Warehouse supervisor: pay in Quebec and Greater Montreal
A warehouse supervisor runs the crew on one shift: forklift operators, order pickers, material handlers and clerks. Around Montreal, the role sits in the distribution centres and warehouses of Montreal, Laval, the Montérégie and the Laurentides. This page covers the duties, the shifts, the schooling expected, the obligations Quebec law puts on the role, and wages by region.
- Quebec median
- $29.32/h
- Range
- $22 – $43.27/h
- Montreal
- $28.85/h
Guichet-Emplois (Job Bank), edition 2025 · CNP 12013
Hiring a warehouse supervisor in Montreal, Laval or the South Shore? Hire a warehouse supervisor · Our service: logistics and supply chain
Warehouse supervisor pay, region by region
| Region | Low | Median | High | vs Quebec | Offered in postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All of Quebec | $22 | $29.32 | $43.27 | — | — |
| Montérégie | $21.75 | $29.42 | $45.67 | +0% | $27.75 (28) |
| Montréal | $19.90 | $28.85 | $43.27 | −2% | $34.75 (42) |
| Laval | No data of its own: Job Bank shows the Quebec figures | — (4) | |||
| Lanaudière | $24 | $27 | $40 | −8% | — (8) |
| Laurentides | No data of its own: Job Bank shows the Quebec figures | $23.04 (12) | |||
The table covers NOC 12013, “Supervisors, supply chain, tracking and scheduling co-ordination occupations”. “Warehouse supervisor” is not among the group's listed examples: the group pools the chief shipper, the inventory control supervisor, the parts service supervisor and the flight crew scheduling supervisor.
Low, median and high wages published by Job Bank (NOC 12013), 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: $26.44/h · 2024: $28.85/h · 2025: $29.32/h.
What the job postings say
Of 170 postings on Job Bank in Greater Montreal (6 months, February to August 2026), 6% mention a night shift, 13% an evening shift and 10% weekends.
A supervisor covers one shift, not the whole building: days for receiving and feeding production, evenings for shipping, nights to replenish the pick locations. The shift shapes everything else. On days the supervisor is surrounded — purchasing, customer service, maintenance, management — and a share of the time goes to meetings. On evenings and nights they are often the only management on the floor, deciding alone whether a trailer leaves, a conveyor stops or an accident goes up the chain. Budget for the overlap at both ends of the shift, for handover, and for calls outside the schedule. One point to settle before accepting: Quebec's Loi sur les normes du travail, the labour standards act, excludes a manager from the overtime premium at section 54, and the CNESST interpretation guide states that the job title is not the test — real duties are: hiring, discipline, signing authority.
What a warehouse supervisor does
- Assign the shift's work across forklift operators, order pickers and material handlers, based on the volume called the day before
- Open and close the shift: start-up huddle, handover to the next supervisor, incident log written before leaving
- Track the shift numbers — trailers unloaded, lines picked, late orders, pick errors — and explain the gaps
- Keep the operating-authorization register and confirm a person has the required training before putting them on a lift truck
- Onboard new hires on the floor, pair them with someone, and judge before the probation period ends whether they hold the pace
- Arbitrate shipping priorities when a carrier shows up late or an order jumps the queue
- Investigate accidents, near misses and racking damage, then fix the cause before the shift ends
- Hold inventory accuracy: launch cycle counts, investigate discrepancies, approve adjustments in the warehouse management system
- Handle absences, last-minute replacements, hour approvals and first-level discipline
- Bridge to production, customer service, transport and maintenance, in both directions
Requirements, cards and certifications
- A two- to three-year post-secondary program in management, supply chain or a related field, which the National Occupational Classification gives as the usual entry requirement
- Several years of experience in the occupation being supervised: the warehouse floor first, supervision after
- Command of the warehouse management system in use, and fluent reading of the reports it produces
- Forklift training meeting section 256.3 of the Règlement sur la santé et la sécurité du travail, Quebec's health and safety regulation, as soon as the supervisor drives a truck themselves
- WHMIS training (SIMDUT in French), plus the training certificate required by Part 6 of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations if the site ships them
- The writing habit: accident report, training register, disciplinary notice, file note
- French in writing and speech; functional English wherever the docks take drivers from Ontario or the United States
- The ability to lead people who were co-workers the week before
Training
Two roads lead to the job, and the National Occupational Classification names both: a two- to three-year post-secondary program in management or supply chain, or several years of experience in the occupation being supervised. On the school side, Inforoute FPT lists the DEC Gestion des opérations et de la chaîne logistique (410.A1), a college diploma of 2,445 hours over three years, offered locally by Cégep André-Laurendeau and Collège Lionel-Groulx. Continuing education offers the short road: the AEC Logistique du transport, a shorter college attestation given at Cégep André-Laurendeau and Collège LaSalle among others, built for people already working. On the floor side, plenty of supervisors around Montreal are former forklift operators or pickers who became shift leads, then supervisors, with their employer paying afterwards for short courses in supervision, accident investigation or conflict handling.
Career path
A shift supervisor moves up to warehouse manager or superintendent — responsible for every shift rather than one — then to director of distribution or operations. Others step sideways into logistics planning and coordination, continuous improvement, health and safety, or training. Supervisory experience travels from one warehouse to the next more easily than product knowledge does.
Frequently asked questions
What does a warehouse supervisor do?
A warehouse supervisor assigns the shift's work, tracks the numbers, trains new hires and answers for the crew's safety. In practice: the shift plan at start-up, shipping trade-offs through the day, the investigation when something breaks, and the handover to the next supervisor. The National Occupational Classification sums the group up as supervising, planning, assigning and reviewing work.
How much does a warehouse supervisor 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 12013, and the note under the table spells out what that group pools together. A provincial average flattens the gap between a night-shift supervisor and a warehouse manager, so read your region's row instead.
What is the difference between a warehouse supervisor and a warehouse manager?
The supervisor runs one shift; the manager answers for every shift, the budget and usually the building. Postings blur the two, and “warehouse lead” sits somewhere in between. The table above covers the supervisor occupation from the low end to the high end. What tells the levels apart is headcount and signing authority, not the title in the posting.
What qualifications do you need to be a warehouse supervisor?
The National Occupational Classification expects a two- to three-year post-secondary program in management or supply chain. Around Montreal that means the DEC Gestion des opérations et de la chaîne logistique (410.A1) or an AEC in logistique du transport, a shorter college attestation. It also accepts several years of experience in the occupation being supervised instead.
What is the difference between a warehouse supervisor and a logistics coordinator?
The supervisor leads people on a floor; the coordinator organizes flows from a desk. The National Occupational Classification draws the line clearly: the production and transportation logistics coordinator sits in NOC 13201, and the supervisor's group, 12013, explicitly excludes it. In practice, the supervisor often supervises coordinators.
What is the NOC code for a warehouse supervisor?
NOC 12013, “Supervisors, supply chain, tracking and scheduling co-ordination occupations”. Job Bank files the warehouse supervisor there, even though the title is not among the group's examples. The group excludes production and transportation logistics coordinators (13201) and supervisors of postal and courier services (72025).
Can you become a warehouse supervisor without a college diploma?
Yes, and it is the common road around Montreal. The National Occupational Classification accepts several years of experience in the occupation being supervised in place of the diploma. The usual order: forklift operator or order picker, shift lead, supervisor. The diploma matters again higher up, when the next step is manager or director.
Do warehouse supervisors work nights?
Often, because a shift without a supervisor does not exist. Distribution centres around Montreal run days for receiving, evenings for shipping and nights to replenish pick locations, and each one has its own supervisor. Nights ask the most: the supervisor is regularly the only management on the floor, deciding without anyone to consult.
Do warehouse supervisors get paid overtime in Quebec?
Not necessarily. The Loi sur les normes du travail, Quebec's labour standards act, excludes a manager from the overtime premium at section 54. The CNESST interpretation guide adds that the title is not the test: real duties decide it — hiring, discipline, signing authority, input into policy. Get the point settled in writing before accepting.
Does a warehouse supervisor need forklift certification?
Only if they drive. Section 256.3 of the Règlement sur la santé et la sécurité du travail applies to the person operating the lift truck, not to the person supervising them. Many supervisors take the training anyway: it is short, it lets them cover a gap in the shift, and it gives them a basis for judging what they see in the aisles.
Are there warehouse supervisor jobs outside Greater Montreal?
Yes. Job Bank publishes a wage profile for each administrative region, including the Capitale-Nationale, where food and retail distribution warehouses hire as well. The table on this page follows the Greater Montreal split. This page describes the occupation; it does not advertise an open role.
How do you say warehouse supervisor in French?
« Superviseur d’entrepôt », or « superviseure d’entrepôt ». Quebec postings also use « responsable d’entrepôt » for the same level and « gérant d’entrepôt » for the one above. Job Bank publishes the same occupation under both languages and files it in NOC 12013, the supply chain supervision group.
Are you a warehouse supervisor?
Leave your number: we text you when a role matches your profile.
Get job offersHiring a warehouse supervisor?
A job description to copy, interview questions and a pay benchmark by region.
Hire a warehouse supervisor