An office manager costs more than the wage. Here's the bill.
The office work is eating your evenings: the calls, the quotes, the invoices, the follow-ups. The obvious fix is to hire someone. Before you post the job, here's what that person really costs.
The short answer
An office manager in the Calgary Region earns a median $29.13 an hour, from $21.08 at the low end to $52.00 at the high1.
Hire, have it done, or neither
Hire a person if someone has to be in the office or on the phone all day, deciding things.
Customers at the counter, suppliers to handle, judgment calls every hour.
The detail
Job Bank describes the job as coordinating the office, setting priorities and delegating to staff5. That's a person's work.
Have it done if most of the work is the same steps every week.
Confirmations, reminders, invoices out on time, follow-ups on quotes.
The detail
That's routine a system can carry, run for you, with a person checking it.
Do both if you're growing.
A system for the routine and a person for the judgment, often part-time. The person's hours go further.
Neither yet, if the office work is a few hours a week.
An app you run yourself is the better buy, and cheaper than either.
The detail
Come back to this sum when the office work starts taking your evenings.
What it costs you a month, at any wage
The table works it out at Job Bank's low, median and high for the Calgary Region, at 40 hours a week1.
The detail
Put in the wage you'd offer to see your own number.
| Hourly wage | Salary a year | Your CPP | Your EI | WCB | All in, a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job Bank low, Calgary Region: $21.081 | $43,846 | $2,401 | $1,001 | $640 | $3,991 |
| Job Bank median, Calgary Region: $29.131 | $60,590 | $3,397 | $1,383 | $885 | $5,521 |
| Job Bank high, Calgary Region: $52.001 | $108,160 | $4,646 | $1,572 | $1,579 | $9,663 |
Example
Not in these numbers: benefits, overtime, vacation pay if you pay it on top of the wage, a desk and a phone, and the weeks it takes to hire and train.
The detail
WCB is your own industry's rate, not the average4. Your accountant can tell you how vacation pay sits in your payroll.
The whole bill for one office manager
| Item | Rate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Wage, Calgary Region | $29.13 an hour median1 | Range $21.08 to $52.001 |
| Wage, Edmonton Region | $32.10 an hour median1 | Alberta median $30.771 |
| Usual hours | 35 to 40 a week5 | Job Bank's figure for the role |
| Employer CPP | 5.95% of pay above $3,5002 | Up to $74,600; at most $4,230.45 a year2 |
| Employer CPP2 | 4% of pay between $74,600 and $85,0006 | At most $416 a year; nothing below $74,6006 |
| Employer EI | 1.4 × the employee's $1.63 per $1003 | On pay up to $68,900; at most $1,572.303 |
| WCB | Your industry's rate; the 2026 average is $1.46 per $1004 | On pay up to $110,900 a worker7 |
| Vacation pay | 4% of wages in years 1 to 4, then 6%8 | And 2 weeks off with pay a year, 3 after five years8 |
What the job is, in Job Bank's words
Job Bank lists nine main duties for the role, from overseeing office procedures and setting priorities to preparing reports and correspondence.
The detail
Two of them are about university admissions and records requests, so they won't apply to you5.
In a service business the office work is mostly the same five things: answer, book, quote, invoice, chase.
The detail
Write your own week's list and split it into what needs judgment and what's the same every time. The first list is a person. The second list is the part you could have done.
Where we fit
Having it done means a system built around your week, run every day in your name by Otto and our team, who answer for it.
The detail
We don't publish a price, because every system is scoped to the business it runs. If hiring is the better answer for you, we'll say so on the call.
Sources
- Wages for administrative officers (office manager, NOC 13100), Government of Canada, Job Bank. Read 2026-10-27.
- CPP contribution rates, maximums and exemptions, Canada Revenue Agency. Read 2026-10-27.
- 2026 Premium Rates Highlights, WCB-Alberta. Read 2026-10-27.
- Office manager in Canada: job description (NOC 13100), Government of Canada, Job Bank. Read 2026-10-27.
- Second additional CPP contribution rates and maximums, Canada Revenue Agency. Read 2026-10-27.
- Maximum Compensable and Assessable Earnings (employer fact sheet WCB-615), WCB-Alberta, 2026-01-01. Read 2026-10-27.
- Vacation pay, Government of Alberta. Read 2026-10-27.
Checked on 2026-10-27.
