequences on the line the next morning.
Can you become a buyer with no experience?
Rarely in one jump. The National Occupational Classification states that prior experience as a purchasing clerk or an administrative clerk is usually required. The common path runs through receiving, the stockroom or a purchasing clerk position, then an AEC in procurement taken while working.
What is the SCMP designation, and do employers ask for it?
SCMP stands for Supply Chain Management Professional, granted by Supply Chain Canada through its provincial institutes, Quebec included. The occupational classification notes that a supply management certification may be required for these roles, without making it a condition of entry. Job postings are where you will see whether a given employer asks for it.
What is the job outlook for buyers in Quebec?
Job Bank rates the outlook for this occupation as moderate in Quebec — the middle rung of its scale, between good and limited. According to quebec.ca, the group's main employing sectors are public administration, construction and wholesale trade, so manufacturing is only part of the pool. This page describes the occupation; it does not advertise an open role.
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