Study how money, prices and jobs move, then advise governments, banks and companies. Usually a master's degree.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$100,000
Junior, master's
$70,000
Senior or chief
$149,000
Job Bank's national median is $48.08 an hour, about $100,000 a year full time. Government is the biggest employer, and federal pay climbs on a fixed grid. Bank chief economists and consulting partners earn well past the top of this range.
$60,000 to $75,000
Junior economist or analyst with a master's degree
Federal jobs in the EC (Economics and Social Science Services) group start around this level and rise in steps with each year and promotion. Banks and consulting firms start a little higher.
$130,000 to $160,000+
Senior or principal economist, director, or bank economist
A chief economist at a big bank is a public figure quoted in the news, and earns far more than this.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a four year bachelor's degree at cheaper tuition followed by a master's that is funded through teaching assistant work, which is common for strong students. The high end is a more expensive bachelor's degree plus a master's paid for in full. There are no licences or exams in this field, so tuition is the whole bill. A doctorate is usually funded with a stipend, so going further generally costs less rather than more.
Typical debt is the undergrad degree. Graduate school in economics is often cheap or free for strong students.
Defined-benefit pension
In the federal and provincial public service.
Union
Federal economists are represented by CAPE (Canadian Association of Professional Employees).
Hybrid work
Standard in government and banks.
Conference and training budgets
Especially in central banks and research bodies.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A math-heavy economics degree, then a master's. A PhD for research jobs.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Calculus and data management. Economics if your school offers it.
Bachelor's in economics
4 years
Choose the honours or specialist stream with the most math and statistics. Job Bank says a master's is usually required, so plan for it from year one.
Master's degree
1 to 2 years
An MA (Master of Arts) in economics is the standard entry ticket. Many are one year. Strong grades in undergrad theory and math courses get you in.
First job
After the master's
Federal recruitment programs, the Bank of Canada's student and graduate program, Statistics Canada, a provincial ministry, a bank, or a consulting firm.
PhD (optional)
4 to 6 years
Needed for university teaching and senior research roles at the Bank of Canada or think tanks.
Calculus and Vectors
University economics is calculus with a story attached.
Data management
Statistics is most of the day job.
Economics
If offered. Otherwise business or history.
English
You will write briefings for ministers and executives.
No licence, no protected title. Anyone can call themselves an economist, so what employers check is the degree and whether you can run the numbers. The Canadian Economics Association is the professional body, with over 2,000 members, but it is a research and networking group, not a regulator. In the federal government, economist jobs sit in the EC (Economics and Social Science Services) classification, which sets the pay grid and requires a related degree.
Ontario
Toronto, Queen's, Western, McMaster, Ottawa, Carleton (next door to the federal departments).
Quebec
McGill, Université de Montréal, Laval.
West and Atlantic
UBC (University of British Columbia), Alberta, Calgary, Manitoba, Dalhousie.
Things you don't need, but that help.
PhD
Opens research and university jobs, and the top of the federal grid.
Econometrics and data science
Economists who code are hired by tech companies and banks at a premium.
CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)
For economists working in bank and investment research.
A policy field
Health, energy, environment, housing or labour. Deep knowledge of one area makes you the person ministers call.
Programming
R, Python or Stata. Expected at every level now.
French
Most senior federal jobs require both official languages.
Co-op or a student term
The Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada both run student programs that lead to jobs.
Clear writing
A two-page briefing that a minister understands is worth more than a 40-page model.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Pull data on jobs, prices, trade or housing. Clean it, model it, and figure out what changed and why. Write it up: a two-page briefing for a deputy minister, a forecast note for bank clients, or a section of a report. Meetings to argue about assumptions. Government economists also answer urgent questions from above when something happens in the news. Bank economists talk to reporters. Academics teach and publish.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
The federal government hires more economists than anyone else in Canada, across Finance, Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada and dozens of departments. That is why Carleton and the University of Ottawa are popular schools for the field.
The Bank of Canada sets its key interest rate on eight fixed dates a year. Teams of economists spend the weeks before each one forecasting inflation, jobs and growth to advise the Governor.
The Canadian Economics Association publishes the Canadian Journal of Economics and holds an annual conference where students, professors and government economists present research side by side.
Last checked September 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.