Study how living things and their habitats fit together, then tell governments and builders what a project will do to them.
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Programs in the fields this career usually comes through. Each has its own page: what it takes to get in, the courses you need and what it costs.
The median pay is about $83,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $53,000 at the lower end to about $139,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
4 to 6 years after high school, on the usual route.
$24,700 to $46,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
It depends where you work. You need a licence, certificate or registration in British Columbia. Elsewhere there is none to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Limited demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$83,000
Lower end
$53,000
Upper end
$139,000
Job Bank's national median is $40 an hour, about $83,000 a year full time. The lower and upper ends are Job Bank's low and high wages for everyone in the group, $25.71 and $66.67 an hour. The page covers biologists and related scientists as one group.
$58.34 an hour in the Northwest Territories
The highest median on Job Bank, about $121,000 a year at 40 hours a week
Among the provinces, Saskatchewan is highest at $42.85 an hour and Prince Edward Island lowest at $35.90. Ontario's median is $40. Many people start on seasonal field contracts before a full-year job opens up.
Roughly, all in
$24,700 to $46,000
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
Both ends start with a four year science degree, which is the bulk of the money. The low end is in province tuition, basic field gear such as boots, rain gear and binoculars, and the first year of association dues. The high end adds more expensive tuition and a master's degree that is only partly covered. A master's is the normal price of entry for senior work, but in science it is usually paid for you through a teaching or research assistant stipend rather than paid by you, so it does not double the bill.
A master's degree is the normal price of entry for senior work, and in science it is usually paid rather than paid for. Many graduate students are supported by teaching or research assistant work.
Government pension
Federal and provincial ecologists get a defined-benefit pension, one of the best reasons to work in the public service.
Field allowances
Camp pay, remote-site premiums and per diems when you are away from home.
Paid professional dues
Most consulting firms cover your registration and training costs.
Time off in the winter
Field seasons are intense, so many employers let you bank hours and take slow months easy.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A science degree, then field experience, then a graduate degree if you want to lead projects.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Biology, chemistry and math. Get outside: volunteer bird counts, stream monitoring, park clean-ups.
Bachelor's degree
4 years
Ecology, biology, environmental science, forestry or wildlife biology. Take statistics and mapping courses, they are what employers screen for.
Field seasons
Every summer
Summer jobs and co-op terms doing plant surveys, fish sampling and bird point counts. This is what gets you hired.
Master's degree (optional but common)
2 years
Two years of research. It moves you past the seasonal-contract stage faster than anything else.
Register and specialize
2 to 4 years of work
Join a provincial body or earn an Environmental Professional designation, then build a niche: wetlands, species at risk, restoration.
Biology
The whole job sits on it.
Chemistry
Water quality, soil and contamination work.
Math and data management
Ecology is statistics with mud on it.
Geography
Maps, landforms and the first taste of mapping software.
English
You will write long reports that lawyers and regulators read.
In British Columbia anyone practising applied biology, such as advice on habitats or ecosystems, must be registered with the College of Applied Biologists, which registers professional biologists and biology technologists. The rest of Canada has no licence for ecologists. Alberta has a professional biologist title, but you do not need it to work. Elsewhere the useful credential is voluntary, most often the Environmental Professional designation from ECO Canada (the Environmental Careers Organization), which employers use as a shortcut for experience.
British Columbia
UBC (University of British Columbia), University of Victoria, Thompson Rivers University.
Prairies
University of Alberta, University of Saskatchewan, University of Manitoba.
Ontario
University of Guelph, Trent University, Queen's University, Lakehead University.
Atlantic Canada
Dalhousie University, Acadia University, Memorial University.
Quebec has no licence for ecologists. What differs is the school route, including a 3 year college program that trains wildlife technicians first.
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
With Secondary V math and chemistry. Both the Science and the bioecology college programs ask for them.
Science DEC (Diploma of College Studies), or bioecology
2 or 3 years
Science (200.B1) takes 2 years at a CEGEP (public college). Techniques de bioécologie (bioecology technology, 145.C0) takes 3 years and is taught in English at Vanier College.
Bachelor's in ecology
3 to 4 years
Université de Sherbrooke's 90 credit ecology degree, in French, has up to 3 paid co-op internships and accepts some technical DECs. Concordia's ecology degree is in English, 90 credits after CEGEP.
Optional: join the ABQ (Association des biologistes du Québec)
The Quebec association of biologists is voluntary, not a licensing body. Ecology work in Quebec does not need a permit.
The bioecology DEC (Diploma of College Studies) is a job diploma on its own and is offered at five colleges. Vanier College teaches it in English as Environmental and Wildlife Management, with most of the final year at a field station in the Laurentians. The program is accredited by the Canadian Environmental Accreditation Commission and gives advanced standing at universities in Quebec and the rest of Canada, so you can work first and study for the degree later.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Environmental Professional designation
From ECO Canada (the Environmental Careers Organization). Widely asked for in consulting job ads.
Provincial biologist registration
Required for applied work in British Columbia, and a professional biologist title in Alberta lets you sign off on reports.
Species-at-risk survey permits
Bat, bird and turtle survey training. Few people hold them, so they get called first.
GIS (geographic information systems) certificate
Mapping skills turn a field job into a year-round job.
Driver's licence
Almost every posting requires one, often with a clean abstract for truck use.
Standard first aid and wilderness first aid
Required for remote field work.
Boat and all-terrain vehicle operator tickets
Cheap courses that make you useful on more crews.
Plant and bird identification
Being able to name things on sight is the skill senior ecologists actually hire for.
Restoration is a growing branch. Instead of describing damage, you rebuild the habitat: replanting a stream bank, reconnecting a wetland, moving a fish population. Mining companies and highway projects are legally required to offset habitat they destroy, so somebody has to design and monitor the replacement. It mixes ecology with heavy equipment and construction schedules, and most of it is done by consulting firms.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
In field season you are up before dawn for bird surveys, then walking transects with a plant list and a tablet, sampling water, or setting traps. You are wet, bitten and tired by 4pm. Out of field season you are at a desk: cleaning data, running statistics, drawing maps and writing the report that decides whether a road, mine or subdivision gets approved and on what conditions. Meetings with regulators and clients fill the winter.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
The Species at Risk Public Registry run by Environment and Climate Change Canada lists every species assessed as endangered, threatened or of special concern, along with its recovery plan. Ecologists check it before any project starts.
Most survey work has to happen when plants are flowering, birds are singing and amphibians are breeding. That squeezes a big share of the year's field work into roughly May to September, which is why so many first jobs are seasonal contracts.
The Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution brings together working ecologists and evolutionary biologists across the country, runs an annual conference and speaks to funding agencies on their behalf.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Environment and conservation first, then the rest of the field. See every career in science and environment.
Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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