Study how money, prices and jobs move, then advise governments, banks and companies. Usually a master's degree.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
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 $100,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $70,000 at the lower end to about $149,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
5 to 7 years after high school, on the usual route.
$28,000 to $68,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
No. There is no licence to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Moderate 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
$100,000
Lower end
$70,000
Upper end
$149,000
Job Bank's national median is $48.08 an hour, about $100,000 a year full time. The lower and upper ends are Job Bank's low and high wages for everyone in the group, $33.65 and $71.79 an hour. Federal economists are paid on a grid that rises in fixed steps.
$51.28 an hour in Ontario
The highest provincial median on Job Bank, about $107,000 a year at 40 hours a week
New Brunswick is lowest at $43 an hour. Federal economist jobs sit in the EC (Economics and Social Science Services) group, which has its own published pay grid that rises with each year and promotion.
Roughly, all in
$28,000 to $68,000
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 at no cost 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, 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.
In Quebec you reach an economics degree through a 2 year pre-university program at CEGEP (public college), so the bachelor's takes about 3 years instead of 4.
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
Take Secondary V math in the TS (Technical and Scientific) or SN (Science) sequence. It opens the Social Science with Mathematics profile at CEGEP.
Social Science DEC (Diploma of College Studies)
2 years
A 2 year program (300.A1). Pick a profile with math, such as Commerce: Calculus I, Calculus II and Linear Algebra. In English at Dawson, John Abbott and other English colleges.
Bachelor's in economics
3 years
Usually 90 credits after CEGEP. In English at Concordia, where CEGEP (public college) Calculus I covers the math prerequisite. French-language universities have their own programs.
Master's degree
1 to 2 years
Most economist jobs ask for one, the same as in the rest of Canada.
Things you don't need, but that help.
PhD
Opens research and university jobs.
Econometrics and data science
Economists who code are hired by tech companies and banks.
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 is a major employer of economists, across Finance, Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada and many other 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.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Money and finance first, then the rest of the field. See every career in business and money.
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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