Inventory clerk: pay in Quebec and Greater Montreal
An inventory clerk monitors stock levels, raises replenishment orders and reconciles the inventory the system calculates with the count on the shelf. Around Montreal the work sits in distribution centres, plants, wholesale operations and the supply departments of public institutions. This page covers the duties, the schedule, the training and wages by region.
- Quebec median
- $23.50/h
- Range
- $17.50 – $45.60/h
- Montreal
- $24.04/h
Guichet-Emplois (Job Bank), edition 2025 · CNP 14403
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Inventory clerk pay, region by region
| Region | Low | Median | High | vs Quebec | Offered in postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All of Quebec | $17.50 | $23.50 | $45.60 | — | — |
| Montérégie | $17.50 | $25 | $53.33 | +6% | $21.40 (21) |
| Montréal | $20 | $24.04 | $32 | +2% | $20 (11) |
| Laval | $21.08 | $25.66 | $34.82 | +9% | — (0) |
| Lanaudière | $20.11 | $25.92 | $37.03 | +10% | — (3) |
| Laurentides | $19.68 | $25.49 | $35.34 | +8% | — (1) |
The table covers NOC 14403, “Purchasing and inventory control clerks”: the person who orders and the person who counts, under the same figures. It excludes storekeepers and partspersons (14401), supervisors (12013), procurement officers (12102) and buyers (62101). Watch the title: Job Bank files “inventory clerk” here, but “parts inventory clerk” with the storekeepers, under NOC 14401.
Low, median and high wages published by Job Bank (NOC 14403), 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: $20.04/h · 2024: $24.04/h · 2025: $23.50/h.
What the job postings say
Of 48 postings on Job Bank in Greater Montreal (6 months, February to August 2026), 2% mention a night shift, 4% an evening shift and 4% weekends.
An inventory clerk works days and weekdays for the most part: Job Bank puts the occupation around 35 to 40 hours a week, and the schedule tracks purchasing and production rather than the docks. Two things break that pattern. Cycle counts happen when stock stops moving — early morning, weekends, or during a planned shutdown — because that is the only window in which the system and the shelf can agree. Year-end brings the full physical inventory, often outside normal hours. In a plant running several shifts the clerk stays on days and reconciles the evening and night issues the following morning.
What an inventory clerk does
- Monitor stock levels as materials, equipment and other items are issued
- Reconcile computer-calculated inventories with manual counts of the items on hand
- Compile inventory reports recording the quantity, type and value of materials, equipment and stock
- Raise replenishment orders as soon as an item hits its reorder point
- Manage stock rotation, list obsolete and expired items and have them disposed of
- Enter the data feeding the production schedule, replenishment and stock transfers
- Review purchase requisitions for accuracy and confirm an item is genuinely out before ordering
- Source suppliers, obtain prices from catalogues and vendors, and prepare purchase orders
- Chase suppliers on late deliveries, short shipments and missed orders
- Keep purchasing records, inventory reports and price lists current
Requirements, cards and certifications
- Secondary school completion: the National Occupational Classification lists it as the usual entry requirement for NOC 14403
- The ability to operate a computerized system, which the same classification names explicitly among the entry requirements on the inventory control side
- Courses in production and inventory control for the control side, courses in purchasing management for the buying side, depending on the employer's specialty
- Basic computer skills, which Québec.ca lists among the particular conditions of the occupation
- Discipline with variances: a count that does not agree gets traced to its cause, not corrected on screen
- Able to read supplier catalogues and bills of materials, often in English around Montreal
- Forklift training under section 256.3 of the Règlement sur la santé et la sécurité du travail, Quebec's health and safety regulation, when the job includes driving a lift truck; Québec.ca notes the card may be required or count as an asset
Training
No licence attaches to the title. The National Occupational Classification lists secondary school completion as the usual entry requirement for NOC 14403, then adds, for the inventory control side, courses in production and inventory control plus the ability to operate a computerized system; on the purchasing side it is courses in purchasing management. Québec.ca ties the occupation to two secondary-level vocational programs — the DEP en comptabilité (5231), a vocational diploma in accounting that Inforoute FPT puts at 1,350 hours in the administration, business and computing sector, and its English version, the DEP Accounting (5731) — then to two college programs, the DEC Techniques de comptabilité et de gestion (410.B0) and the DEC Techniques d'administration et de gestion (410.G0). To move from counting to planning, the region offers the AEC Gestion des approvisionnements et planification de la production (EJN.14), a college attestation of 1,125 hours over 66 weeks at Collège Lionel-Groulx in Sainte-Thérèse. The rest is learned on site: the part numbers, the locations, the way that employer codes a variance.
Career path
Experienced inventory clerks move toward planning and procurement. The National Occupational Classification keeps the next roles separate, each with its own Job Bank profile: purchasing and procurement officer (NOC 12102), retail and wholesale buyer (NOC 62101), coordinating staff supervisor (NOC 12013). The AEC in supply and production planning points at its own set of titles — inventory control technician, production scheduler and planner-buyer.
Frequently asked questions
What is an inventory clerk?
An inventory clerk is the person who keeps an establishment's stock figures honest: monitoring levels as items are issued, reordering before a stockout, managing rotation, and reconciling the system's numbers with a physical count. The National Occupational Classification also lists inventory analyst, stock control clerk and inventory planner as titles inside the same group, NOC 14403.
What does an inventory control clerk do all day?
Two things alternate. On screen: watching levels, raising replenishment orders, entering the data that feeds the production schedule, pulling reports on quantity, type and value. On the floor: counting a location, checking a discrepancy, pulling expired or obsolete items off the shelf. The day tips toward whichever side the employer needs most that week.
How much does an inventory clerk make in Quebec?
The table above gives the Quebec median and the median for each Greater Montreal region, drawn from Job Bank data. It covers NOC 14403, which pools the purchasing clerk with the inventory control clerk — the note under the table spells out what that grouping contains. Where a region has no figure of its own, the cell stays empty rather than repeating the provincial median.
What is the difference between an inventory clerk and a storekeeper?
The inventory clerk answers for the quantities, the reorder points and the variances. The storekeeper answers for the storeroom itself — receiving, shelving, issuing against a requisition, lending out tools. The National Occupational Classification separates them: NOC 14403 for the first, NOC 14401 for the second. In a small plant one person usually carries both.
Is an inventory clerk the same as a warehouse clerk?
No. The warehouse clerk owns the dock: receiving goods, checking them against the purchase order, putting them away. The inventory clerk owns the quantities once the goods are inside, and reorders before they run out. They sit in different occupations — NOC 14400 for shippers and receivers, NOC 14403 for inventory control — so their wages appear in two separate tables.
What is an inventory counting company?
A stocktaking firm: it shows up with its own counters and scanners, runs the physical count and hands the client a report. Several of them serve Greater Montreal. The work there comes in assignments, often evenings or weekends, while an inventory clerk is on the establishment's payroll and keeps the stock figures all year long.
What training do you need to be an inventory clerk in Quebec?
Secondary school completion, which the National Occupational Classification lists as the usual entry requirement for NOC 14403, plus courses in production and inventory control depending on the employer. Québec.ca also ties the occupation to the DEP en comptabilité (5231), an accounting vocational diploma Inforoute FPT puts at 1,350 hours, and to the DEC Techniques de comptabilité et de gestion (410.B0).
Can you become an inventory clerk with no experience?
Yes, as long as you can work inside a system. The National Occupational Classification names the ability to operate a computerized system among the entry requirements on the inventory control side, and Québec.ca asks for basic computer skills. The rest — the part numbers, the locations, the way a variance gets coded — is learned at that employer and nowhere else.
Do you need a forklift card to be an inventory clerk in Quebec?
Only if the job includes driving a lift truck. Québec.ca notes the forklift competency card may be required or count as an asset for this occupation. Once driving is part of the work, it is the training set out in section 256.3 of the Règlement sur la santé et la sécurité du travail that applies, together with the employer's authorization to operate.
Do inventory clerks work nights?
Rarely as a standing shift. Job Bank puts the occupation around 35 to 40 hours a week, on days. What falls outside those hours is the counting: cycle counts early in the morning or on a weekend, and the year-end physical inventory, both scheduled for when stock stops moving. A plant running around the clock still keeps its clerk on days.
Where are the inventory jobs around Montreal?
Wherever there is stock to track: the distribution centres of Saint-Laurent, Anjou and Lachine, the plants of the Montérégie, the wholesalers in Laval, the supply departments of public institutions. Job Bank splits Greater Montreal into regions and the table above follows that split. This page describes the occupation; it advertises no open role.
What is “commis à l'inventaire” in English?
Inventory clerk, or inventory control clerk when the posting leans on the control side. Job Bank renders NOC 14403 as “purchasing and inventory control clerks”. Careful with the neighbour: « commis à l'inventaire des pièces » is a parts inventory clerk, which Job Bank files under NOC 14401 with the storekeepers, not here.
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