A full-time personal assistant you hire yourself costs about $5,400 to $6,700 a month in Vancouver once you add the employer side of CPP and EI, and an experienced private PA for a busy household can cost about $10,000 to $13,000. If you don't have full-time work to give someone, part-time help runs from about $35 to $100 an hour, depending on who you use.
I spent four years as a full-time, live-in personal assistant for a Vancouver family before I started Palmerston PA, and now I employ assistants myself, so I've seen this from both sides of the paycheque. Here are the main options with 2026 numbers, and where each number comes from.
The short answer
| Option | What it costs | Makes sense when |
|---|---|---|
| Hire your own PA, full time | $5,400 to $13,000 a month all in, depending on experience, plus an agency fee if you use one | You want your own employee and have full-time work |
| A monthly plan with a PA service like ours | Ours run $650 for 10 hours to $4,000 for 80 hours a month, about $50 to $65 an hour | You want the same person, from a few hours a week up to full time |
| An independent PA or concierge, by the hour | $85 to $100 an hour, often with a two-hour minimum | You have the odd one-off job |
| A gig app like Taskrabbit | From $35 an hour | You need one errand done and don't mind who does it |
| A virtual assistant | $25 to $60 an hour in Canada, about $6 to $17 offshore | The work is all inbox, calendar and research |
Services charge 5% GST on top of these prices. Wages to your own employee don't.
Hiring your own personal assistant
The federal Job Bank puts the median wage for an executive assistant in the Lower Mainland at $35.87 an hour, which is about $74,600 a year full time. Administrative assistants sit lower, at a median of $28.85. Private PAs who run a household for a busy family earn more, and one Vancouver household staffing agency puts them at $75,000 to $150,000 a year.
What you pay on top of the salary
As the employer, you also pay:
- CPP at 5.95%, up to $4,230 a year, plus CPP2 at 4% on earnings between $74,600 and $85,000
- EI at 2.28%, up to $1,572 a year
- WorkSafeBC coverage, which you need for most household staff working 8 or more hours a week
- Payroll, T4s and a written employment contract, whether you do them yourself or pay someone
On a $60,000 to $75,000 salary, CPP and EI alone add about 8%.
The hours you pay for and don't get
In BC, your assistant gets 4% vacation pay, which works out to two weeks off, plus 11 stat holidays and up to five paid sick days once they've been with you 90 days. That's four to five weeks a year you're paying for with nobody covering unless you arrange it. It's why a $75,000 PA, nominally $36 an hour, costs you about $42 for every hour they actually work.
| Salary | Cost to you a year | A month | Per hour worked |
|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | $64,700 | $5,400 | $34 |
| $75,000 | $80,800 | $6,700 | $42 |
| $112,500 | $118,700 | $9,900 | $62 |
| $150,000 | $156,200 | $13,000 | $82 |
Includes CPP, CPP2 and EI. WorkSafeBC, benefits and payroll fees are extra. Hours worked assume two weeks of vacation and 11 stat holidays.
Finding the right person
Placement agencies usually charge 15 to 25% of the first year's salary, so $11,250 to $18,750 on a $75,000 hire, with a replacement guarantee of 60 days or more. You can skip the agency and post the job yourself, but then the interviews, reference checks and background check are all yours.
We run these searches too, for personal assistants and every other household role. Palmerston PA is a licensed employment agency in BC, and a search is $2,500. We find and screen the candidates, you choose who to hire, and they work for you. Here's how a search works.
Paying by the hour
Independent personal assistants and concierge services in Vancouver publish rates of $85 to $100 an hour plus GST, and a two-hour minimum is common. Taskrabbit starts at $35 an hour, and you get whichever Tasker takes the job. Either works well for a one-off, like a furniture pickup or waiting in for the plumber. They get expensive as a standing arrangement: ten hours a month with an independent concierge is $850 to $1,000.
Virtual assistants
A Canadian virtual assistant charges $25 to $60 an hour, and executive-level VAs in Vancouver and Toronto go up to $75. Offshore VAs, mostly in the Philippines, charge US$4 to US$12 an hour, about $6 to $17 Canadian. For inbox and calendar work, that can be a good deal. A VA can't pick up the dry cleaning or let the dog out.
A PA service on a monthly plan
This is what we do at Palmerston PA, so read this section knowing that.
You pay for a set number of hours a month and get one dedicated assistant, who works with you in person, remotely, or a mix of both. Our assistants are Palmerston PA employees and background checked, so there's no payroll, agency fee or contract on your end. When your assistant is sick or on holiday, someone on our team covers. If you're wondering what those hours actually cover, I wrote a longer guide to what a part-time personal assistant handles.
| Plan | Hours a month | Price a month | Works out to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select | 10 | $650 | $65 an hour |
| Essential | 20 | $1,200 | $60 an hour |
| Premium | 40 | $2,200 | $55 an hour |
| Executive | 80+ | $4,000+ | $50 an hour |
Palmerston PA prices as of November 1, 2026.
Prices are plus GST. Extra hours bill at your plan's hourly rate, and the support can grow with you from a few hours a month up to full time. You can see how our plans work here.
Which one makes sense for you
- A few one-off jobs a month: pay by the hour.
- Regular help, from a few hours a week to a couple of days, especially anything in person: a monthly plan costs less per hour than an independent concierge, and you keep the same person.
- Full-time work: a full-time assistant, either one of ours or your own employee. The two are compared below.
- Remote admin only: a virtual assistant.
Full time: your own employee or ours
Per hour worked, your own employee costs less: about $42 on a $75,000 salary, against $50 on our largest plan. The first year looks different once you add a placement fee.
| Year one | Your own employee, $75,000 salary | One of ours, full time |
|---|---|---|
| Pay and hours | $80,800 with CPP and EI | $95,600 for the same 1,912 hours, at $50 an hour |
| Placement fee | $11,250 to $18,750 | None |
| Year one total | $92,050 to $99,550 | $95,600 plus GST |
| Weeks with no assistant | About four to five, for vacation, stat holidays and sick days | None, our team covers |
| Payroll, T4s and WorkSafeBC | Yours to run | Ours |
The employee column leaves out WorkSafeBC, benefits and payroll fees.
From year two, your own employee is cheaper on paper. What you give up is cover and the system behind it. With us there's no gap when your assistant is sick or on holiday, and everything about your household, from tasks to vendors to important dates, lives in our system rather than in one person's head. If your assistant ever changes, the next one starts with all of it.
If you'd still rather have your own employee, we'll find them for you.
Not sure which one you need?
Book a personal staffing consultation. It's a free conversation with me, in person or on a video call, to work out whether you need a personal assistant, a full-time hire or someone else entirely, and roughly what it costs in Vancouver.
Book a consultationQuestions people ask
How much should I pay a personal assistant in Vancouver?
Job Bank's wage range for executive assistants in the Lower Mainland is $26.12 to $53.15 an hour, with a median of $35.87. An experienced private PA who runs a household usually earns more, at $75,000 to $150,000 a year.
Is hiring a personal assistant worth it?
It depends on what your hours are worth and what you'd do with the ones you get back. If your time is worth more than $70 an hour, handing off ten hours a month pays for itself on paper, before you count the evenings and weekends you get back. I wrote about what a few hours of help changes at home in an earlier post.
What's the difference between a personal assistant and a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant works remotely, usually on email and scheduling. A personal assistant also works in person: errands, appointments at the house, setting up for guests and looking after the place while you travel.
Can you help me hire a full-time personal assistant?
Yes, two ways. One of our assistants can work with you full time, with our team covering when they're away. Or we find your own for $2,500, and they become your employee.
Do I pay GST on a personal assistant?
On a service, yes. Most agencies, concierges and PA services, ours included, charge 5% GST. Wages to your own employee don't carry GST, but you pay CPP, EI and WorkSafeBC instead.
Where these numbers come from
- Wages: Job Bank, executive assistant and administrative assistant, Lower Mainland-Southwest region, updated November 2025
- CPP: Canada Revenue Agency, 2026 rates
- EI: Employment and Social Development Canada, 2026 premium rate
- Vacation pay, stat holidays and sick days: BC Employment Standards, vacation pay, statutory holidays and illness or injury leave
- WorkSafeBC: coverage for homeowners
- Private PA salaries and placement fees: rates published by household staffing agencies, September 2026
- Hourly rates: rates published by Vancouver PA and concierge services and Taskrabbit, September 2026
- Virtual assistant rates: a Canadian virtual assistant agency's published rates, May 2026; US dollars converted at the Bank of Canada rate on September 28, 2026