How Much Do Ski and Snowboard Instructors Make?

What Does A Ski Instructor Earn Per Hour In Canada.

Snow schools pay by the hour, and your rate depends on your qualification. At Level 1 you're trusted to teach beginners, so you're paid as a beginner instructor. Every level you pass moves you up the pay scale and opens up better-paid lessons. If you're not sure what each level involves, our guide to the ski instructor qualifications explains it.

In British Columbia the floor is the minimum wage, which rose to $18.25 an hour on 1 June 2026. The snow schools we place instructors with pay a little above it at Level 1: $19.50 to $20 an hour at Panorama, Sun Peaks and Big White, and $22 at Ski Martock in Nova Scotia.

For the wider picture, the Government of Canada's Job Bank puts the median wage for ski instructors in British Columbia at $23.74 an hour, with the top of the range at $35. That top end belongs to experienced, highly qualified instructors with a book of regular clients. Most people don't get there in their first or second season.

How Many Hours Will You Actually Get.

This is the bit most pay guides leave out. A dollar more an hour doesn't help much if the snow school books you for 13 hours a week. What decides your season is your hourly rate multiplied by your hours, and hours vary a lot from resort to resort.

Christmas, New Year and the school holidays are busy, and you may teach every day. January can be quiet. The figures below are averages across the season, from our own placements this winter.

These are standard internships. The Big White hybrid internship is built around training, so the work is lighter: expect about $1,500 of work across the whole season.

Big resorts have big snow schools, so more instructors share the lessons. Smaller hills often need you full time. That's why our Nova Scotia placement earns the most, even though the hill is smaller.

Can You Live On An Instructor's Wage.

In your first season, mostly yes for rent and food, and no for anything else.

Here's the sum on a standard internship at Sun Peaks. You earn about $400 a week. Staff housing costs $650 to $700 a month, which works out at roughly $150 to $160 a week. Food is about $150 to $200 a week if you cook for yourself. That leaves you $40 to $100 a week, before tax, for everything else.

At Panorama the sum is much the same, just a little tighter. At Big White rent is higher, at $800 to $875 a month, and the hours are lower, so most weeks your wage won't cover both rent and food. Plan to top up from savings.

In Nova Scotia it flips. Rent is $600 to $1,000 a month, but at 30 to 45 hours a week you can clear roughly $230 to $700 a week after rent and food. Over 8 weeks of work, that's $5,280 to $7,920 before tax.

Either way, flights, insurance, kit and course fees come from savings, not wages. Your first season pays for itself. It doesn't fill your savings account. Our free guide, The Real Cost of a Canadian Season, lists every cost line by line.

How Do Instructors Earn More.

Pay goes up in steps, and each step is in your hands. Here they are, in the order that pays.

1. 01

   Get your Level 2.

   It's the level most snow schools want. It opens up intermediate lessons and more hours, and it moves you up the pay scale. See our ski instructor courses and snowboard instructor courses.

2. 02

   Add a second qualification.

   A ski instructor who can also teach snowboarding, or the other way round, can pick up a lesson on a quiet day that would otherwise be a day off. At Apex Mountain, one of the BC snow schools we work with, instructors earn an extra 50 cents an hour for each additional qualification.

3. 03

   Be the instructor clients ask for.

   Requested private lessons pay more. At Apex, a requested private lesson adds $15 to $25 an hour. Clients come back to instructors who are reliable, good with children and take beginners seriously, and plenty of experienced instructors fill most of their season with returning clients.

4. 04

   Pick your job for the hours.

   A smaller hill with full-time work can earn you more than a famous resort with part-time hours. Regular weekend and children's programmes help too, because they give you guaranteed days on the schedule.

Do Instructors Earn More In Other Countries.

Some do, but a higher hourly rate isn't the whole story. Check three things before you chase a bigger number.

First, the visa. Some of the best-paid countries are the hardest to work in if you're from the UK, and a rate you can't legally earn isn't worth much. Our post on whether you need a visa for an instructor course explains the basics.

Second, tips. In the United States, tips can add a lot to your pay, especially on private lessons. In much of Europe they're less common.

Third, the length of the season and the exchange rate. A long Canadian season can earn you more in total than a short, better-paid one somewhere else. And money earned in a weaker currency is worth less when you bring it home.

As a rule, Switzerland and France pay qualified instructors the most per hour. Canada and New Zealand pay new instructors less, but for UK citizens aged 18 to 35 they're two of the easiest places to get a working holiday visa and start.

What Else Comes With The Job.

The wage isn't the whole package. Snow schools usually give their staff:

• a free season pass, for days off as well as work days
• free or cheap training to help you reach the next level
• discounts on equipment, rentals and food on the mountain
• staff housing at some resorts, though it isn't always guaranteed

Big White, for example, lists a free season pass, free group lessons, 50% off private lessons and 40% off equipment rental for its winter staff. Perks vary by resort, so ask what's included before you sign.

And most people don't do it for the money. They do it for the mountains, the people they work with, and the moment someone links their first turns because of them. There's more on that in the best things about being a ski instructor.