Canadian Resume Format 2026: Template and What to Leave Out

The standard Canadian resume format is a one- or two-page document, in reverse chronological order, that lists your contact details, a short profile, key skills, work experience and education. It leaves out personal details that are common on resumes in other countries, such as a photo, date of birth, marital status and your Social Insurance Number (SIN). Tailor it to each posting and keep the layout plain enough for an applicant tracking system (ATS) to read.

What is the standard Canadian resume format?

Most Canadian employers expect a reverse chronological or combination resume: your most recent job first, with each role showing your title, employer, city, dates and a handful of achievement bullets. A short profile and a skills section sit at the top. Everything is written without "I" or "my", in plain, scannable text.

The Government of Québec's job-search guide describes three common resume types and calls the combination resume the most common. Here is how they compare:

Format	How it works	Best for	Watch out for
Reverse chronological	Jobs listed from newest to oldest	A steady career in one field	Gaps are easy to spot
Combination	Skills summary on top, then jobs in reverse order	Most applicants, including career changers	Keep the skills block short so it doesn't push experience to page two
Functional (skills-based)	Experience grouped by skill, with little job detail	Long gaps or a big career change	Recruiters and ATS software look for dates on every role

Other Canadian conventions to follow:

• No personal pronouns. Job Bank's resume guide advises against "I", "my" and "me". Start bullets with action verbs such as led, built, reduced or managed.
• Achievements, not duties. "Cut month-end close from eight days to five" says more than "Responsible for month-end close." Job Bank recommends quantifying results wherever you can.
• Canadian spelling. Write labour, centre and colour, and match the exact terms the posting uses for skills and tools.
• Letter-size pages. Set your document to 8.5 x 11 inches rather than A4 so it prints without clipped margins.
• Languages listed separately. If you speak French or another language, add a Languages line with your level.

Canadian resume template you can copy

Copy this outline into a blank document, replace the placeholder text, and delete any section that does not apply to you. The same structure works as a one-page resume for students and early-career applicants and stretches to two pages for experienced applicants without any change to the order of sections.

FIRST LAST
City, Province | 416-555-0123
first.last@email.com
linkedin.com/in/firstlast

PROFILE
Two or three lines: your role, years
of experience, and the two strengths
that match this posting.

SKILLS
Skill, Skill, Skill, Skill,
Tool, Tool, Certification

WORK EXPERIENCE
Job Title | Employer | City, Province
Mon YYYY to Present
- Achievement with a number
- Achievement tied to the posting
- Achievement showing scope

Job Title | Employer | City, Country
Mon YYYY to Mon YYYY
- Achievement with a number
- Achievement tied to the posting

EDUCATION
Credential, Program | School | YYYY
Canadian equivalent (if assessed)

CERTIFICATIONS
Name | Issuing body | YYYY

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Role | Organization | YYYY to YYYY
- What you did and the result

LANGUAGES
English (fluent), French (intermediate)

Notes on the template:

• City and province are enough. The University of Toronto Mississauga career centre says the only personal information you need is your name and a way to contact you. A city tells employers where you are without publishing your street address.
• Volunteer work counts. Job Bank lists volunteer work alongside paid work. Include it when it shows skills the posting asks for.
• Five to seven bullets at most. Job Bank suggests limiting each section or sub-section to 5 to 7 bullet points so an employer can scan it quickly.
• No references section. Job Bank and Québec.ca both advise keeping references off the resume and supplying them when an employer asks.

What to leave out of a Canadian resume

Leave out anything that reveals a personal characteristic protected by human rights law, such as age, marital or family status, religion, place of origin or health, and never include your photo or SIN. Canadian human rights guidance tells employers not to collect this information before hiring, so adding it brings risk and no benefit.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission's guidance on application forms sets out what employers should not ask. Your resume should follow the same line:

Leave out	Why
Photo or headshot	Job Bank says a photo "is not the norm in Canada" and can lower your chances. The OHRC says employers should not request photos because they can reveal race, colour, sex or age.
Date of birth or age	The OHRC says employers should not ask for a date of birth or documents that show age.
Marital status, spouse, children	These are protected grounds. The OHRC rules out questions about whether you are single, married, separated, divorced or common-law.
Social Insurance Number	The federal SIN Code of Practice tells employers: "Don't ask for the SIN on a job application or during an interview." Employers request it once you start work.
Citizenship, place of birth, immigration history	The OHRC says the acceptable question is whether you are legally entitled to work in Canada. Nothing beyond that is needed.
Health or disability details	The OHRC's policy on medical information says medical assessments should take place only after a conditional offer.
Religion, political views, height, weight	Job Bank lists these among personal details to avoid.
Past salary	In British Columbia, employers cannot ask applicants what other employers paid them. Elsewhere, listing it can weaken your negotiating position.
Reasons for leaving, unrelated hobbies	Job Bank advises leaving out reasons for leaving past jobs, and hobbies unless they relate directly to the role.

One optional exception is work authorization. Because employers may ask whether you are legally entitled to work in Canada, a short line such as "Legally entitled to work in Canada" or "Open work permit, valid to 2028" can answer a recruiter's first question early. Leave out your passport number and immigration category.

How long should a Canadian resume be?

One page if you are a student, a recent graduate or early in your career; two pages if you have more experience. Two pages is the ceiling for most Canadian jobs. Job Bank advises limiting your resume to two pages, and Québec.ca warns that employers may ignore resumes that run too long.

Your situation	Rule of thumb	What to trim first
Student or new graduate	1 page	High school details, long course lists
A few years to mid-career	1 to 2 pages	Early jobs cut to one or two lines each
Senior or 15+ years	2 pages	Roles older than 15 years
Academic and research roles	A CV, with no fixed limit	Different document with different rules

Job Bank also suggests cutting or minimizing experience that is more than 15 years old. If page two holds only a few lines, tighten your wording until everything fits on one page.

How to format a Canadian resume for applicant tracking systems

Use a single-column layout, standard section headings, a common font and plain bullet points, and put your contact details in the body of the page rather than in the header. Use the posting's own words for skills you actually have, and send the file type the posting asks for.

An ATS reads your file and sorts the text into fields such as job title, employer and dates (see what an ATS is and how it works). Canadian university career centres give consistent advice on getting through one:

• Keep the layout simple. Carleton University Career Services recommends bullet points and no graphics, tables, borders or lines.
• Use standard headings such as Experience, Education and Skills, so the software knows where each section starts.
• Keep contact details out of the header. Carleton and UTM both warn that some systems do not read header text.
• Use a common font such as Calibri or Arial at 11 to 12 points, with margins of three-quarters of an inch to one inch (UTM).
• Choose the file type carefully. Use the format the posting specifies. Carleton lists .docx, .doc and .pdf as known formats, while UTM cautions that not every ATS can search PDFs. If the posting says nothing, .docx is the safer choice. Name the file FirstName-LastName-Resume.
• Match keywords honestly. Spell out acronyms at least once and never hide keywords in white text; Carleton notes that modern systems catch it.
• Date every role with a month and year so the system can calculate your experience.

Two points are new or easy to miss. In Ontario, employers with 25 or more employees must now state in public job postings whether they use artificial intelligence to screen, assess or select applicants, under Employment Standards Act rules in force since January 1, 2026, so check the posting before you apply. For federal public service jobs, the Public Service Commission asks for an unformatted résumé with no bullets, underlines or bold, because GC Jobs strips formatting when you paste, and it expects full answers to screening questions rather than "see my résumé".

Resume tips for newcomers to Canada

List your international experience in full, with the employer's city and country and a one-line description of the organization. Ontario employers with 25 or more employees can no longer require Canadian experience in public job postings, and human rights guidance says foreign experience should not count for less, so give it the same detail as local work.

• Explain the employer. A Canadian recruiter may not recognize a well-known firm from another country. Add a short line under the job title, such as "Engineering firm, 400 staff, infrastructure projects."
• Translate your credentials. If you have an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA), add the Canadian equivalent under your degree. An ECA report states what your education is equal to in Canada.
• Know the rules. The OHRC's policy on the "Canadian experience" barrier states that a strict requirement for Canadian experience is prima facie discrimination and can be justified only in very limited circumstances.

Next step: tailor your resume to each posting

Treat the template above as your master resume, then adjust the profile, skills and top three bullets for every application so they use the posting's language and reflect its main requirements. One tailored resume per role gives a recruiter and an ATS a clearer match than a generic version.

You can browse jobs in Toronto, jobs in Vancouver or roles across Canada. Listings on LANDTHATROLE come from employers' own hiring systems, and from any job page you can tailor your resume to that posting (3 a day free).

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I put a photo on my resume in Canada?

No. Job Bank says a photo is not the norm in Canada and can lower your chances, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission says employers should not request photos because they can reveal race, colour, sex or age.

Is a Canadian resume one page or two?

One page for students and early-career applicants, up to two pages for experienced applicants. Job Bank advises limiting a resume to two pages; academic and research roles use a longer CV instead.

Do I put my SIN on my resume?

No. The federal SIN Code of Practice tells employers not to ask for a SIN on a job application or during an interview. Employers request it after you start work.

Should I include my full address?

No. City and province are enough, along with your phone number and email address.

Should a Canadian resume be a PDF or a Word file?

Use whatever the posting asks for. If it does not say, a .docx file is the safer choice, because some applicant tracking systems cannot search text in PDFs.